John McLaughlin's blog, Congressmen Complain as IRS Harasses Tea Party published here at American Thinker yesterday, described a letter written to the IRS Commissioner, Douglas H. Shulman, regarding the harassment of embryonic Tea Party groups trying to set themselves up as 501(c)(4)(A) non-profit organizations. 

Congressman Shulman had 62 of his colleagues in the House add their signatures to his on this letter, for a total of 63.

63?  Only 63?  Out of 435 Congressmen.  Oh, and every single signature was from a Republican lawmaker.  Not one Democrat was willing to display anything that might be mistaken for holding principles that were not politically motivated. 

Now that is a pathetic statement, but there is one that is even worse.  Only 63 of the 242 Republicans in the House added their signatures to the letter to the IRS Commissioner.  That means that the Republicans could only get one out of four of their fellow Republicans to sign on the dotted line. 

Being as charitable and kindly disposed (as only I can be) I will assume that the other 179 Republicans might have been unavailable.  They might have been ill.  They might even have been hospitalized.  Or they might have been doing the extraordinarily important business of the nation, like, say, traveling to Las Vegas, or Cartagena, to have a close up look at the scenes of the alleged crimes committed there that are echoing throughout the media.

And what about the 47 Republicans in the Senate?  Where were they?

Have those 226 Republicans such short term memory problems that they have forgotten that without the Tea Parties, they would still be enjoying minority status in both houses of Congress right now?

The Democrats in Congress might be cheering on the actions of the IRS to effectively shut down Tea Parties, unlikely as that might at first appear.  No one could possibly imagine such a reaction from Nancy Pelosi, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz or Chuck Schumer, could they?

Apparently Democrats suffer from memory problems as well.  They still seethe with anger about their loss of control over both Houses, but that's relatively recent history.  It's very nearly current events.  But they seem to have forgotten these prophetic words:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.

If it can be done to the Tea Parties, what can be done under the same sort of rules against the ACLU, or the Center for American Progress, or even MSNBC?  The Democrats should recall another phrase:

What goes around, comes around.

Jim Yardley is a retired financial controller for a variety of manufacturing firms, a Vietnam veteran and an independent voter.  Jim blogs at jimyardley.wordpress.com, or he can be contacted directly at james.v.yardley@gmail.com