Here is an answer to lots of confounding “Whys”.

It is the Beltway Bubble I described in a recent column. Within the bubble are congressguys and staff, bureaucrats, lobbyists, big media, PR types, political appointees, influence peddlers. They dole out gobs of taxpayer bucks. They deal in power, graft, corruption and fixing.

They feed each other and feed upon each other. Confined within the walls of the bubble, they know little of what the rest of us do, think, fear, resent. And in their ignorance they care less.

Here are some of the “Whys”: Why did the IRS get away with peddling tax files to political animals? Why did it get away with punishing Tea Party and other conservative groups? Why is no one punished for this abuse?

Answer: The bubble-elite feel immune to the charges. Nobody can touch them. So they break laws with impunity.

Why does the NSA get away with prying into our lives? Its snoopers have obviously broken laws. They have listened to our phone calls, read our emails. They have invaded our smart phones and computers. They have done the same around the world. They have gone miles beyond what is needed to protect us. How have they managed this?

Answer: Within the Beltway Bubble they are the law. Few politicians dare attack them. Big media ignore or play down their lawlessness.

Why does the EPA get away with idiotic attacks on businesses? Same reason.

Why does a fat majority of Americans tell pollsters the country is headed in the wrong direction? Twice as many Americans call themselves “conservative” as those who call themselves “liberal”. Forty percent versus twenty. Why is this not reflected in big media?

Why do big media virtually ignore huge-selling books by conservative writers? I mean, a big-seller is a big-seller. You would think…

Why do so many attack the Tea Party? Democrats and Republicans. Liberals and so-called conservatives and Big media. And the attacks are un-hinged. Bizzare accusations.

Why do so many regard Tea Party proposals as radical, revolutionary? Ideas like making the tax code simple. Making tax reporting simple. Term limits. Sensible caps on government spending. Requiring new laws to note what part of our constitution authorizes the laws.

Do these sound like nation-wrecking ideas to you? The bubble-elite attack the Tea Party as if it is poison. Because the party’s ideas threaten the in-breeding within the bubble. Within the pig trough. In that bubble today’s enemy is tomorrow’s pal. Everyone scratches everyone’s back. So when any force threatens their cozy existence they unite to fight it.

I am not for or against Sarah Palin. But you have to wonder why so many go overboard in attacking her. Does she threaten to bring down the republic? No, but she threatens the careers of those within the Beltway Bubble. She is clearly an outsider, physically, morally, philosophically.

She talks like the woman down the block who snowmobiles and fishes with her hubby and cleans her house on her own. She is that. And that is what threatens the elite. They prefer their own, who know far more about peddling influence than laundering clothes.

Remember this next time you ask why Washington gets away with stuff that would not fly in the hinterland. The answer is the Beltway Bubble.

From Tom ... as in Morgan.