President Obama: How Bad Will It Be?

Special to FreeRepublic ^ | 5 Nov 2008 | John Armor (Congressman Billybob)

[Congressman Billybob]

Let us take two sources – the statements made by Barack Obama as a candidate and the lessons of history – combine them and make some predictions. The results are not pretty.

These three results -- a new World War, a new Great Depression, and permanent damage to the Constitution – are given in decreasing order of damage to the United States. That happens to be the reverse of their odds of happening. Though to me, as a student of the US Constitution, the last item is still critically bad.

Based on his repeated comments about Iran and Pakistan, Obama will coddle our sworn enemy, Iran, and will invade and antagonize our shaky but critical ally, Pakistan. Yes, I know we have done cross-border raids into Pakistan’s lawless border territory. But we have kept those in the lowest possible profile to avoid antagonizing a critical ally whose population is mostly Muslim and who possesses working nuclear weapons.

Either over a nuclear Iran, or as a result of an induced revolt in Pakistan, we are likely to be in a global war with the Muslims within a year of Obama being sworn into office. Pick up any book on the events which lead to World War II, Read the chapter on Neville Chamberlain. Then you will know more than Obama does about geopolitical reality.

Odds of a world war between the civilized nations and the uncivilized ones, 50 percent.

In the last quarter the Gross National Product of the US declined by 0.3 percent. It is a near certainty that the GNP report for the 4th quarter will also show a decline, meaning that we will actually be in a recession. But, as Dr. Thomas Sowell pointed out, it will at that point be a mild recession.

How does Obama propose to deal with this situation? He proposes protectionist foreign trade policies and higher taxes.

What does history teach us? Pick up any book on this history of the Great Depression in the US. Look in the index for taxes, Herbert Hoover, and the Hawley-Smoot Tariff. The policies that Obama says he is going to carry out are the worst choices to make, unless the intention is deliberately turn a mild recession into a bone-rattling, deep depression.

Odds of a new Great Depression as a result of Obama becoming President, 70 percent, though it may take more than a year to become evident to the editors of the NY Times.

Obama has made clear that he will appoint judges, and Justices to the Supreme Court, who will alter their decisions depending on who the parties in the case are. Senator Chuck Shumer, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee which reviews and recommends judicial appointees to the whole Senate, has taken the same position.

Everyone reading this is familiar with the statute of Justice as a woman in a flowing robe. In one hand she holds a sword, because justice represents the power of the state to decide between civil parties and to punish under the criminal law. In her other hand, she raises high a set of scales. These represent the idea that she will decide the case before her on the law and the facts, without fear or favor.

Most importantly, Justice wears a blindfold. This represents the idea that she will NOT decide a case based on who the parties are who appear before her. She will obey the law and follow the facts. No more, no less. Yet Obama has made clear his intention to appoint judges/Justices who will do the opposite.

Not just all judges, but all public officials at all levels, take an oath of office to preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States. That Constitution is, as it says in its text, “the supreme law.” Yet, Obama is committed to appoint judges who will not respect the Constitution, but instead will do whatever they want to do personally.

Odds that judges will be appointed who will wipe their feet on the Constitution, rather than preserve and defend the Constitution, 100 percent. Since judges serve for life, these judges willing to violate their oaths of office will remain on the bench for 30 years or so, far beyond the four years of the Obama Administration.

Millions of lives, billions of dollars, and the very future of the US Constitution are at stake. I hope my predictions prove to be wrong. But with the last one, I am certain with every fiber of my being, that I am correct.

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About the Author: John Armor practiced law in the US Supreme Court for 33 years. He now lives in Highlands, NC, and is working on a book on Thomas Paine. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu

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[scory]

I would expect that priority will be given to ensuring that they never lose their majorities. This means (not necessarily in this order): amnesty and citizenship for millions of illegals; enactment of laws aimed at stifling political opposition (fairness doctrine, hate crime legislation, campaign finance reform); getting judges appointed who share their beliefs and will rule according to these (the Constitution will mean what they say it means). Much of this can be done fairly quickly. Getting judges appointed might take a while but if they move to expedite the process it won’t take all that long.

As for those who hope that the filibuster will prevent much of this I ask: Why would the rats not impose their own version of the “nuclear option” and so render the filibuster inoperative? Who is going to stop them? The media won’t object but will supply justification for the act.

All this assumes the rats will remain as united in the majority as they were as the minority. I suspect that they will remain so united at least for the first year or two which is about all the time they will need.

[OB1kNOb]

My greatest fear in the near term is the next terrorist attack on our soil (it is coming) and Obama’s response.

Lest others forget........

"Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. ... Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.

"I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate. ... And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you ... to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right. ... Gird your loins. We're gonna win with your help, God willing, we're gonna win, but this is not gonna be an easy ride....

"This guy has it. But he's gonna need your help. Because I promise you, you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going, 'Oh, my God, why are they there in the polls? Why is the polling so down? Why is this thing so tough?' We're gonna have to make some incredibly tough decisions in the first two years. So I'm asking you now ... be prepared to stick with us. ... There are gonna be a lot of you who want to go, 'Whoa, wait a minute, yo, whoa, whoa, I don't know about that decision.' Because if you think the decision is sound when they're made ... they're not likely to be as popular as they are sound. Because if they're popular, they're probably not sound....

"I probably shouldn't have said all this because it dawned on me that the press is here."

- Joe Biden, Obama's VP-elect

[Louis Foxwell]

I am confronted by the inescapable conclusion that I know vastly more about this man than anyone who voted for him.

[yankeedame]

Having read your carefully considered words I would remind you, as one friend to another, the simple, overlooked fact by so many this day is that

• Obama has been elected President:- not king, not tsar, not dictator, not Chairman.
• That no man is an island. His actions will have consequences that he has not, can not, or refuses to see particularly from his supporters. These will not hesitate to bite the hand that feeds it.
• Revolutions devour their own children. And history has shown again and again when the Left no long has a common enemy, they splinter and turn on one another. The in-fighting happen soon, if it hasn't begun already.
• The fear of a Dem controlled congress and exec. seems predicated on the notion that the congress of the Soviet Chamber of Deputies. A rubber stamp, robot-like assembly marching in lockstep. But success breeds a man enemies, and the higher one rises the more powerful those enemies become.

Heinlein said it best: " 'Surrendering to the inevitable' means rolling with the punches, not groveling before the guards."
(...or something like that )

[reagan_fanatic]

The SOB can never make good on the myriad of promises he’s made. He will be a mediocre president at best.

I predict in less than two years his approval rating will be less than half what it is now, as the dolts who voted him in wake up and realize they’ve been had.

[FlyVet]

What does history teach us? Pick up any book on this history of the Great Depression in the US. Look in the index for taxes, Herbert Hoover, and the Hawley-Smoot Tariff. The policies that Obama says he is going to carry out are the worst choices to make, unless the intention is deliberately turn a mild recession into a bone-rattling, deep depression.

Surely Paul Volcker knows what caused the Great Depression. If Obama increases taxes and tariffs, it's a pretty good bet he knows the consequences. It won't surprise me a bit if he does it deliberately. It's how despots seize greater power.

He can spend the next four years blaming Bush and the Republicans for it, and his voters will eat it up.

[Louis Foxwell]

No time for fence-sitting - choose today who you will serve, the God of Abraham, or the pagan god Obama.....

The Word of God.

The death of tens of millions of babies and their offspring make of this nation the seat of Satan. We will now reap the whirlwind.

[19th LA Inf]

Odds of a world war between the civilized nations and the uncivilized ones, 50 percent.

I have said for years that the Last World War will be between Caucasians and non-Caucasians, and the Russians will be on our side.

[Congressman Billybob]

Having spent 40 years of my career working for and with the Constitution of the US, I am not about to downgrade the seriousness of attacks on the Constitution. However, in terms of damage and loss inside the families of all Americans, war is the worst, depression is the second, and constitutional damage is least.

Of course, the Constitution is a “transcendent document,” not just for the US but for the whole world, as predicted by Tom Paine, and written by Hamilton in the opening paragraph of The Federalist.

John / Billybob

[Toki]

I just hope it takes him a year to get to gun reforms. The one thing about being 20 is that you can’t get a CCW till 21. The rest.. I need to put in God’s Hands, cause there’s nothing I can do now but prepare.

[Congressman Billybob]

I'm well aware that Obama will act quickly to “legalize” the 12 - 20 million illegals in the US today. And, I'm sure the purpose will be to build a “permanent Democrat voter base.” But there are limits to what can be said within the column requirement of 750 words.

John / Billybob

[BILL_C]

My greatest fear in the near term is the next terrorist attack on our soil (it is coming) and Obama’s response.

Why will it be any different than Bill Clinton's response to terrorist attacks on American soil? Let's take the BEST documented example:

In 1995, eight Iraqi soldiers defectors to the US (compliments of Bush I) from Gulf War I set up Timothy McVeigh (or assisted him, depends on how you want to look at it) in blowing up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Seismic evidence reveals multiple explosions which is consistent with what witnesses said happened.

Clinton in response set up McVeigh and Nichols as the lone nuts who did this, even though Jayna Davis has a box or two of sworn depositions that say it didn't happen that way. (Clinton was assisted by Jamie Gorelick, you remember her and the "wall", don't you? She was in the news recently in the financial crises when she got one of the $600k bonuses on a $550k salary or thereabouts, the lesson is when you don't put the cockroaches in jail when they first screw up BIGTIME, they'll be back to make a bigger mess later).

The NY TIMES led the way to convince everyone that McVeigh was the lone nut, but there were MANY problems. The truck bomb unfortunately for the Gov't just didn't have a big enough crater under it (which is a crude measure of explosive power).

The short story is that Jayna Davis has a well researched book that says it did NOT happen as the Gov't says, but instead this was a state sponsored terrorist attack but what's important the Sheeple and the FREEPERS and everyone else continue on believing a lie.

The difference is, Obama won't have to lie, he'll be able to say the terrorist died in the attack, case closed, no matter if Iran just killed 100 people in the subway of NYC. He'll have what's his name to the White House for tea and discussion.

[Tallguy]

I can 'see' Obama's initial moves to shift some (1 or 2) brigades from Iraq to Afghanistan. The plans for this have already been laid, so he won't have any major decisions to make there (though the Media will certainly make a lot out of it).

After that, who knows? The NATO allies will get 'jumpy'. If Obama makes any 'withdraw-noises', they'll run for the exits.

[Sarajevo]

John,

Tahnk you for another well worded post.

[Sarajevo]

Link, please

[Jack Hammer]

How bad will it be? Bad. Real bad.

[Enterprise]

The war party is back in power. Prayers for our military. And goodbye Constitution.

[Psalm 73]

"I will be prepping for the next attack."

That's right, Sister - be prepared to "shelter-in-place" or "take-to-the-hills" as circumstances dictate.
Guns and ammo: indespensable - stock up before the price goes through the roof or they become unobtainable.

[Honor above all]

Very well put. Now is not the time to curl up in a ball and die. Now is the time to rise up and work toward a future that brings us back to our roots. It will not be easy and we will be hindered at every step but the alternative is surrender. I for one do not intend to surrender.

[Cyber Ninja]

I’m sorry, I just can’t be as optimistic as you are.