The audacity of socialism: Shut up!

Back when President Obama was merely talking about capping the salaries of executives at bailed out companies and not yet dictating that those firms should not make trips to Las Vegas on the taxpayer’s dime, an astute letter writer observed: “If you take the king’s coin, you are a creature of the king.”

The audacity of socialism is reaching even deeper to dictate terms, The Wall Street Journal now tells us.

The First Amendment right of free speech is being threatened.

In an editorial in its Friday edition, the Journal reports that a union big wig on Feb. 10 sent a threatening letter to a banking organization instructing the bankers to "immediately cease all lobbying and advocacy" against "card check" legislation.

That is the Obama-backed pending bill that would allow unions to organize a company merely by privately obtaining signature cards instead of conducting a secret ballot election.

To make sure the point was clearly conveyed the letter was copied to Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Christopher Dodd, who, as the Journal describes it, “happen to have life or death power over the banks.”

“Someone call the Stasi,” comes the editorial imperative.

As Judy Collins famously said, “Don’t bother, they’re here.”