Time to Reconsider

I have tried to stay away from the news this week because even in the Nixon/Watergate Era, the other paper of record, the Washington Post, even with its seemingly front row view of the events at hand took a break every two weeks or so. But in this era of less than 24 hour news cycles, it is almost impossible to stay away.

Late Tuesday and all day Wednesday, we heard about the latest violation to our freedoms done by the IRS. It was reported that some "eager" agents showed up at a health insurer in California with sidearms showing, professing to have a warrant for 60 million, you read that right, 60 MILLION insureds' records. Guess what? THERE WAS NO WARRANT!!

The insurance company, in order to avoid a confrontation with the IRS, handed over records like they were handing out fries with the burger. No regard for HIPAA regulations, and forget about a patient's right to privacy, apparently the IRS is not required to comply.

The premise of HIPAA, besides its portability, is to protect each of us from having an unauthorized individual or entity from obtaining our health information without our knowledge or permission. I have signed a zillion HIPAA forms over the last three years and have had to name my wife and my children, with their phone numbers, to grant then access to my health records. And the funny thing is, the doctor knows my family and I keep going back to the same hospital.

But the IRS, with no notification, and NO WARRANT, just showed up and was given all sorts of information. And this is THE agency that will be administering Obamacare. Oh, sorry, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which apparently neither protects the patient, and his rights, nor is affordable.

So let's sum up.

First, we have an IRS that selectively investigates conservative applicants for tax free status of their organizations, known by various senior officials. Second, we have a Department of Justice and an attorney general who decides it is going to snoop on the AP and James Rosen of FoxNews and not tell them.

Third, we have HHS Secretary Sebelius  seeking donations from insurance companies and other entities she regulates, to fund Obamacare, because the Congress is reluctant to do so.

Next, we have about six simultaneous scandals ongoing with the EPA, with department heads maintaining secret email accounts and other abuses.

Then, we have NSA actually spying on all of us through some questionable language in the Patriot Act, that gives the government free reign over our phone calls, emails, texts and other digital communication.

We can't forget about pre-election troubles, either, like Fast and Furious, that wonderful gunrunning operation that a border patrol officer was killed, and no information was voluntarily forthcoming. Or Benghazi, where an Ambassador and three of his colleagues were brutally murdered, and his killer remains free.

Now this gross violation of our health privacy rights. Those of us who remember Watergate were appalled by the comparatively minor abuses of power done by President Nixon and his henchmen. And for that, Nixon resigned.

If anyone still believes President Obama that he "didn't know, and is outraged and angered by all this, but doesn't want to talk about an ongoing investigation", now needs to view themselves in the mirror and tell the face looking back that he or she isn't drinking the koolaid.

Any honest and sincere person would be expected to want to believe if it were only one, or even two, indiscretions. But even a devotee of this president needs to put country over party, or person, and say it is now time for him to go, whether because he knew and condoned criminal behavior, or he didn't know and therefore, is incompetent.

Loyalty should lie, ultimately, with the country and the Constitution. Our flag represents our country and our Constitution. So, next time remember that when we recite the Pledge of Allegiance, it is to those principles and not to any one party or man that we pledge our sacred vow.

This is not Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. This is, my friends, the UNITED States of America. Let's make it so again.