A Tale Of Two Deaths

As we reported yesterday, President Obama lashed out at what he called "phony scandals" in Washington during a speech on the economy this week. The two big scandals in the news are the IRS/Tea Party scandal and the Benghazi cover-up.

Patricia Smith was on Fox News yesterday, and she did not take Mr. Obama's remarks very well. You see, her son, Sean Smith, was killed during the attacks on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Nearly a year later, she is still waiting for someone in the Obama Administration to explain to her what happened on the night of September 11, 2012, and why her son died. Responding to Mr. Obama's rhetoric, Mrs. Smith said, "He's wrong. My son is dead. How could that be phony?"

Her comments led me to think about how her son's death is being portrayed to the American people compared to the death of Trayvon Martin.

Trayvon Martin is now a household name. I would not be surprised if 99% of the American people know who he is. And why wouldn't they? Even now the stories persist about the tragedy of his death, how we can achieve justice for Travyon and advance the cause of racial reconciliation.

In contrast, I would be shocked if half of the public could identify Sean Smith as a victim of the Benghazi attacks. The media show little interest in finding out why he is dead. There are no calls by major news organizations and opinion leaders for justice for Sean Smith.

Trayvon Martin regrettably lost his life because of the actions of a neighborhood watchman, as well as his own actions. Reasonable people can disagree about whether George Zimmerman was justified in using deadly force. But that incident was elevated to a cause celebre. President Obama commented on it. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton exploited it. Vigils were held across the country.

These statistics speak volumes: A Google News search for "Trayvon Martin" yields 310,000,000 results. The same search for "Sean Smith" produces fewer than 49,000.

Smith wasn't killed unintentionally. He was murdered by jihadists, avowed enemies of America. But Barack Obama effectively ignored Smith's cries for help.

And the president who has ordered the Justice Department to continue investigating George Zimmerman is doing everything he can to prevent the truth from coming out about why Mr. Smith died.

Sadly, America's lapdog media cooperates in this effort to keep Sean Smith "buried" while transforming Trayvon Martin into a national symbol. There is just no way to exploit Smith's death in order to advance the liberal narrative.

I feel terribly that individual miscalculations on a dark street led to the death of an unarmed teenage boy. But I am just as disturbed that a great nation may let the death of a hero go unexplained, and may allow a president, having never been held accountable, to walk into the history books unmarred by such a scandal.

Shut It Down!

If you thought tensions in Washington couldn't get any worse, think again. There are huge budget battles looming in the months ahead, and both sides appear to be hunkering down for a fight.

We got a preview of the president's position this week with his campaign-style stump speech attacking Congress. Ahead of the 2014 mid-term elections, which historically are disastrous for the president's party, Obama is doing everything he can to rally his base, hoping to avoid losing any more ground on Capitol Hill.

Even the Washington Post acknowledges that Obama is taking "a more confrontational approach" that could lead to a government shutdown due to his "repeated and little-noticed veto threats over the past few weeks."

For their part, Republicans are vowing to keep spending under control, and some are also drawing a line in the sand on Obamacare. Sixty House Republicans and more than a dozen senators have warned the GOP leadership that they will oppose any government spending bill that funds Obamacare, even if it means shutting down the government.

At times in the past, I have been skeptical about the idea of shutting down the government because the American people would learn about it through the distorted lens of the left-wing media. But this time I am firmly in the camp of those calling for a government shutdown because the stakes are very high.

As one columnist put it recently, "Obamacare … is looking more and more like an unmitigated disaster." (The entire column is well worth reading to understand why.) Every day brings more evidence that it is hurting economic growth and hard-working Americans who are seeing their hours and paychecks cut because of its onerous mandates and regulations. Even honest Democrats admit Obamacare is a "huge train wreck."

Poll after poll suggests beyond a reasonable doubt that the American people do not like Obamacare. A new Fox News poll finds that independent voters want Obamacare repealed by a whopping 40-point margin!

Congressional conservatives should support a resolution that funds every government agency except for Obamacare, and let the chips fall where they may. Senator Marco Rubio makes the case in this opinion piece.

If there is a government shutdown, it won't be because conservatives refused to fund the government. It will be because Obama is holding America hostage to an unpopular, unworkable disaster!

Ads should be run now so that the American people understand what is going on before the liberal media has a chance to twist the facts.

Feature a working mother who has had her hours cut back looking into the camera and saying, "Mr. President, I am begging you not to let your ego get in the way of America's economic recovery. Don't just suspend parts of Obamacare -- stop it all!"

The polls clearly show that the American people are already on the side of those seeking to defund Obamacare. Strike now, and stay on the attack!

And I would say to congressional leaders that they are making a horrible miscalculation if they think business as usual will pass muster this time. They have it in their hands to rally the American people and inspire them by fighting against this unpopular law. Or they could further alienate voters by playing an "inside the Beltway" game.

What do you think? Is it worth risking a government shutdown in order to defund Obamacare? I'd appreciate your feedback.