So, America sent several pallets loaded with $400 million in various currencies over to Iran. Iran, the same day, released four American citizens. The money, we are told, is a settlement of a decades-old debt dispute between America and Iran, and that another $1.3 billion in interest will be sent over some time in the future. We have been told, by White House spokespeople, by Secretary of State John Kerry, and by President Obama himself, that this was not a ransom payment, and that the timing was pure, unfortunate coincidence.

The mainstream press, in particular the pillars of the liberal media, concurred. Editorials denouncing any assertion of tit-for-tat have been pouring forth, along with a good bit of snide condescension about the backwards-ass rubes that think this is more than just “coincidence.”

Meanwhile, the plans for this payment were kept secret until the evil Right Wing press told us about them. Meanwhile, Iran is claiming it was ransom. Meanwhile, just how stupid would the President’s people have to be to permit such a terrible “coincidence” to happen? Did no one at the White House realize the “optics” of such terribly coincidental timing? Meanwhile, one of the freed hostages claims their departure was delayed at the airport and that they were told another plane had to arrive first. Meanwhile, the State Department won’t verify whether the cash arrived before or after the hostages were released – despite how much stronger their claim of coincidence would be if the money landed after the hostages were safely out of Iranian control/airspace.

Back in February, I asked the Left’s apologists not to piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining in relation to the Clinton email scandal. If you want to shove your head in the sand and pretend that “your side” isn’t engaged in shenanigans, go ahead. You can choose to be willfully ignorant. Just don’t treat the rest of us like we’re stupid.

We don’t have a “smoking gun” document to prove a causative link. We don’t have a tape recording of Obama saying “give them the money in exchange for the hostages.” We don’t have any “hot mic” revelations to support a beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt assertion that ransom was paid.

But, we do have Occam’s Razor. The simplest answer is usually the correct one. As Shawn Tully wrote at Fortune, If It Walks Like a Duck…

If you choose to believe that this is all an incredible coincidence, if you choose to believe the White House and its sycophantic press over your lying eyes, well, you’re what’s wrong with the country today. Our government was founded by people who distrusted government, and all sorts of restrictions and controls were born out of that distrust. We have, especially in this election cycle, an uncountable number of reasons to continue with that distrust.

I don’t care if you think that Trump is the worst thing that could possibly happen to this country. Unless you stand up and demand honesty and accountability from your government, you are as much an enemy to the nation as you think Trump is.

• About the Author

About Peter Venetoklis

I am twice-retired, a former rocket engineer and a former small business owner. At the very least, it makes for interesting party conversation. I'm also a life-long libertarian, I engage in an expanse of entertainments, and I squabble for sport.

Nowadays, I spend a good bit of my time arguing politics and editing this website.

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