| This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies. |
| Locked on 08/28/2015 10:40:12 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator, reason: |
Posted on 08/28/2015 9:54:26 AM PDT by Kaslin
Among a very long list of harms inflicted upon the United States by Barack Obama and his party, perhaps the worst was Caesarism. Obama relished the worship of millions in 2008. From his star turn at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he was treated not as a political candidate, but as a savior. Progressives fell into a swoon, typified by Newsweek editor Evan Thomas' 2008 comment, "I mean in a way Obama's standing above the country, above -- above the world; he's sort of God."
Now, a similar kind of unreasoning adulation is greeting (improbably enough) Donald Trump. Fred Barnes reports that a focus group of Trump supporters is swept up in a kind of worship, too: "He's not just their favorite candidate. Their tie to him is almost mystical. He's a kind of political savior, someone who says what they think."
If Obama had accepted the reverence of the crowd but governed as a normal president, his sin would have been merely aesthetic. But he did not. Contempt for law and tradition has been the hallmark of his presidency. His lawlessness makes Richard Nixon's look penny ante.
In addition to his blatantly illegal grant of legal status to 4 million illegal immigrants -- a move Obama himself declared he lacked the authority to make -- Obama has acted as an autocrat in dozens of other instances. Without any legal basis, he imposed a fine on BP after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and unilaterally suspended offshore drilling. He bypassed the plain language of Obamacare multiple times, whenever enforcing the unpopular or unworkable aspects of the law would be politically inconvenient. (The employer mandate, for example, was supposed to go into effect on January 1, 2014.) He attempted to make recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board when the Senate was not in recess. He waived the work requirements of the 1996 welfare reform law. Earlier this year, the Associated Press reported that the Obama administration "set a record again for censoring government files or outright denying access to them last year under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act." His administration has ignored repeated congressional subpoenas, while his attorney general was found in contempt of Congress.
Obama perhaps calculated that he could get away with this lawlessness because of his uniqueness. The Constitution provides a remedy for lawless executives -- but while Obama has arguably committed acts that merit impeachment, he knows that his status as the first black president gives him immunity. Impeachment would tear the country apart.
The courts have thwarted some of Obama's power grabs. The Supreme Court has rebuked him several times. The NLRB appointments were reversed, and the immigration waiver has been judicially stayed for now. But much damage remains.
Obama's legacy is a profound weakening of respect for law and tradition in this country. That Democrats are fine with this isn't a huge surprise. They've long demonstrated that they are ends-justify-the-means types. Since the era of Woodrow Wilson, they've decided that if they cannot get their preferred policies through legislatures, they're happy to see them imposed by courts -- and if not by courts, then by executive fiat. They conveniently uphold a "living" Constitution -- which is pretty much no Constitution at all but just the raw exercise of power by those in robes.
Conservatives and Republicans, by contrast, have traditionally stood for the rule of law -- with all of its frustrations and inefficiencies. Respect for the rule of law is more precious than any given policy outcome. If we are not, as John Adams said, a "government of laws and not of men," we will soon drift into the kind of despotism that characterizes nations without a strong legal tradition. Putinism is destroying what is best in Russia. Peronism devastated Argentina. Franco crushed liberty in Spain for half a century. The Castro brothers have imposed their tyranny on Cuba for longer than that. The list of countries that succumbed to Caesarism is very, very long.
The appeal of Trump falls into this category. Though one might suppose that his borderline pathological narcissism, his arrested emotional development and his nearly incoherent ramblings would exclude him from consideration for county clerk, he sits atop the GOP field. The message from a segment of the Republican Party is: "OK, we're an autocracy now. So let's have this guy govern by fiat."
Unless the rest of the Republican Party makes a different case -- namely that the answer to Obamaism is a return to law -- it may be game over for self-government in the world's oldest democracy.
Their tie to him is almost mystical. He’s a kind of political savior, someone who says what they think.”
TRUMP/CRUZ 2016!!! Attorney General Trey Gowdy!!!!
Sheer idiocy.
Myself and many others sincerely hope that Trump DESTROYS the current structure of the ‘red party” which has evolved into a shade of ‘blue’.
Sec. State John Bolton. Sec. Energy Sarah Palin,
Sec. Treasury Art Laffer, Sec. Homeland Security Ann Coulter.
Mona Charen - desperately seeking relevance.
She's trolling conservative spots to get paid by words?
Mona, you are lost. Trump is winning because we have identified the media, the Republican party and “expert” analysts like you as those destroying our country. Google the lyrics of were not gonna take it by Twisted Sister. Trump exits the stage to this song. It will explain it in terms simple enough for a person with a degree in journalism.
http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/
BREAKING: Donald Trump Just Announced His Pick for Attorney General – Hillary’s Worst Nightmare!
Donald Trump is taking the 2016 Presidential campaign by storm!
Trump, who would be a bold defender of conservative principles in the White House, announced on Twitter who is pick for Attorney General is.
His choice is South Carolina conservative Rep. Trey Gowdy (R), who continues to Chair the U.S. House of Representative’s Select Committee on Benghazi. Gowdy has been a consistent thorn in the side of the Obama administration, exposing the White House’s incompetence on issues ranging from amnesty, IRS abuses, and the illegal deletion of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails.
As Trump tweeted, “@HillaryClinton’s toast. Dems had better get the”B Team” off the bench. @TGowdySC for Attorney General under President Trump.”
This wasn’t long after Trump announced he would also want former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to accept his position in his Cabinet.
Clearly, Donald Trump is willing to build a “dream team” of influential conservative leaders who know how to fight for limited government and defeat liberals. Trey Gowdy and Donald Trump share a common tough, no-nonsense style. And as Gowdy is a talented former prosecutor, he is very qualified for the appointment!
Do you support Trey Gowdy and Donald Trump in 2016? Please leave us a comment (below) and tell us what you think.
“Mona Charen - desperately seeking relevance.”
Well she’s been an amnesty pusher and GOPe propagandist for a long time. So she’s just doing the bidding of her establishment comrades.
This is ironic, given that there is probably no more self-entitled, self-important oligarchy than the one currently running what is supposed to be a conservative party. It becomes even more ironic when one considers that this self-important -- but altogether ineffectual -- leadership was supposed to be a check on the runaway power of the current administration that Charen decries.
I know I always look to Fred Barnes and George Will for my conservativism needs.
Same thing, different headline:
Have Republicans Grown Tired of Supporting the Rule of Law?
National Review | August 28, 2015 | MONA CHAREN
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3330299/posts
Spot on article about Obama....
I have no idea how Trump applies here...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.