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| The world's greatest cat doesn't much care for what's been going on. |
I'm not going to mention the names of individuals, political organizations or political parties in this piece because what I'm about to say deals with an abuse of power - and people of all different political stripes have abused power over the course of history. That being said, we're living in scary times.
Here's some reason's why:
- The IRS specifically targeted groups who opposed the current Presidential administration. The government tells us there was no political motivation behind the IRS' actions. And the government's word is good enough for us. We don't know the full extent of what happened, who was behind it, or even if the IRS' actions have been truly halted. And, according to polling data, we don't much care.
- The government dragged its heels before admitting that terrorists killed four US officials in Libya last fall. We don't really know why the government dragged its heels - and the government doesn't really think we should know why. And we're okay with that.
- The Department of Justice has decided to spy on reporters. This should send shock waves throughout the country, for this sort of thing isn't supposed to happen in a free society. The Department of Justice claims it has good reason to go after journalists, however. And because they say so, we say "go right ahead."
Here's the thing: there's a lot of people out there who over-react. To everything. Even to the abuse of power. Such people are a real gift to the abusers. Why? Because every time they're caught doing something wrong, the abusers can point their fingers at those who over-react and say "here go the nuts again, making a big deal out of nothing."
And so the abuse continues. And continues. And continues. What's more, it becomes more widespread. And before you know it, you know longer live in a free society. Think that's an exaggeration? Ask anyone who ever lived behind the iron curtain.
Thing is, those who abuse power want you to think people are exaggerating when they tell you things are going to get worse. It lets them off the hook. It also allows them to go right ahead and make things worse.
Perhaps you don't care about any of this. You're a busy person, after all. Perhaps the only thing that would really rile you up is something truly extreme, like the government telling you what songs you can and can't listen to through your ear buds.
By that point, though, it would be too late to do anything about it.
