WHEN YOU CAN’T WIN ANY ARGUMENTS, IT’S BEST TO MAKE SURE YOU DON’T FACE ANY: Return of the Speech Police: In 2012 It Was The IRS. In 2016 It Will Be The Justice Department. “You won’t read much about it in the Beltway press corps, but a behind-the-scenes effort is under way to lobby the Federal Election Commission and Justice Department to stifle free political speech the way the Internal Revenue Service did in 2012. Don’t be surprised if the subpoenas hit Republican candidates at crucial political moments. . . . In September 2011, Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center wrote to then IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman and Exempt Organizations Director Lois Lerner requesting an IRS probe into whether “certain organizations are ineligible for tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4).” Around the same time, the IRS created its process that targeted conservative groups. The same outfits are back at it, filling the FEC’s docket with complaints that target Republicans or GOP-leaning organizations 75% or more of the time.”

Yes, the Wisconsin John Doe thuggery was a model. Best to make examples of its perpetrators, and make clear to these bureaucrats that their lives and careers will suffer from similar action. The GOP, however, seems largely hapless in the face of these machinations.