Of War and Remembrance

By William L. Garvin

What a week to remember!  In the latest skirmish in the border wars, el Presidente de Mexico is “indignant” about the U.S. deportation of illegal aliens.  Apparently, he thinks Congress has a “lack of conscience” because they have not granted amnesty to 11 million lawbreakers.  Maybe we should adopt the draconian Mexican immigration policy and put the shoe on the other foot.  This is another case of the pot calling the kettle black.

The culture wars heated up with the spotlight being placed on whether “gay rights” under the equal rights or commerce clauses will trump freedom of religion under the First Amendment.  One would think that if a photographer didn’t want to take pictures at your wedding, you would hire another photographer who would.  That’s not the preferred avenue for some people.  They would rather go to court and force the photographer to participate in a ceremony that he or she finds contrary to their religious principles.  Simultaneously and curiously, the government’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing the Star Trucking Company in Illinois because they fired two Muslim drivers who refused to carry loads of alcohol because of their religious principles.  It seems as if Christians and Jews are bearing the negative brunt of these contradictory positions.

Then there’s the Obama Administration’s war against the Constitution and its “outdated” system of checks and balances.  Attorney General Eric Holder told state Attorneys General that they don’t have to enforce laws that they disagree with which is contrary to their oaths of office.  Why wait for the courts to determine constitutionality when you can do it for yourself!  But then he has a well established track record of selective enforcement and selective prosecution of selected laws based on his personal and political predilections.  He also works for a boss who unilaterally changes the law to suit his political needs without waiting for Congress to make legal and constitutionally required amendments.  Maybe that’s why the CBS poll showed that only 6% of the population view Obamacare favorably and 59% are disappointed in the Obama presidency!  The Kaiser Family Foundation amazingly shows that only 22% of the uninsured view Obamacare favorably!

The President Himself appears to be doubling down on his “Lie of the Year” award.  After his “if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan, period” winner, he has just received 4 Pinocchio’s for “Seven million Americans have access to health care for the first time because of Medicaid expansion.” Normally one would not even utter such a bold and bald-faced lie but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was quick to kill all conscientious objectors.  For the millions who had their policies canceled, for all those who had their premiums increased, for all those who now have unaffordable deductibles, and for all those whose doctors are no longer in the network, YOU ARE ALL LIARS!  “There’s plenty of horror stories being told (about Obamacare)…all of them are untrue,” proclaimed Harry.  If there was ever a question as to the disdain in which the “ruling class” holds the “country class,” Reid removed all doubt.  Keep in mind there’s not a “smidgeon of corruption” in the IRS targeting of conservatives either!  Also keep in mind that Harry is the one who claimed that Mitt Romney never paid taxes!  This is just one more lie in the tapestry of lies in a typical day of the Obama regime.

As for literal battles in lieu of the figurative, watch the recent predictable machination of the Russian Bear.  In 2008, Sarah Palin said that “After the Russian Army invaded the nation of Georgia, Senator Obama’s reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence, the kind of response that would only encourage Russia’s Putin to invade Ukraine next.”  In 2012, Romney stated that Russia “is without question our No. 1 geopolitical foe.  They fight for every cause for the world’s worst actors.  The idea that he has more flexibility in mind for Russia is very, very troubling indeed.”  Of course, Palin was inaccurately but incessantly mocked for her naiveté and Romney was inaccurately and incessantly mocked for his “cold war mentality.”

Now we have a Secretary of State who is “stunned” by the Russians “willful choice” to invade the Ukraine.  In a masterful act of self-delusion, he thinks Putin is acting out of “weakness” and “desperation.”  Meanwhile, our Secretary of Defense is proposing additional massive cuts in the military because he predicts they won’t be needed in future conflicts.  What a woeful, war-full week to remember.