Gangster Government, part MCCLVIII

Michael Barone first diagnosed the Obama administration’s practice of Gangster Government in a May 2009 column on the Chrysler bankruptcy. “We have just seen an episode of Gangster Government,” Barone wrote. He added: “It is likely to be part of a continuing series.”
He certainly had that right. He has updated his original column a few times, once to note the series’ long-running nature and once to note the contribution of Kathleen Sebelius. Gangster Government really should be a full time beat for a team of competent reporters.
As it happens, the Washignton Examiner’s David Freddoso has taken it up. Earlier this month Freddoso’s Gangster Government: Barack Obama and the New Washington Thugocracy was published. It even comes with a foreword by Michael Barone.
In his foreword, Barone articulates two reasons why the phenomenon of Gangster Government has emerged as a special concern in the Age of Obama. The first reason is that the government has become intertwined with the private sector in unprecedented ways. The second reason Barone writes is the philosphy of its leader: “[H]is principles seem to be conducive to the kind of gangster government that the city of Chicago has from time to time experienced.”
I discovered the existence of the book after I had taken up the subject this weekend. I thought it might be of interest to many readers and therefore want to bring it to your attention.