Duplicity of the Obama Administration Is Not New

As if the past few weeks of scandals haven’t been enough, now we learn that the American government is spying on us to an astounding degree. And all it takes to be a target is an analyst’s “51 percent confidence” in an individual’s “foreignness.”

The fact that I have an extensive media ministry in the Middle East and—surprise, surprise—have a “foreign” sounding name, places me smack-dab in the middle of the NSA’s target lists.

And yet, I’m not concerned about being spied upon. At least, I’m not concerned about myself.

I have nothing to hide; as readers of this column can attest to. In this space, I have expressed my thoughts about our government and the Obama administration, and I have worked to expose its duplicitous behavior from day one. In particular, I have closely watched the administration’s policy in the Middle East.

I have often pointed out how Mr. Obama was quick to call for the deposing of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt—even though he was a friend to the US, kept the peace, helped us confront global terrorism, and brought economic growth to Egypt in excess of 6 percent annually.

Even when Mr. Obama was a guest of President Mubarak, Obama’s administration was secretly negotiating with outlawed Islamist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Talk about acting duplicitous!

When the Muslim Brotherhood government crushed its opposition, persecuted minorities, and brought the Egyptian economy to its knees, what did the Obama administration do?

And now we know that while Mr. Obama has claimed to represent all Americans, and has vowed to run the most transparent administration ever, his administration has worked feverishly to harass journalists and destroy its opponents.

But because news of NSA spying, IRS harassment, DOJ oppression, and State Department dishonesty is terrifyingly numbing, I fear that people will throw up their hands in despair. The circling of the wagons will be so intense, that most people, even good people, may simply give up.

Meanwhile, a major chunk of the unique American experiment in individual freedom will melt away like an iceberg in the middle of summer. Perhaps, a day is coming when I will again experience what I experienced as a boy growing up under a brutal dictatorship.

Operatives in the White House fully grasp the concept of the proverbial frog in the kettle, slowing heating up to a boil. Little by little, they have been turning up the political water temperature on an increasingly careless and self-absorbed citizenry.

When we wake up eventually, I’m afraid we will weep blood. That will be God’s judgment upon us—judgment for rejecting the God of our Founding Fathers.

We will be found guilty of rejecting His enduring character of love, mercy, justice, and biblical morality, and replacing those with the “god” of government protection and its absolute sovereignty over our lives.

When it comes to being spied upon, I sleep well at night. I have nothing to hide from any government entity that is tapping my phones or email.

Thanks!

Youssef's words, "Meanwhile, a major chunk of the unique American experiment in individual freedom will melt away like an iceberg in the middle of summer. Perhaps, a day is coming when I will again experience what I experienced as a boy growing up under a brutal dictatorship. . . ."are poignant reminders of what is at stake.

These words echo the warnings of Solzhenitsyn and others about the ideology which seems to dominate this Administration and the dangers to individual liberty which that ideology threatens:

In the course of his research for Solzhenitsyn: "A Soul in Exile (Harper Collins), Joseph Pearch traveled to Moscow to interview the writer. The excerpt below is from that interview:

Solzhenitsyn: "In different places over the years I have had to prove that socialism, which to many western thinkers is a sort of kingdom of justice, was in fact full of coercion, of bureaucratic greed and corruption and avarice, and consistent within itself that socialism cannot be implemented without the aid of coercion. Communist propaganda would sometimes include statements such as 'we include almost all the commandments of the Gospel in our ideology.'
"The difference is that the Gospel asks all this to be achieved through love, through self-limitation, but socialism only uses coercion. This is one point.
"Untouched by the breath of God, unrestricted by human conscience, both capitalism and socialism are repulsive."

America's Founders and its early generations understood that the preservation of what Youssef calls "the unique American experiment in individual freedom" requires a citizenry who understands the essential principles underlying their Constitution, one of which is described here.

Perhaps America has been led to this point by electing leaders according to their "popularity" instead of their devotion and fidelity to the Constitution which limits their use of coercive power. See the following excerpts on "popularity" of leaders, from Noah Webster's 1802 Address on the celebration of the Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, seemed pertinent. They seem just as pertinent here:

"The man who only flatters and cringes to gain applause, is a saint, compared with the man who tramples on law and constitution to secure the popularity his arts have obtained, and to retain the confidence of a party. There is something extremely contemptible in the factitious character of a popularity-seeker, or mere man of the people.
--------- "The natural consequence of too much popularity is, that it enables the possessor to violate the laws and constitution of his country, and sacrifice its interests with impunity . . . .
"To be a tyrant with any tolerable degree of safety, a man must be fully possessed of the confidence of the people. Charles the first of England extended the royal prerogative to an unwarrantable length, and lost his head . . . but that prince could not have sent a detachment of three hundred men to drive the commons of England from their hall, and have effected his purpose. That act of despotism was reserved for the republican Cromwell, the friend of the people. James the second was an arbitrary man, a catholic, and odious to the English nation . . . he was, therefore, compelled to abdicate his throne. But his successor, William, a friend of the whigs, ascended the throne upon a tide of popularity; and he could deliberately sign an illegal and barbarous warrant for the murder of the whole village of Glencoe, in Scotland, and never be called in question for the murderous deed! "Oh, 'tis excellent," says the poet, "To have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant." - MEASURE FOR MEASURE.
"The open advocate of a strong government is subject to popular odium, his encroachments are eyed with jealousy, or resisted by force. But the hypocritical pretender to patriotism acquires, in the confidence of the people, a giant's force, and he may use it like a giant. The people, like artless females, are liable to be seduced, not by the men they hate or suspect, but by those they love.

"Nor is it among the least evils proceeding from the ambition of popular favor, that the friends of the people are willing to secure it, by relaxing the energy of the laws. They know that legal restraints are odious, and will hazard the public peace, rather than not gratify the licentious propensities of their partizans.
. . . .

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