In the sci-fi thriller The Terminator, machines become so advanced that they think for themselves, develop a survival instinct, and set out to destroy everything that threatens their existence.
The Obama Administration is on the proverbial hot seat over the IRS’s targeting of conservative organizations. The Republicans are having a field-day. All the buzz is about how the political tide is about to turn in their favor.
We may never know if there’s a direct link between the current (there is precedent from both sides of the aisle) Administration and the IRS’s shenanigans. I—being too far removed—won’t speculate. But here’s the thing; direct, in this instance, White House connection or not, know that an ever-growing government—the institution itself—has a life of its own. Those who depend on the largess of large government can become like rogue algorithms from some master system — needing no direction from above to sense and deal with danger.
Threaten to simplify the tax code, reform entitlements, cut all manner of wasteful government programs — in essence, threaten livelihoods dependent on big government — and a naked ex-bodybuilder from the future may visit all manner of hell onto your neighborhood. Or, worse yet, you may be visited by the IRS.