In 2005, an elderly couple I knew was audited by the IRS and spied on by DHS

[proud2BlibKansan]

They were in their 70s. They finally hired an attorney who filed a FOIA and the details of the harassment was revealed to this couple.

There were literally hundreds of pictures of them. At the grocery store. Working in their garden. At anti war protests. Walking their dog.

Their tax returns were also audited every year for 5 years in a row until the couple died. I feel certain if they were still alive they would still be audited.

I also know literally dozens of anti war and peace activists who have had the same experiences as well as losing their email accounts. That means they are no longer able to log in and read or send email. No warning and no logical reason. Just an email account that no longer works.

And while all of this surveillance and harassment was going on, I don't remember one politician ever standing up and saying it was wrong. I don't remember any stories in MSM. And I certainly don't remember President Bush saying one word about this.

So stuff your outrage tea baggers. And quit calling our media liberal. Good grief, that's downright comical.

[Dawson Leery]

1. The FBI under Bush's direction targeted anti-war groups.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. We saw them

While we stood at a busy intersection weekly protesting against the war, we saw the men in black with cameras on a rooftop across the street taking our pictures. Friendly police officers we knew told us we were being watched.

And never once did any of us speak of overthrowing our government or promote violence, as the teabaggers did - and still do.

Their angst is ridiculous.

[joeglow3]

12. Do two wrongs make a right?

Both are disgusting.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. Of course they are.

My criticism is with the whiney tea baggers. And the 24/7 media blitz of this story. As if they're the first group the government ever picked on.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. In the land of the free, and the home of the brave, no less...

What a travesty.

[progressoid]

4. Hey, "freedom ain't free"

Or some such bullshit.

and Recced.

[librechik]

5. yeah, this is old news for liberal activists, who have been harassed and audited by feds

since the 60s. The Tea Party should just shut up and take their medicine, like we had to.

[xtraxritical]

8. Really there's nothing new here and the IRS is justified in auditing nonprofit applications.

[indepat]

6. Big brother evidently does not consider the protest of pre-emptive wars of aggression

as speech protected by the 1st Amendment as such as this and the suppression of the OWS movement would suggest.

[kestrel91316]

7. IRS audited 3 years of my returns during the * administration.

They didn't find much. There was an error in how I accounted for credit card charges and payments that cost me $1000, but that's it. The guy that did the final audit was like: "WHY are we auditing you? I really don't understand."

But I understood completely. My big, fat liberal mouth and keyboarding is why.

[fasttense]

9. My Grandfather, who never made more than $15,000 a year in his life, got audited 3 years in a row

Finally he got a lawyer and they accused the IRS of harassment. The poor man would get so upset every time he got the audit letters. But they stopped after the 3rd year and the lawyer confronted them. He did make minor mistakes on his tax forms. The guy was 70 and could barely see due to cataracts. He died at 72 with 2 years of peace. It was just pure evil for the IRS to have tortured him like that.

But millionaires who hides their money in offshore accounts, the IRS very rarely audits them.

While I was in the Navy, I got audited and the IRS ended up owing me thousands of dollars. I got a hot shot lawyer to represent me. I learned from what happened to my Grandfather.

[EC]

10. Since it was a Bush appointee that did this

how do we know he didn't do this on purpose to make the administration look bad? It's just like a Karl Rove move.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Good point.