Perhaps because of what Glenn Beck’s been saying about Toyota, I’ve been asked many times over the past few weeks whether it’s possible that Obama, Rahm Emanuel and/or Waxman have launched this vendetta against them, as a conscious strategy to benefit GM and/or the UAW. After all, the government owns most of GM now.

I’ve had a serious mental block against even considering that idea. After all, to say that the government owns a majority of GM is theoretically the same as saying that We The Taxpayers own a majority of GM.

But what if it’s true? Hearing some of what Waxman has been saying really has me wondering.

Now, Toyota Motor doesn’t deserve any quarter here. I think they have a software problem, which would be deeply frightening because those are a total bitch to find, and they completely mishandled the optics of the situation.

But if people in the government have decided, for whatever reason fair or foul, to start messing with Toyota, then I’m really, really scared. Markets have long recognized that government isn’t bound by law in any practical sense. Harvard MBAs learn that ethical boundaries are defined by what you can get away with. Going along with that, the Constitution and USC are notional at best, since there is no one that can enforce them against the government itself.

However, there’s always been an expectation that the US government will stay respectful of its boundaries. If the Democrats decide to blow that expectation away here, we’re in for some stuff that you won’t believe.