There are at least two sides to the “IRS Picking on Conservatives” story. The first, obviously, is how bad it is. It’s actually hard to find words to describe how bad what the IRS did was. Perhaps you need to go back to Chief Justice John Marshall in McCulloch v. Maryland (p. 431): “[T]he power to tax involves the power to destroy”. That is what, ultimately, is involved here: The IRS using its power to tax – and audit and approve – to destroy (or at least defeat) certain political opinions.
My second point is that some people don’t agree with my first point. I do not want to try to characterize their opinions (since they would probably disagree with my characterization), so let me just point you at a few of them: Here, here and here.*
I hope I don’t sound superior or condescending, but as I read these articles, I think back on when I was that way, too. I would see something that my side was doing, and I would come up with a justification why it was really not all that bad and a reason why something else was worse.
The other side was wrong on so much, that I could never admit they were right on anything. They had to be defeated, and to agree with them, against my own side, would be disloyal and would hurt the cause.
Eventually, however, I grew up (though it took a lot longer than it should have). I came to realize that no side is right all the time. Certainly, my side wasn’t, and it isn’t being disloyal to admit that. But mostly, I came to realize that following my principles is more important than always supporting one side – or one person.
I think most of us come to that understanding. Sometimes it takes longer than it should to get there (as it probably did for me). And some of us never get there.
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* UPDATE (5/21/13 7:50 am): Following up on my comment abouit people who don't agree with me regarding my first point, here are three more: Here, here and here.
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