The Culture War Comes To Dartmouth 

Dartmouth College, one of America's premier institutions of higher learning, appears to be struggling with the wreckage of the left's cultural agenda. Dartmouth's president, Philip J. Hanlon, delivered a scathing speech last night ripping into the student body for its bad behavior. 

Noting a federal investigation for sexual assaults, fraternity and sorority parties with "racist and sexist undertones," and a 14% drop in applications, President Hanlon scolded the students, saying, "There is a grave disconnect between our culture in the classroom and the behaviors outside of it -- behaviors which too often seek not to elevate the human spirit, but debase it." 

"Routinized excessive drinking, sexual misconduct, and blatant disregard of social norms have no place at Dartmouth. Enough is enough," Hanlon added. 

"Blatant disregard of social norms"? Was that the best description he could come up with? Probably. Poor President Hanlon. He has been so immersed in the culture of the left that he didn't dare utter the most obvious adjective to refer to the debauchery on campus: "immoral." That would be "judgmental." 

Prior to becoming an administrator, Hanlon was a math professor. In his world 2 + 2 = 4. There are fixed absolutes of right and wrong. But that is not the case in the libertine world of academia. The intolerant left is wholly committed to the idea that there is no right and wrong. The moral relativist agenda is all about the "blatant disregard of social norms." 

The left began attacking social norms during the sexual revolution of the 1960s. For years conservatives lamented the breakdown of the family, rising out-of-wedlock births and the coarsening of the culture. Now marriage itself is being redefined and polygamy is coming out of the proverbial closet. In the midst of this sort of chaos, should we really be surprised by "excessive drinking and sexual misconduct"? 

Once you declare war on the values of Judeo-Christian civilization and relegate the Ten Commandments to the trash can, debauchery is never far behind. 

IRS Scandal Spreads 

A few weeks ago, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen was on Capitol Hill testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Members of the committee were questioning Koskinen as to why the IRS has failed to comply with a subpoena demanding all of Lerner's emails. 

His response was surprisingly candid: "We are going to respond to the subpoena. I'm just going to tell you that to comply with this subpoena, we're going to be at it for years, not months." 

It's not every day that a bureaucrat admits to stonewalling. And how convenient that the emails will be available after this administration ends. 

Commissioner Koskinen's remarks didn't sit well with members of the committee, some of whom suggested he could be held in contempt as well. And perhaps he should be. 

Yesterday, Judicial Watch released some of Lois Lerner's emails, which it obtained through a Freedom of Information request. The contents suggest the Tea Party targeting scandal may have also included the Justice Department and the FEC. 

In response to this latest revelation, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said:
 

"Now I see why the IRS is scared to give up the rest of Lois Lerner’s emails. Not only do these e-mails further prove the coordination among the IRS, the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Justice Department and committee Democrats to target conservatives, they also show that had our committee not requested the inspector general's investigation when we did, Eric Holder's politicized Justice Department would likely have been leveling trumped up criminal charges against Tea Party groups to intimidate them from exercising their constitutional rights."

In Contempt? No Pay 

Last week we told you about Attorney General Eric Holder's contentious hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. At that hearing, the issue of Holder's contempt of Congress citation came up several times. During one exchange, Rep. Farenthold said: "If an American citizen had not complied with one of the Justice Department subpoenas, they would be in jail, not testifying." 

Of course, Eric Holder is not the only administration official who is refusing to cooperate with Congress. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has voted to hold former IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt for refusing to testify about her knowledge of the Tea Party targeting scandal. 

The House Ways and Means Committee also voted to refer Lerner to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution. And there is still an awful lot about Benghazi that we don't know because of continued stonewalling by administration officials.

It seems that arrogant bureaucrats feel little pressure to follow the law and respect the separation of powers. So Rep. Farenthold has an idea that might encourage greater cooperation between the branches of government. He is proposing a bill that would suspend the salaries of federal officials held in contempt by either the House or the Senate. 

Announcing his legislation, the congressman said, "The American people should not be footing the bill for federal employees who stonewall Congress or rewarding government officials' bad behavior. If the average American failed to do his or her job, he or she would hardly be rewarded." 

He's right about that. It is high time that the bureaucrats whose salaries we pay start living under the same laws and expectations that apply to the rest of us! 

Whether it is NSA spying, abuse at the IRS, ignoring laws, telling us what products we must buy or threatening ranchers, there is a palpable sense across the country that the federal government is out-of-control and unaccountable. 

A December Gallup poll found that 72% of Americans felt that big government was a greater threat to their liberty than either big business or big labor. That number has spiked dramatically in recent years, up from 55% in March 2009. 

A wise man once said, "As government expands, liberty contracts." It's time once again to expand liberty and get the government under control!