President Barack Obama is the leader of this country. Regardless of how difficult that is to admit or whether we like it or not, he is the leader of this nation. And as the leader, he sets the example for millions and millions of Americans and people all over the world.
The example that he is setting? Lawlessness.
The biggest problem lately is not that he is an ineffective leader, I actually think it’s quite the opposite in this instance, but that he sets the wrong example. Time and time again we have seen that he considers himself above the law, and more importantly, that in order to get done what he deems as good, he is willing to violate the law for those ends – a behavior that we apparently hate on Wall Street but accept on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Not even halfway through his second term, the list of lawless actions by the president and his administration are staggering:
Obamacare has been unconstitutionally modified and delayed - repeatedly.
Recess appointments were made when the Senate was not technically in recess, a violation that was rectified recently by the Supreme Court.
The IRS violated federal law in not notifying the National Archives of the numerous and timely hard drive crashes.
Obama has and still refuses to enforce our immigration laws, refused to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act, unilaterally waived the work requirement for welfare and skirted disclosure requirements by meeting with lobbyists in a coffee shop across the street!
I’m just getting warmed up here, people.
Throw in Operation Fast and Furious, the Department of Justice obtaining phone records from the Associated Press, the inexcusable dropping of charges against the New Black Panther Party and you have quite a track record of abuse.
AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Monica Herndon, Pool
This pattern of abuses has created a blueprint, an example for everyone else to follow, and the evidence suggests that many are.
We have tens of thousands of people illegally pouring across our southern border as we speak. They have followed his lead and will break whatever law is in their way to achieve their end – getting to America. The IRS, completely unafraid of Congress, has defied subpoenas, been far less than forthcoming and has stonewalled much of the investigation by Congress.
The National Security Agency carries on with their unconstitutional collection of meta data on nearly every American. The Environmental Protection Agency will do anything to choke the coal industry whether legal or illegal.
Aside from the vast landscape of government agencies, which seem to have taken Obama’s cue, this behavior filters down to the people as well. The American people see a president who places the ends above the means; who will do whatever is necessary to get what he wants, whether legal or illegal.
If the laws aren’t vital for someone as important as the president to follow, then surely they aren’t necessary for me either. Why the hell should I bust myself to follow the laws when the most visible, followed and talked about person is blatantly violating them?
This creates an absolute breakdown in the rule of law and foments even more lawlessness. Our system is built on equality, on things being fair and just. If one person or a group of persons are freely allowed to violate the law with no consequence, especially the very people who are there to enforce the law, then the very underpinnings of our legal system and traditions have been removed. It is no longer equal; it is no longer fair.
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
If the system is no longer fair, then what is the motivation to adhere to it as a citizen? Who in their right mind would have allegiance to a plainly unfair and unequal system of law? Who strives to play by the rules if there is no punishment for breaking them?
Obama’s attitude toward the laws and toward the Constitution are sowing dangerous seeds of contempt for the rule of law.
Obama’s lawless behavior also creates an incredibly dangerous precedent for future leaders that truly jeopardizes our Republic.
Politicians, I think it is safe to say, are not in the habit of returning power back to its rightful place if that rightful place isn’t themselves. Unless we elect a true believer in constitutionally limited power and restrictions, then we must assume that the next, and any future president, will simply start at this benchmark and push even further.
We have ample evidence of this in the current president. Obama has started where President George W. Bush left off on the NSA data collection, the use of the military, signing statements and executive orders, and has expanded from the precedent that Bush set.
Who will follow Obama? How far will they push the needle of power into the executive hands? We don’t know either of those answers, but if this is only the baseline for executive power and behavior to come, then our constitutional Republic is in real danger.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
We are a country built on the rule of law. The rule of law protected property and industry. The rule of law protected life and liberty; it reflects an equal society in which no one is above another in the eyes of lady justice. But if this is to be removed or simply trampled over in the name of “progress,” then justice will depend on who you know, who you donated to, who you voted for, what you’ve written on a blog or even said to someone in private.
The arbitrary and capricious enforcement of the law destroys any Constitutional right, for rights are to be applied equally and protected equally, a basic concept that is lost in the fickle preference of a ruling class.
These are the consequences of the flagrant violation of the law by our president, a behavior that will be followed by citizens and politicians alike.
Why is it fragrant? Because it stinks like *%!$.
For other articles and writings by Darrell, please visit the Milk Crate.
Feature Photo: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File
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