The water is rising for some in Obama’s America:
Conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a campaign finance law violation, avoiding a trial that had been expected to begin the same day in a Manhattan federal court.
D'Souza, known for his biting criticism of President Barack Obama, pleaded guilty to one criminal count of making illegal contributions in the names of others. A second count concerning the making of false statements is expected to be dismissed once he is sentenced.
Prosecutors said D'Souza asked two friends and their spouses to contribute $10,000 each to Long's campaign and then reimbursed them. At the time, campaign finance regulations limited individual donations to a maximum of $5,000 during an election cycle.
The American Conservative’s Rod Dreher’s teary words deserve some elucidation:
I have no trouble believing that D’Souza may have been selectively prosecuted. But even if he was, that does not justify his knowingly breaking the law. Does this really have to be explained to conservatives, of all people? We can’t call for law and order, but carve out special exemptions for our political allies. This is what some on the establishment Right did for Cheney aide Scooter Libby when he was convicted for perjury. Joseph Bottum, for one, denounced conservatives who would not stand up for Libby as cowards.
Dreher correctly points out that in a true democracy, law and order should apply to all, equally, void of special exemptions for certain citizens or classes. However, the foundation of D’Souza's movement, and the success of his career, has been predicated on the rallying cry that our first black president is in fact an enemy to America, and nemesis to these American values. D’Souza’s 2010 bestseller "The Roots of Obama's Rage” examined Barack Obama’s deep-seeded hatred for this country and his secret radical anti-colonial, socialist plan for our future. He elaborated on this theory in a 2010 Forbes cover story, where he used the president’s memoir, Dreams From My Father, to explain his hate:
Obama takes on his father’s struggle, not by recovering his body but by embracing his cause. He decides that where Obama Sr. failed, he will succeed. Obama Sr.’s hatred of the colonial system becomes Obama Jr.’s hatred; his botched attempt to set the world right defines his son’s objective. Through a kind of sacramental rite at the family tomb, the father’s struggle becomes the son’s birthright.
The investigation didn’t conclude there, however. D’Souza then pivoted his inquiry into his film, “2016: Obama’s America,” which early on questions the president’s legal ability to hold office: “Barack Obama II is born in the Kapiolani Medical Center in Honolulu. His birth is recorded in two local newspapers.” We know this to be untrue, of course. The president’s long-form birth certificate still can be viewed on whitehouse.gov. D’Souza, on his website, as David Weigel notes, “has run hundreds of stories about Barack Obama’s citizenship and birth documents.” You can still purchase a “Where’s the Real Birth Certificate?” t-shirt here, albeit the price has shed a few bucks.
D’Souza’s followers are legion among conservative circles. And they show up to the president’s motorcades waving guns by the masses. They believe that the president is an "illegal alien" and that the legacy of his presidency deserves an asterisk. It’s not that the law should apply equally; it’s that, for Barack Obama, it doesn’t apply hard enough.
The irony of Dinesh D’Souza, who reportedly now faces 10 to 16 months in prison, is that his vision of how the law applies to Barack Obama became his reality. Except the wrong man was judged before God.
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