If any muckraking journalist or special prosecutor can connect the dots between the Office of the President and the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups, it would make Watergate look like an attempted cover-up of a second-rate burglary. 
     But that connection probably doesn't exist.  At least not anymore than the connection between the Boston bombers and Al Qaeda exists.  No e-mail or phone call was necessary to execute the attacks because the connection was purely ideological. 
     The Tea Party movement is a threat to the IRS as much as it is to big government proponents in the rest of D.C., academia and the news media.  No one had to order them to go after conservative citizen's groups or order the media to ignore it for as long as possible. It was just understood.  And that is, perhaps, the biggest scandal of it all.

   If you haven't seen (and if you are relying on the mainstream media for your information, you almost certainly haven't) the statements of National Organization for Marriage chairman, Prof. John Eastman to Congress and a Fox news interview regarding his organizations felonious treatment by the IRS, you can see this profile in courage here:
http://www.nomblog.com/35514

     It shouldn't surprise you that the government wants to curtail your free speech rights, but have you heard that it now thinks it can compel people to say things they may not believe?  If that sounds too Orwellian to be true, you haven't seen the Department of Justice's latest memo to federal employees regarding how they should respond to events like "LGBT Pride Month". Among other warnings to managers:

    "DON'T judge or remain silent. Silence will be interpreted as disapproval."

     There you have it.  You must speak against the laws of God and nature or you may find yourself on the wrong side of Big Brother.  Federal managers might also consider the following warning from Ecclesiastes:

    "The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."  (NIV)

     We better get ready to welcome 7 billion potential new US citizens if another ("never-again-this-time-we-really-mean-it") amnesty law is passed.  Sound far fetched? Perhaps.  But consider these two simple facts:
1.  Anyone with half a brain can enter the United States illegally.
2.   Any illegal immigrant who stays here long enough will be granted citizenship.
     Legal immigration has some real benefits and the strict prohibition of it is helping send the once booming nation of Japan into bust mode.  But most serious economic studies confirm that legalization of illegal immigrants will lead to far more costs in government services and entitlements than could ever be recouped in taxes paid.
     If democrats want to further mortgage our countries future they should have to do it alone.
     For a more philosophical critique of the proposed immigration reform see www.bcsteaparty.com

     As the currency of one of the few fiscally responsible nations on earth, the Swiss franc makes the dollar look like monopoly money.  So, you might think twice before you'd hire a 5 star chef to prepare your dinner in Lucerne.  But what if you could find one in Calvert?
     If you missed chef Ken Wilkinson's dining experiences at his Calvert chocolate shop (www.cocoamoda.com), you're in luck.  He's back and as good as ever.  The Franco-Swiss trained Englishman is serving Fridays and Saturdays with reservations. Call ahead to find out what is on the Prix fix menu and you can bring your own bottle of wine to pair.  The Beagle says that the Chateau Briande is tres bien!

    One of The Eagle's bad advice columnists is hanging up her hat leaving us with only the secular psychobabble of Annie's Mailbox.  That's too bad, since Margo was such a good contrarian indicator for how an intelligent moral person might respond to a situation.  Sort of useful, like a broken compass that always points due south. 
     On second thought, the "be wary of giving advice" quote comes to mind. Intelligent moral people shouldn't need to read advice columns to figure out how to get themselves out of self-inflicted calamities, in the first place.  I guess that's why they are all written for and by liberals.  No word yet as to which moral relativist will be replacing her.

     Even if you've missed the amazing success of the "too old, too boring" San Antonio Spurs this season, don't miss the life lesson that Coach Popovich's team provides.
    Motivational tactics in coaching usually involve questioning the manhood of the player or team in order to provoke a visceral reaction.  Instead, Coach Pop appeals to an obscure late 19th century Danish-American reformer named Jacob August Riis to inspire his team.
     Riis worked tirelessly to address the Tammany Hall corruption and abject poverty in the New York City of his day meeting each monumental obstacle with increasing vigor.  His quote, embraced by the Spurs, is hardly Knute Rockne:

      “When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”

     That mentality goes a long way in explaining why the San Antonio Spurs have quietly been America's most successful professional team in any sport for the past 15 years.  How else do you explain this:  Teams leading by 16 points or more with 4 minutes to go in an NBA playoff game were 392-0. Make that 392-1 since the Spurs double overtime comeback victory over Golden State last month.
     So the next time you feel like you're hammering at an unbreakable rock, remember the stonecutter, Jacob Riis and the San Antonio Spurs.