One of the most dangerous trends in U.S. political life today is the leftist belief that the group is more important than the law. This mindset completely undermines the rule of law, because it means that the law is applied through a filter of how the application affects a group, instead of being applied impartially regardless of the group or individual circumstances.

When whom you know or what you are becomes more important than the law, it's just a few short steps toward a tyranny of the insiders vs. everyone else.

The latest example comes this week from the Obama administration. I wrote earlier about the White House ordering the park police to close the WWII Monument on the Mall because of the shutdown. This was obviously designed as a petty finger in the eye to veterans and tourists alike.

Veterans groups dared the park police to arrest them as they removed the barricades to visit the monument, which was notable for the lack of park police presence before the shutdown.

It was only when the monument became useful as a symbol to the Obama administration that enforcement showed up.

But now it appears the mall and the monuments are only closed to some people and some groups.

Charlie Spiering of The Examiner reports that on Tuesday the park police allowed an exception to the shutdown rule. The Obama administration decided shutdown rules only applied to taxpayers and other average citizens. If administration supporters — labor unions, Casa De Maryland, Nancy Pelosi and the like — want to hold a rally called "Camino Americano: March for Immigration Reform," to support amnesty for approximately 11 million illegal aliens and future Democrat voters, then the byword is "Come on Down!"

When Republicans do this it's called a "double standard." When Democrats do this it's called "good government."

The shutdown and other laws apply differently depending on who you are and whether or not the Obama administration (Michelle Malkin calls it the "Spite House") considers you part of the movement.

As a result, illegal aliens, who invaded the U.S. in violation of the law, get "four Jumbotrons and an elaborate setup of port-a-potties, special event fencing, tents, and raised and lighted stages are set up across the National Mall," according to Breitbart News.

Meanwhile, veterans who invaded Normandy, Iwo Jima, North Africa, and other locales that were also closed by the local authorities, get gun-toting park police telling them to move away from the monuments they paid for in blood, sweat, and tears.

Michael Reagan is the son of former President Ronald Reagan and chairman of the League of American Voters. His blog appears on reaganreports.com