Over on the home page, I explore the “Operation Jade Helm” controversy through a counterfactual. How would the Left respond if a President Ted Cruz treated them the way President Obama has treated the Right? After all, millions on the Left thought President Bush was complicit in 9/11 while even “elite” leftist publications published speculation about military dictatorships and coups — and that’s after Bush showed a fraction of the intolerance that the Obama administration has expressed towards conservative dissent. Yet conservatives are paranoid? My conclusion:
No, the Obama administration isn’t going to invade Texas or Utah. Yes, there are some bottom-dwelling, opportunistic conspiracy-mongers who’ve done their best to whip up public concern. But when the Obama administration has done so much for so long to express its disdain for conservative citizens, when it has turned one of its most powerful bureaucracies — the IRS — into a weapon against domestic political opponents, and when it has stonewalled through every meaningful investigation of admitted misconduct, it has richly earned citizens’ distrust.
Read the whole thing. As always, I welcome your comments.