Our Imperial President

President Obama, when he was inaugurated, swore to uphold the United States Constitution and the laws of our land.  He lied. Repeatedly, and with increasing frequency, he has been ignoring Congressionally-codified laws and other established processes ... and has been issuing administrative orders/actions instead.  The President is disturbingly assuming the mantle of an emperor -- an I-know-better-than-you-peons imperialist.

Here is a short list of the laws, agreements or processes that have been ignored or circumvented by The Barry (there are more):

No Child Left Behind -- George W. Bush, in one of his more liberal actions, cajoled Ted Kennedy and Congress into passing this act in order to raise educational standards throughout our states via a series of increasingly-rigorous testing standards. Yet, even after doubling the spending in the Department of Education under Arne Duncan, many of these standards have been knocked into a cocked hat by Obama ... without any Congressional review or approval (see: USA Today Article).

Defense of Marriage Act -- no matter what one's view is on homosexual marriage, there is a law on the books defining marriage as between one man and one woman. This was passed in Bill Clinton's term and signed by him into law. A year ago Obama declared this law unconstitutional and indicated that his administration would not enforce its strictures (see: YouTube Video).

Don't Ask Don't Tell -- also back in Bill Clinton's administration, the issues of homosexuals serving in the military was resolved with a Department of Defense (DOD) policy that stated that homosexuals could serve therein ... as long as they didn't flaunt their sexual preference. Obama has recently tossed this understanding into the Potomac River by having his DOD revoke this policy (see: Wikipedia Entry).

Missile Defense Shield -- the United States had agreed, under George W. Bush's administration, to erect a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic … much to the dismay of Russia. Hardly a year later Obama abrogated this commitment and left these Eastern European nations slowly dangling in the breeze (see: Guardian Article). And more recently Russian’s Premier Putin has hardened his attitude toward the United States despite this unilateral attempt at appeasement.

Immigration Laws – the Obama White House is using administrative actions under Janet Napolitano’s aegis to create its own extra-legal process for dealing with millions of illegal immigrants. It recently effectively granted amnesty to such younger illegals (see: CNN Story). It also just responded to the current Supreme Court ruling (allowing Arizona law enforcement officers to ask anyone stopped for cause to produce proof of citizenship) by indicating that the federal government would no longer cooperate with Arizona in this process (see CNNPolitics Story). This is tantamount to a finger in the eye of both this state and the Supreme Court.

Obamacare – this wildly unpopular law, probably passed illegally using the Congressional reconciliation process, is now under review by the Supreme Court … with a decision expected this Thursday. If this law is struck down as expected, watch for our imperial President to find another slick way to continue to push his agenda on healthcare independent of our existing legal system. Stay tuned.

Recess Appointments – this past January, when Congress was not technically in recess, President Obama made “recess” appointments to the NLRP and the Consumer Protection Bureau (see: LATimes Story). Although clearly inappropriate, Congress yelped once and then rolled over.

Fast and Furious Subpoena – Eric Holder is expected to be voted in contempt of Congress this Thursday by the full House of Representatives (but it is expected to die later in the Senate). This is because he and President Obama have claimed executive privilege by refusing to turn over critical documents in the Fast and Furious gun-running investigation (see: CNNPolitics Story)

Does one see a disturbing trend in the high-handed governing style under the current administration? Clearly when Barack Obama took his Presidential oath of office three and one half years ago, behind his back, he surely must have had his fingers crossed.