Are Democrats Targeting Filmmakers?

(UPDATED 8/6 to include the death of videomaker Shawn Lucas.)

If you watched day #1 of the DNC convention, you would know that enemy #1 for the Democrats, tied even with Donald Trump, is a SCOTUS decision known as "Citizens United".   This was a legal dispute that centered around a film about Hillary Clinton which Democrats tried to suppress using the McCain-Feingold campaign finance restrictions.  Democrats lost the case opening the floodgates for filmmakers to make movies and, gasp, show them to the public.  By the anger and vitriol aimed at this case one would think the SCOTUS was selling baby parts or something!   

Here is a list of other filmmakers the Democrats hate so much they have sent some to prison, had some audited by the IRS, and have used just about every tentacle of government to try to bully them into submission:     

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, an Egyptian born Christian who made a YouTube video critical of Mohammed, was the ultimate political prisoner.  He was the scapegoat blamed by Obama and Clinton for the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, so they put him in prison for a year on dubious tangential charges.  Even Vladimir Putin was incredulous.  Nakoula's imprisonment was orchestrated to distract from the failure of Obama and Clinton to protect and defend their people in Libya, and to divert attention from the increasing risk of Islamic terrorism which they claimed to have defeated.  The diversion worked, of course, and they got reelected.     

Joel Gilbert:  Mr. Gilbert made an anti-Obama film called "Dreams From My Real Father".  It drew the ire of Democrats on the Federal Election Commission (FEC) who voted unanimously to punish Mr. Gilbert.  When Republicans pointed out that liberal filmmakers like Michael Moore were not similarly harassed, the punishment was eventually blocked. Were it not for the split FEC, Mr. Gilbert would have been sanctioned for making a movie critical of Barack Obama.

Dinesh D'Souza: Mr. D'Souza admitted giving more money than was allowed by federal law to a college friend who was running for office.  More importantly though, he made a couple of anti-Obama films in 2012 and 2013.  As a result of the ostensible campaign finance violation, he was confined for eight months, put on five months probation, and forced to undergo psychological counseling.   Here's what liberal Harvard legal scholar Alan Dershowitz said about his conviction and sentence:  

“The idea of charging him with a felony for this doesn’t sound like a proper exercise of prosecutorial discretion.... I can’t help but think that [D'Souza's] politics have something to do with it.... It smacks of selective prosecution.” He went on to say such alleged campaign violations are common in politics.

(Uptdate:  Dinesh D'Souza has a new film currently in theaters called "Hillary's America",  which is doing quite well.  My advice to Dinesh?  Pack your bags for another stint...)

David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt:  These two were behind the Planned Parenthood undercover videos made by The Center for Medical Progress.  Barack Obama himself made a point to single them out.  As part of their cover they used fake IDs that somehow became a pretense for felony charges, a raid on Daleidon's home, and seizures of his property.

“To storm into a private citizen’s home with a search warrant is outrageously out of proportion for the type of crime alleged,” said Matt Heffron a former federal prosecutor who is now Daleiden’s legal adviser. “It’s a discredit to law enforcement, an oppressive abuse of government power.”

(Update: Breaking news!  As of today, all charges in Texas have been dropped against Daleiden.  But the damage is done, his funding dried up, he was sidelined for the primaries, and the harassment succeeded.)

James O'Keefe, Joseph Basel, Robert Flanagan, and Stan Dai: These people were part of James O'Keefe's undercover video organization, Project Veritas, the organization that single-handedly took down one of Obama's favorite community organizer activist groups, ACORN. They went on to investigate Democrat Senator Mary Landrieu and ran afoul of the FBI while trying to make a film about her. They eventually settled for misdemeanor charges and accepted probation, fines, and community service.  O'keefe has also been harassed by Obama's DHS for making films about the open Mexican border.

Logan Clements: Mr. Clements made a movie called "Sick and Sicker...", an unflattering portrayal of Obamacare.  For his disloyalty he was handed his first ever IRS audit.  Coincidence?  Perhaps.  

Breitbart News:  This could be another amazing coincidence, but Breitbart News also earned their first IRS audit.   Breitbart is a multi-media internet megaphone that is foursquare opposed to Obama's policies.  (Also, see David Bossie below who contributes occasionally to Breitbart.) 

Glenn Beck, Pat Grey, and Scott Baker:  Another amazing coincidence?  Glenn Beck and his Blaze Network don't just make videos,  they have an entire broadcast network, publish books, run a website, and do talk radio,  all of which opposes Barack Obama's policies.  So yeah, these guys all got their first IRS audits .  But that's not all.  Glenn Beck's top sponsor, GoldLine, was targeted by Democrats, specifically congressman Anthony Weiner, husband of Hillary's right hand person Huma Abedin, and a known political hit-man for Democrats and Obama.  Weiner resigned his House seat in scandal, but his wife will play a major role in a possible Clinton administration.

David Bossie and James Bopp:  These men were behind the aforementioned Citizens United SCOTUS case. David Bossie runs CU and James Bopp was the lawyer who defended the first amendment. The case centered around CU's right to make and show a film, in this case an unflattering portrait of Hillary Clinton. They won the case at the SCUTUS, but ran afoul of Obama and the entire Left who believe the first amendment only applies to Michael Moore and The New York Times. Hence, in front of the entire world, during a state of the union address, Barack Obama publicly berated the justices who upheld the first amendment rights of filmmakers, thus sending a message to justices, filmmakers, and supporters of people who make films: oppose me and I will use the Bully Pulpit to bully you.

No list like this would be complete without mentioning Obama's number one target in the media and film world - Fox News.  Fox has been singled-out and harassed personally by Barack Obama on numerous occasions.  These attacks send a clear and chilling message to sponsors:  Advertise on Fox and you will be the target of restrictive regulations, IRS audits, and federal harassment.   (Update: Fox just broke a record high for viewer ratings, and its founder Roger Ailes has been forced to resign after a sexual harassment lawsuit was filed against him.)

Are Democrats targeting certain filmmakers, or are these all just coincidences?  You decide...

UPDATE:
Shawn Lucas, who made a viral video about serving a lawsuit against the DNC's Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Hillary Clinton, was found dead on August 2nd.   It is too early to know how or why he died.

Shawn Lucas is the third fourth mysterious death surrounding the DNC and the Clintons in four months. See here.