Dinesh D’Souza – indicted Campaign Finance Laws –Equal Treatment Under the Law

The New York Times is reportingthe the Conservative, Author and Filmmaker (Obama 2016), has been indicted on charges stemming from reimbursing donors to a NY Senate Campaign, whereby he had exceeded the maximum personal contribution limit.

Although it is, today, the first thought that anyone conservative who is asked to an audit, or indicted is obviously being targeted, perhaps in this instance, given his high profile the odds are greater than average that this was the case.

That said, D’Souza is a smart guy, and should have known better, even if he was, as his lawyer states, helping a friend, and apparently was misguided (New York Times), it is the individuals reasonability to ensure that all is right with any arm of the government that requests one give them cash.

At the age of 16, this blogger was audited by the Massachusetts DOR, having worked perhaps 3 months of that year; it was intimidating to say the least. The agent suggested these were random, and that all was in order, however, what that made clear to me, was to insure that my taxes, both state and federal were up to “snuff”, running multiple audit tests to insure any forms were perfect.

All American’s should have a healthy respect for an agency that wields so much power – frankly I’d like to see a flat tax so that there would be no need to have the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. But, that’s another issue.

Others have broken the same laws, and one understands that there is a slight difference when say it is the finance director of a Clinton Campaign(Fox News 2005), or the fact that certain administrations (Clinton’s) had multiple indictments against their associates with some repercussions(Washington Post, 1988)

Therefore, it’s a 50/50 coin toss as to persecution or basic, you broke it, you fix it with the Feds

The reason it ranks as persecution tall is the fact that conservatives have been targeted by the IRS, therefore a prominent conservative would have a large target on their bank accounts. However, again, he should have known better. The question is, will he be able to walk away, like Rangel, Frank, or so many others who have made ”mistakes” in filing – including this Administration’s Tim Geithner.

That is doubtful. One will get a flavor of a witch-hunt, once the media starts to rally (as of this morning), as to which way this story will spin out of Washington. If D’Souza did, in enthusiasm, break the law, he should suffer the same fate as say, tax cheat Charlie Rangel, and be immediately elected to Congress.

2016 Obama’s America – Stun – Packed Massachusetts Movie Theater Erupts into Applause – Review

Movie Posters with 2016 Obama's America at a Virginia Theater, image dailylife.com

The Documentary, 2016 Obama’s America, by scholar, Dinesh D'Souza, surprised the film industry this weekend, by coming in 8th overall for the weekend, against the blockbusters, films playing in over 3000 theaters, to the current and expanding 1091 theaters showing the documentary. In addition, it easily surpassed the all-time record breaking political films by Michael Moore. (Deadline: Hollywood). The Los Angeles Times on Friday suggested that the film could see 6 million in sales for the weekend(*LA Times) - the weekend total: 9.4 million (*Deadline Hollywood).

My husband and I decided to see the film after reading a review at CBS Local Boston, entitled: “’2016: Obama’s America’ Movie Is Disturbingly Necessary” The review suggests that the author was not inclined to put much stock in the documentary because hard right commentators such as Sean Hannity appeared to promote the film. He changed his stance once he saw the film.

We decided to see the film during a convenient Saturday afternoon showing yesterday, at the Rave Motion Pictures in West Springfield, MA. The thinking was that it was unlikely the film would be crowded, as it was a documentary and the day was pleasant and sunny. At first that appeared to be the case – as we entered the theater there were only 4 to 5 individuals at the showing. Again, Saturday afternoon showings of feature films hardly fill the theaters, let alone a documentary. It was 5 minutes before show time, previews were running and the theater began to fill - with families, single movie goes, old, young, and most importantly, diverse. Needless to say, we were both somewhat surprised.

The Movie itself was an eye-opener, as I personally felt I knew enough background to form an opinion, and had written about a few of the elements contained in the film – I was wrong - D’Souza’s research was impeccable, and the approach of the film was one of a curiosity seeker and not overly partisan, although counting the fact that D’Souza speaks about being a conservative in the film, does not quantify him as a “hard-right partisan” – he negates that by utilizing fact.

As the movie came to an end, the packed theater erupted into applause. That was the most shocking element of the film. A group of 100 (estimating what a full theater might hold), diverse individuals, applauding a documentary, was a first experience. In times past, popular films of fiction might elicit that response, but a documentary? Hardly. This is especially intriguing since this documentary was playing in the heart of Western Massachusetts, the most left of center area of the Bay-State, outside of Cambridge. My husband quipped, “These are voters”. My thoughts on that, if an individual was not intending to vote, and was of an age to vote, this movie is a game-changer.

If one has not seen the film, and wants to experience the theater (rather than wait for the DVD release), locations and ticket times can be found at http://www.fandango.com/2016obamasamerica_157117/movietimes

The movie trailer is below: