Monday, June 18, 2012

The Imperial Presidency

By William L. Garvin

Has there ever been a president with so little regard for the United States Constitution?  The supposed Constitutional-Scholar-in Chief is either unaware or deliberately disregarding the cornerstone document of this exceptional country.  If it were an isolated situation, there might be a way to rationalize his behavior but this is an ongoing pattern of disrespect for the Constitution, Congress, and our Republic.

Stepping back and reviewing his performance to date, one can only shudder at the prospect of his having “more flexibility” upon reelection.  What happens to our system of checks and balances when an imperial president decrees which laws will be enforced and which laws will be disregarded?  What happens to a nation dedicated to a rule of law when a single man can dictate what is “the right thing to do” versus what is constitutionally legal?  This country recoiled from the  “divine right of kings” when it was founded and it certainly doesn’t need a pretender to the throne today!  Worse yet, contempt for one law breeds contempt for all laws.

The Imperial President and Constitutional-Scholar-In-Chief didn’t think the Defense of Marriage Act was constitutional so doesn’t defend it.  Keep in mind that he was a junior associate attorney for only about four working years, handled only about thirty cases, and never argued in front of the Supreme Court.  He also unilaterally decided that some states do not have to follow the No Child Left Behind federal education law.  Likewise, after all the shenanigans necessary to get the constitutionally questionable Affordable Health Care Act (sic) enacted (Cornhusker Kickback, Louisiana Purchase, midnight vote, and “we have to pass it to know what is in it”), he has now by Imperial Decree granted 1,500 plus waivers to mostly unions, favored companies and of course, AARP.  Then there’s the famous “prosecutorial discretion” he gave to the Department of Justice when it came to states that enacted medical marijuana laws.  Given his high school days as a self-proclaimed “toker-in-chief” status, that came as no surprise.  The media has yet to clarify exactly when he stopped smoking dope but that comes as no surprise either.

It must be that same “prosecutorial discretion” that allowed the New Black Panther Party to skate on voter intimidation charges.  If the Department of Justice had used a little more discretion in their ill-advised “Fast and Furious” give free guns to Mexican gangsters fiasco, Brian Terry would be alive today.  Given their track records, DOJ, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security should probably have a lot less latitude rather than more discretion.  It is these agencies that carry out the Imperial Decrees.  It is these agencies that forbade Catholic institutions to follow their own religious rights of conscience and imposed governmental mandates on first, the church, and secondly, on private insurance companies.  Of course, if the commerce clause can be used to take over one-sixth of the private sector economy and impose purchase requirements on all citizens, what’s a little speed bump of religious freedom along the way!

When the federal government proves unable to secure its own borders and states must take the necessary measures to protect themselves, it is prosecutorial discretion that allows DOJ to join forces with Mexico to prosecute Arizona.  It’s that same discretion and presidential guidance that allows DOJ to prosecute states for legally enacting voter identification laws under the canard that being able to prove you are who you say you are is some sort of inordinately heavy and/or discriminatory burden. 

The latest Imperial Decree allows prosecutorial discretion to Homeland Security when it comes to deportation of young illegal aliens.  Cynics naturally expect that those of voting age who receives reprieves will immediately receive absentee ballots with one imperial name already checked.  Naturally, Janet Napolitano would never abuse her discretion.  Oh, wait… it’s the same sort of discretion that allows Ms. Napolitano to deny the State of Florida access to her data base to verify the citizenship of voters on Florida rolls and simultaneously allows DOJ to sue Florida for purging their rolls of ineligible voters.  At this stage of the game, there is only one person who profits by keeping ineligible voters on the rolls.

When laws are held in contempt, chaos and anarchy will ensue.  In times of social or financial chaos, don’t be surprised when a dictator emerges to bring things back to “normal.”  It’s the history of our world.      

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