You may have heard the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 allocated $80 billion over the next 10 years to the Internal Revenue Service. By itself, this sounds expensive, but not all that alarming. After all, we know the IRS is full of professionals who don’t try to turn people’s lives into a living hell of lawyers, tax returns, and audits more invasive than a TSA agent who moonlights as an OBGYN.
Then, a video started circulating showing what purported to be IRS agents training with firearms. From there, people on the Right began to freak out and spread this idea far and wide, or as far and wide as the Interwebs will allow. Several fact checks later, the story itself was debunked, but the damage was already done. High profile conservatives echoed the sentiment, sounded the warning sirens, and whipped up their followers into a froth that would make a Starbucks barista jealous.
Of course, this reaction is understandable, given the IRS’s recent history regarding conservatives. Lois Lerner and her happy band of IRS agents made quite a splash by discriminating against conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status because…I shudder to think about it…they had words like “patriot” and “TEA Party” in their names! Oh, sure, they went after Leftist groups, too, but the predominant victims were the conservative groups.
I will admit I have more faith in Mexican water quality than I do the IRS playing straight with us, but I have to offer a meager defense of the IRS here. The Right overreacted with their initial “OHMYGODTHEIRSISGONNASHOOTUS!” response because there is a plausible explanation. For one, we don’t even know how many IRS agents are going to be hired, let alone armed. And, yes, there is a fraction of the IRS that does need to be armed as part of the job, but they are in the vast minority.
Having said all of that, the IRS does bear some responsibility in adding fuel to the conspiratorial fires with their ineptitude. When they initially posted ads for openings as a Criminal Investigation Special Agent, there was a requirement to “Carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.” After an IRS employee deleted the requirement because…he or she thought the verbiage shouldn’t be there, the Right, who was already fired up about the potential of armed IRS agents, jumped to conclusions again. The delay in acknowledging and addressing the issue didn’t help, either. When dealing with conspiracy hypotheses, whenever there is silence by a government figure or entity, that silence will get filled with wild ass speculation.
And that’s where Leftists get ammunition to discredit both the well-grounded and the batshit crazy criticisms the Right levies. One thing the Right doesn’t understand about the Left is no matter how well-sourced and factual your argument is, the Left will never accept it as truth because they disagree with it and you. Although this makes people like Joe Rogan look like Nostradamus, Leftists will continue to perpetuate the ideas they pulled out of their collectivist asses to avoid admitting they were wrong.
However, when the Right pushes a narrative that is full of holes, the Left doesn’t have to work that hard to discredit it. They simply mock its inconsistencies, make sweeping generalizations about how dumb the Right is, and move on with their days. That’s why it’s important not to jump to conclusions. Sure, Leftists won’t admit it, but others may be paying attention, looking for information or facts to help them make sense of things. Coming off like a slightly more coherent Gary Busey doesn’t help.
Instead, it’s okay to do a bit of digging to make the right call the first time. Sure, Leftists will get the early advantage, but when they sound batshit crazy from the jump, does letting them keep talking really hurt?
