Dr. Karen Kenney is a Constitutional and absolutely a brilliantly smart woman, she testified in front of the U.S. Congress’s Ways & Means Committee on the IRS targeting conservative organizations and denying tax exempt status to pro-life, pro-Second Amendment and Tea party groups.

She is also the founder and Executive Director of the San Fernando Valley Tea Party Patriots, holding monthly informative meetings with excellent speakers with a large range of topics and issues of interest to everybody.

By Dr. Karen Kenney: Proctology:  study of the anus, rectum and colon. 

IRS probe: see above, add debt.

In June, it will be nearly two years since my testimony concerning the IRS scrutiny of tax-exempt applications for “tea party”/conservative groups made me a Twitter “like” and a You Tube “view.”

My testimony opened with a quote from John Adams, “Facts are stubborn things” and ended with a “Thank you” to members of the Ways and Means Committee. In between were a 5-minute recitation of facts between 2010 and 2012, which chronicled the demanding, intrusive IRS probe; its impact on our San Fernando Valley Patriots, and a dash of “tea party” principles dipped in the First Amendment.

It was an honor to testify with Kevin Kookogey (Linchpins of Liberty), Diane Belson (Laurens County South Carolina Tea Party); John Eastman (National Organization for Marriage); Sue Martinek (Coalition of Life of Iowa) and Becky Gerritson, (Wetumpka Alabama Tea Party). They passed my secret test: Would I want them for neighbors? Yes.

The transition from quiet patriot to “grassroots” minor celeb has brought a whiplash of political, media and legal challenges and opportunities—along with clarity of my conservative values. (As a former registered Democrat, now registered Republican, I wish I could register Conservative, but not in California—the “Altered State.”)

I’m not sure whether to send a thank you note to Barack Hussein Obama or Lois Lerner.

Obama’s signing on Feb. 17, 2009 of the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” inspired my “tea party” genes; Lois Lerner’s invoking on May 22, 2013 the Fifth Amendment incited them.

Between 2010 and 2012, the SFV Patriots hosted events that drew hundreds to a Tax Day Rally (250); a 9-11 Memorial (275) and a July 4 rally (200). Now, tax debt and shriveled attendance at public rallies restricts our civic virtue to monthly meetings, a growing social media footprint, speaker presentations and distribution of free pocket versions of America’s founding documents. Yet, our numbers grow as we attract patriots from across the spectrum of party and union politics

In July 2012, I withdrew our application for tax-exempt status after three interrogatories by the IRS, including a demand for our donor list—a clear violation of policy and our First Amendment rights. We continue to pursue litigation with the American Center for Law and Justice, which represents nearly 40 groups targeted by the IRS.

At a recent speech, someone asked why we continue. The answer is simple: America is exceptional. No other nation is built on the principles within our Founding Documents.

As far as a proctological view of America? I’ll leave that to the Progressives.

We patriots prefer our nation’s heart and mind.

Karen L. Kenney, PhD, is coordinator of the San Fernando Valley Patriots

Follow the San Fernando Valley Patriots on Twitter: twitter.com/PatriotDogHouse