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'The Godfather' or big government?

Posted: May 11, 2009
1:00 am Eastern

© 2009 

In "The Godfather" movies, or "The Sopranos" TV series, the brutal methods and depraved morals of mafia "dons" were entertaining because they were contrasted to the "normal" methods and morals of free-market America.

Today, it's getting harder to distinguish between the two.

For example, in the mafia movies, the distressed private businessman takes a loan from the local mafia "don" to save the business only to find that the "loan" has transformed the "don" into a senior partner.

Chrysler corporate bond holders, normally senior debt holders in a bankruptcy, found themselves junior to the UAW retiree health plan on order of the new "don" – the Obama administration. Big banks, which owned the senior corporate bond debt but had been bailed out with TARP funds, couldn't resist Don Obama's order to take 29 cents on the dollar and cede control of Chrysler to the UAW. Other "dissident" bond holders who held out for traditional rules of bankruptcy were threatened by the new Don publicly and, some said, privately.

In the movies, the "don" creates a web of seemingly legit "fronts" – businesses that appear normal but hide criminality and money laundering.

In the "stress test" of banks, Don Obama required major banks to come up with new capital they could not raise, then offered to allow the banks to meet the new requirements by converting preferred stock issued to cover TARP loans to common stock that would make the federal government the permanent largest single shareholder.

In the movies, construction companies get contracts to build public works only after agreeing to put "connected" guys who never show up for work on the payroll.

In the "stimulus" bill, Don Obama pads the federal and state payrolls with ACORN activists and other campaign workers to create a permanent taxpayer-funded Obama army.

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In the movies, the "don" corrupts law enforcement, and the judges to shield the bad guys and thwart justice.

In his first days in office, Don Obama orders the closure of Gitmo and the release into American suburbs of dangerous, trained Islamic radical killers.

In the movies, the "don" enforces his edicts with a gang of tough guys.

Promoting "cap-and-trade" taxes, a new Federal Food Safety Administration and consumer product safety regulations, Don Obama sends a new wave of officers into our lives to exact a tax for the very exhale of our breath, control the food supply and even the contents of yard sales. ACORN activists and members of similar groups are being hired to conduct the census, with the most intrusive questions ever asked of Americans and armed with GPS devises which will map every residential door in America.

In the movies, honest district attorneys are assassinated and community opposition bullied into silence.

In his first months in office, Don Obama's secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, sent a secret directive to every local and state law enforcement agency directing more than 800,000 officers to "scrutinize" "right-wing extremists" including "individuals" who oppose Obama on gun control, abortion or the border. Last week, a Louisiana driver was pulled over by local police officer and warned about the "subversive" bumper sticker on his car which read "Don't Tread on Me."

In the movies, muckraking reporters mysteriously disappear after nosing around the "don's" business.

Don Obama's FCC, in the name of "fairness," is tasked with silencing conservative talk radio, the only remnant of the media speaking truth to the awful power of the new "Don." At the Don's request, Congress considers new "emergency" powers allowing the president to shut down the Internet, or specific websites, and delay the sending of e-mail.

The mafia movies and TV series were entertainment at the time when they were made. Today they seem more like predictions of the change in America under Don Obama.





Roger Hedgecock is the longtime top-rated radio talk host in San Diego, Calif., on KOGO and, more recently, a nationally syndicated daily radio host heard already in 75+ markets and on XM Satellite. His show streams live on WND from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern and then again in the following three hours on tape. Listeners may also tune in to his show at Radio America. He is the author of "The 2008 Conservative Voters Field Guide," a series of books on 2008 issues. Guide No. 1-Immigration and No. 2-The War are available at the WorldNetDaily store. Learn more about Roger at www.rogerreport.com.





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