Gary Varvel is the editorial cartoonist for The Indianapolis Star. His cartoons are nationally syndicated through Creators Syndicate and have appeared on CNN and in Newsweek, The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Times, National Review, World magazine and Sports Illustrated.
© Creators Syndicate, Inc. - All Rights Reserved.
Tom Toles by Tom Toles
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Comments (17) (Please sign in to comment)
SeaFox10 said, about 12 hours ago
I knew I had a good reason to not have a cell phone!
jack75287 said, about 10 hours ago
OUCH!
I Play One On TV said, about 10 hours ago
How to be a troll:
1: Start off hating a political party, everyone in it, and everyone who has ever supported it.
2: Pick a behavior that you hate, and assign it to that same political party, its members, and everyone who has ever supported it.
3: Note that the party, its members, and everyone who has ever supported it, and the afore-mentioned behavior are reprehensible.
4: Apply it indiscriminately, regardless of original subject matter.
5: Believe that others care.
6: Repeat constantly.
I Play One On TV said, about 10 hours ago
“I’m sure that the NSA is not concerned with ma and pa in the bedroom.”
True. That’s the job of the Republican Party, and the Supreme Court. They’ve had much more experience in those matters than NSA.
denis1112 said, about 9 hours ago
@I Play One On TV
I’m pretty sure the dems are using NSA to listen to their opposition.Didn’t 2 Dem activists " turn over " a tape of then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich discussing something with a colleague?How silly of the Clintons to let that out to the news nerds.How much have we not heard about?
D PB said, about 9 hours ago
@I Play One On TV
I see you are following your how to guide quite well.
I Play One On TV said, about 9 hours ago
@D PB
You see what you want to see.
I Play One On TV said, about 8 hours ago
@denis1112
Agreed. I’m sure NSA are listening in many places to many things, however, the bedroom is the exclusive purview of the Republicans and the Supreme Court. They have dibs.
ruff
said, about 8 hours ago
@I Play One On TV
You have managed to spy on Ima’s playbook !!
Jim Guess said, about 8 hours ago
THIS man says it very, very clearly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_YQ8560E1w&feature=player_embedded
Watch and learn.
TheTruthHurts said, about 8 hours ago
@D PB
TRUE DAT !
TheTruthHurts said, about 8 hours ago
Like a KNOWING EYE, see it all
Ionizer said, about 7 hours ago
@I Play One On TV
“…the bedroom is the exclusive purview of the Republicans and the Supreme Court. They have dibs.”
OK, you’ve repeated your mantra twice more in a couple of hours. Your point, although false, has been made. Dems good, non-Dems bad. Hypocrite.
Night-Gaunt49 said, about 6 hours ago
@SeaFox10
So you do it with semaphore?
Wraithkin said, about 6 hours ago
Let’s get to the real issue here. The issue isn’t that they’re listening to the calls, or tracking the metadata, or whatever other information they are collecting. Let’s be honest here: As soon as the telephone was invented, Uncle Sam was listening in.
The issue is specifically what the government does with it, and can We The People trust that the government is going to be a good steward of that information. The answer to that is no, especially with this administration. Don’t believe me? Look at the evidence we have:
- Obama has authorized, and has sole control over, drone strikes in foreign countries. In fact, he has already killed without trial (thus violating their Constitutional rights), alleged terrorists that are US Citizens. While they may be terrorists, they are still US Citizens and entitled to a speedy trial of their peers. Obama has violated our trust with these actions.
- Rand Paul had to filibuster to get a Washington DC Version of a straight answer to a very fundamental question: Can the US Government assassinate US Citizens on US Soil? No, with a caveat: They will not strike against any unarmed civilians. What happens if they are at the range doing target practice? They are technically armed. Why wasn’t it a blanket, “No?” Obama’s administration has violated our trust with this decision.
- The IRS has specifically targeted conservative groups between 2010 and 2012, possibly affecting the outcome of the election (suppressing the GotV initiatives of conservatives). While democrats are saying this is a fake issue, testimony was given that is specifically stating the orders came from DC. And with so many visits to the WH from the head of the IRS between 2010 and 2011 (over 150), it’s not a stretch to say Obama or his administration was influencing and guiding the actions of the IRS. And on top of that, private information (donors) was leaked from the IRS to liberal outlets who took that information and published it on the web. This suppresses donor activity, which again affects the outcome of the election. Obama’s administration has violated our trust with that kind of guidance.
- The recent attacks on investigative reporting (AP’s phone calls, hacking and stealing emails from Fox News reporter) suppresses the 1st Amendment, especially naming a reporter a co-conspirator. This suppression keeps Americans in the dark, giving the government more room to abuse the rights of Americans. The DOJ’s actions (guided by Obama’s appointee Eric Holder) violate our trust with that kind of infringement on the 1st Amendment.
So what does that all mean? Why is this such an issue? Individually these issues sound like a random abuse of power. They sound like someone who has outgrown his or her post. But put them together.
Scare the media into submission, for fear of prosecution. Then identify your enemies using the IRS (political) and the NSA (suspicion). Sour public attitude towards the individual or group (leak private information to public criers), and then deem them terrorist-related, and if you catch them with a firearm, assassinate them with a drone strike. Repeat this enough times, and you have a public scared to rise up in protest against the sitting administration.
I know, it sounds far-fetched. But that’s exactly how Chicago-style politics works. Does anyone remember how Obama won his State Senate seat? It’s because sealed records of his opponent’s divorce were somehow unsealed and leaked to the press, and the man lost by political assassination. You identify your enemy (or he/she identifies herself), you get as much bad information about them, you sour public opinion of them, and then you strike.
Why liberals aren’t afire over this baffles me. Their entire party is based around the premise of more freedom. More liberty. Liberals yelled and screamed about the Patriot Act, calling it an invasion of privacy. But now that Obama is in office, they’ve done a 180, despite him expanding it greater than the bill’s original designer intended. Why? Why is there no public liberal outcry? Where’s the, “Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.”?? Are they afraid of him? Are they so blinded that a black man in office can do no wrong?
WAKE UP! This isn’t about liberal or conservative. This isn’t about Democrat or Republican. This is about right and wrong. This is about one man orchestrating an absolute undermining of the Constitution, either directly or indirectly. This is about things that shouldn’t be happening in America, but are. This is about our government getting too big, and in its largess we begin to see the echoes of tyranny.