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Maybe President Obama is Just Trolling?
Townhall.com ^ | November 26, 2014 | Jonah Goldberg

Posted on 11/26/2014 8:34:20 AM PST by Kaslin

For those who don't know, in Internet parlance, trolling is an effort to elicit outrage from a specific group or the public generally. As the always useful -- but not always G-rated, or spell-checked -- Urban Dictionary explains, "Trolling requires deceiving [sic]; any trolling that doesn't involve decieving [sic] someone isn't trolling at all; it's just stupid." (Pro tip: When spelling "deceiving," remember it's "i before e except after c.") The definition continues: "As such, your victim must not know that you are trolling; if he does, you are an unsuccesful [sic] troll.

I don't like the president's executive action on immigration. I think it's constitutionally dubious -- for exactly the reasons Obama has insisted more than 20 times in the past. "I'm not a king. My job as the head of the executive branch ultimately is to carry out the law," Obama told Telemundo in 2013. "When it comes to enforcement of our immigration laws, we've got some discretion. We can prioritize what we do. But we can't simply ignore the law."

If all King Obama was doing was opting not to deport some immigrants here illegally, he'd be on safer ground. But his new proposal would allow an estimated 3.5 million "undocumented Americans" to get all sorts of documents -- Social Security numbers, work permits, drivers licenses, etc. That's not prosecutorial discretion, that's a rewrite of existing law.

Still, the fine print of what Obama is doing is far less dramatic than many of his defenders and critics claim. Some are comparing it to the Emancipation Proclamation, which is ridiculous. People who voluntarily come to America illegally are in no way comparable to poor souls kidnapped abroad and forced into eternal bondage. Moreover, the Emancipation Proclamation didn't have a two-year time limit or require slaves to fill out paperwork and pay back taxes.

Others claim it's no big deal and perfectly consistent with executive orders taken by Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. This goes too far the other way. Reagan and Bush were mostly cleaning up problems with laws passed by Congress. In the other instances, they were responding to specific foreign crises.

Meanwhile, the only "crisis" Obama claims he is responding to is Congress' "failure to act." This is a dangerous standard. We all know there is an entitlement crisis is America. Should the next Republican president, for example, unilaterally privatize Social Security because Congress refuses to fix it?

Even some on the right believe this is the equivalent of the Emancipation Proclamation -- in its sweep, if not its moral stature. But roughly half of immigrants here illegally will remain unaffected by the measure. And, there's very good reason to believe many of those eligible will not take up the offer. Indeed, the distinctions Obama draws between, say, long-term residents and short-term ones shouldn't matter all that much if you favor family reunification, "getting out of the shadows" or "getting right with the law."

A more plausible criticism is that Obama is trying to lay down precedents and create facts on the ground that will make it impossible to reverse his ratchet toward amnesty.

I'm sure that's part of his thinking. Indeed, he says that's his ultimate goal. He's insisted several times that all Congress has to do is pass a bill that does what he wants and he'll stop doing what he wants without Congress.

Which points to why I think he's trolling. As Robert Litan of the Brookings Institution notes, Obama "could've done all this quietly, without making any announcement whatsoever." After all, Obama has unilaterally reinterpreted and rewritten the law without nationally televised addresses before. But doing that wouldn't let him pander to Latinos and, more important, that wouldn't achieve his real goal: enraging Republicans.

As policy, King Obama's edict is a mess, which may explain why Latinos were initially underwhelmed by it, according to a Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll. But that's not the yardstick Obama cares about most. The real goal is twofold: Cement Latinos into the Democratic coalition, and force Republicans to overreact. He can't achieve the first if he doesn't succeed with the second. It remains to be seen if the Republicans will let themselves be trolled into helping him.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: barack0bama; internet; jonahgoldberg; obamatroll; trolling
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1 posted on 11/26/2014 8:34:20 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Obama is the matador. Amnesty is his cape. The GOP should remember what happens to the bull before they play this game.


2 posted on 11/26/2014 8:36:24 AM PST by DugwayDuke (Principles without power aren't worth spit.)
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To: Kaslin
Obama "could've done all this quietly, without making any announcement whatsoever."

Government has stolen far many of our rights and liberties by way of shadowy and unheralded taxes and regulations.

3 posted on 11/26/2014 8:36:48 AM PST by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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Comment #4 Removed by Moderator

To: Kaslin

I think the word “trolling” is often misused. I don’t think there is any such thing as a “troll” in a general circulation newspaper (except perhaps in the sports section, which favors local teams) because such a newspaper is by definition a forum for the general public, not some specific group. Trolling involves “invading” a special interest site with the purpose of annoying or disrupting the normal patrons of such a site.


5 posted on 11/26/2014 8:40:21 AM PST by Steve_Seattle
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To: Kaslin

Barack “I Won” Obama has never been known for his graciousness.


6 posted on 11/26/2014 8:41:38 AM PST by Steve_Seattle
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To: Kaslin

Obama is trying to be relevant


7 posted on 11/26/2014 8:44:12 AM PST by molson209 (Blank)
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To: Kaslin

One of our local Dallas talk radio was saying this yesterday. As far as he knew there had not been any new issued executive orders as a result of the Presidents speech. Also he already had de facto done this by ordering the stand down of the entire immigration enforcement already. Many are starting to think this is all about keeping Obama relevant and in the news.


8 posted on 11/26/2014 8:46:26 AM PST by pwatson
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To: Steve_Seattle

because that arrogant pos doesn’t know the meaning of graciousness


9 posted on 11/26/2014 8:46:33 AM PST by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Kaslin
When spelling "deceiving," remember it's "i before e except after c."

--but when spelling most other words it's usually "e before i except after c" because there're more exceptions than words that fit that stupid rule. They don't teach it in schools anymore.

10 posted on 11/26/2014 8:50:02 AM PST by expat_panama
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To: Kaslin
For those who don't know, in Internet parlance, trolling is an effort to elicit outrage from a specific group or the public generall

More like a NUDGE

Obama's new Czarina of NUDGE

In an effort to “nudge” Americans to support bigger and more intrusive government while changing behavior to suit the whims of the political class in Washington, D.C., the Obama administration is following the lead of U.K. authorities by building what the White House refers to as a “Behavioral Insights Team.” According to an official document about the scheme aimed at recruiting personnel, the controversial team will be charged with prodding the U.S. population to think and behave in ways that officials deem best on everything from "sustainability" to health and education.

11 posted on 11/26/2014 8:50:46 AM PST by spokeshave (He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people,)
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To: Kaslin

“” (Pro tip: When spelling “deceiving,” remember it’s “i before e except after c.”)


Utter nonsense and from a “pro”.

Examples——— weird,seizure

.


12 posted on 11/26/2014 8:56:08 AM PST by Mears
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To: Kaslin

Ahh.. it reminds him of his favorite pastime in those sleazy Chicago bath houses.


13 posted on 11/26/2014 8:58:09 AM PST by Dick Bachert (This entire "administration" has been a series of mini Reischstag Fires)
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To: Kaslin

Geez, Jonah, you’re slow.


14 posted on 11/26/2014 8:58:14 AM PST by uncitizen (I weep for my country)
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To: Kaslin

This entire “administration” has been a series of mini Reischstag Fires.

Am I the only guy who believes this current turmoil has been orchestrated to serve as another diversion to the ongoing Obama scandals, the recent immigration mess and the building crisis in the Middle East. Obama is well on the way to marginalizing the white population here with millions of new minority citizens who will soon become the new majority (and predominately welfare “beneficiaries” and DEMOCRAT VOTERS).

Jefferson – and other founders – greatly feared what that would do to America!


15 posted on 11/26/2014 8:59:08 AM PST by Dick Bachert (This entire "administration" has been a series of mini Reischstag Fires)
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To: expat_panama
--but when spelling most other words it's usually "e before i except after c" because there're more exceptions than words that fit that stupid rule. They don't teach it in schools anymore.

You left out the other half of the rule: ". . . or when sounding like 'a' as in 'neighbor' and weigh.'"

In it's complete form, I don't think it's stupid at all. It's a pretty good rule of thumb.

As for not teaching it in school anymore, they don't teach civics in school anymore either. Whether or not something is taught in school nowadays is no reliable indication of its truth and value.

16 posted on 11/26/2014 9:01:43 AM PST by Maceman
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To: Kaslin
Obama has insisted more than 20 times in the past. "I'm not a king. My job as the head of the executive branch ultimately is to carry out the law," Obama told Telemundo in 2013.

obama doesn't say anything 20 times without a reason. Especially something that expresses how great he is NOT. He said this so that when he did the opposite these Mexican "immigrants" will know that now he IS king.

He is their King. There is nothing in writing giving them this amnesty so if they don't play ball his way it can all be over like that.

17 posted on 11/26/2014 9:05:58 AM PST by uncitizen (I weep for my country)
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To: Kaslin

Not over-react? He seizes law making power from Congress, a direct assault on the rule of law and ultimately our liberty and our lives and he says don’t ‘over-react’? Excuse me but I demand Republicans over-react! They should do something so painful, so blatant that no President ever wants to try such an abuse again! I’d strip the SOB of funding for his security and start Impeachment hearings.


18 posted on 11/26/2014 9:08:20 AM PST by Nateman (If liberals are not screaming you are doing it wrong!)
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To: expat_panama

Remember—what’s not taught in schools anymore is probably something that is still very good to learn. What is taught in schools now is utterly useless.

The stupidity these days runs upward, starting at the level of teachers and going all the way up through our stupid centralized system, to cabinet level and oval office.


19 posted on 11/26/2014 9:17:35 AM PST by reasonisfaith ("...because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2 Thessalonians))
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To: Nateman

Painful sounds like the right solution to the problem.


20 posted on 11/26/2014 9:18:41 AM PST by reasonisfaith ("...because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2 Thessalonians))
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