Although the expression "Imperial Presidency" was coined earlier, it first entered the popular lexicon after its introduction by Time Magazine describing the Nixon Presidency. To a greater or lesser extent, it has been used by the Democrat-friendly mainstream media to describe nearly every Republican administration since.
Somehow, that epithet is rarely used by the MSM to describe Democratic administrations, particularly the Obama administration. I guess Obama is too busy being a messiah to settle for being a mere emperor. But let's take a quick look at a short list of Obama's actions which might lead one to the conclusion that he is the new Caesar:
He has entered into several mideast non-wars using American military strength without even consulting Congress, let alone obtaining Congress's consent.
He has used his alphabet agencies to end-run the Constitution and eliminate the need for Congress to address the issues by valid legislation. For example, Congress refused to pass cap and trade, so he used the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate "dangerous greenhouse gases" such as carbon dioxide(?). The full impact of that has yet to be felt. Congress refused to pass a "union bill of rights" including card check and elimination of secret ballots, so he has used the National Labor Relations Board to get around that. Those results are also still in the works and yet to be felt. Letting no grass grow under his feet, he has also used the NLRB to tell private businesses where they can locate their factories--to wit: Boeing.
He has created numerous czars to micromanage the economy, private business, and even the weather. This is another end-run around Congressional authority, utilizing phony strongmen who do not have to be approved for their roles by the Senate. Who needs an official cabinet when he can get the same results by hiring less-than-cabinet-level czars? And let's not forget that "czar" (or "tsar") is merely the Russian word for Caesar.
He takes the imperial coach (also commonly known as Air Force One) for frequent imperial trips which could be made by automobile in almost the same amount of time. Sometimes he uses the coach just for a quick trip to New York City to have lunch with his empress. He also uses it to visit his fellow royals in Saudi Arabia and Japan, not to mention the Chinese emperors. He also conducts grand balls and imperial dinners at the White House (aka, The Palace) for his fellow autocrats.
Recently, he has added a new wrinkle to the imperial perks. Courtiers at the palace are now prepared to tell the House that the emperor doesn't need their Constitutional authority to raise the debt limit. The last English king to try that was Charles I. He lost his head over it--literally.
As Nero fiddled while Rome burned, so Obama golfs while America declines. Like Nero, he's not a big fan of Christianity, or guns. He sees far too many of his subjects as bitterly clinging to their guns and Bibles. But as emperor of one of the largest Muslim nations on earth, he will bring the peasants to heel.
Those are the imperial actions that came to my mind immediately. But I'm sure you have plenty more. So please feel free to discuss the list, or add to it in your comments as you choose.
As an aside, the headline of this article has been attributed to Alexander Hamilton, but there is no proof that he actually ever said such a thing.
Monday, July 11, 2011
The People? The People Is A Great Beast!
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57 comments:
LawHawk, you keep forgetting, Obama is different. He's black, and he wants to use the power of the presidency for good stuff, not evil stuff. Therefore, he can't be imperial, because that would be evil. Did I mention he's black?
LawHawk,
Your viewpoint on the delusions of a third rate chameleon is duly noted. Alternatively, it could be stated he really doesn't know who he is foolin' with. This is America. We threw out the ones who wish to rule over us many years ago.
The force of law is only good when the majority agrees with it. Once they don't and Americans seem to have this stitched into their bones, there is going to be a terrible push back. Europeans don't have this in their DNA. This radical approach to just how authority goes here in this country. It goes like this, the People assign government with certain responsibilities and gave it the wherewithal to complete those goals.
Obama is a fool if he thinks he can rule us. We are not a people to be ruled.
Germany could be ruled by Hitler because it was ruled by a Kaiser. The United States didn't have that and hopefully never will.
Oh, did you notice LawHawk, your list almost reads like the Declaration of Independence. Is that by design?
Oh, Media: He's black? I thought he was Hawaiian. A descendant of Kamehameha, perhaps.
LawHawk, I would point out one possible flaw on your list: Charles I didn't have nearly half his kingdom bought off through welfare and subsidies and so on. Oh, and also, I don't think guns existed when Nero was emperor, so he couldn't really have been afraid of them. Just sayin'.
Joel: But King George merely descended from German royalty, unlike this emperor, who descended from heaven. He came not end the Constitution, but to fulfill it.
There was a little thing called the Weimar Republic between the Kaiser and the Fuehrer. On the other hand, the Japanese still have their emperor, which is why our emperor prefers visiting Japan over visiting those Krauts who don't even have a king any more.
Let's be fair to our emperor. He wants to be a constitutional monarch. With a constitution such as they have in Europe and other exotic locales. The kind that changes with the times and the whims of legislatures controlled by the kings and queens. He simply doesn't like a Constitution that can be altered only by the will of his stubborn subjects.
Any resemblance in the article to the Declaration of Independence is purely coincidental.
I like it that he's imperial-like. It makes me feel safe and warm like no other leader ever. I like it when he unilaterally decides to bomb another country and won't admit that we are directly involved. I can't wait for him to invite me to pay more in taxes because we must to take care of all the old people, young people, and all the other people inbetween. I will work harder for him, so others will not have to. I hope he will be our leader for ever and ever. And he is Constitutional scholar, so he knows what he is doing. LONG LIVE CHAVEZ...oh wait. Who are we talking about now?
And God help us if Obama and Bloomberg ever team up...
T-Rav: Charles had his good side. He didn't have to buy off his peasants. He just let them starve or not without any interference from the crown. But like our emperor, he did have to lavish money on his nobility to keep them on his side. Damn that Cromwell!
Emperors, like constitutions, have to change with and adapt to the times. Nero didn't have guns to worry about, but George III and Charles I did. Our emperor has much more to worry about because we've allowed even the plebes to have guns. Now THAT'S dangerous.
Bev: He is more than just a constitutional scholar. He is the living embodiment of the Constitution. And now those radical revolutionary and ungrateful Republicans who have already occupied a major part of the Forum want to claim that he doesn't understand the Constitution. That is simply a logical and metaphysical impossibility. How can you be so blind?
As for Bloomberg, even an emperor has to prove that he is not ready to get rid of the Jews--yet.
...and TOTUS is on the TV again. He's really inventive today; he's changed it up from "Let me be clear" to "I want to be crystal clear." So hey, he's a diverse guy. Oh, and now he's throwing "authors of best-selling books" under the bus instead of "corporate jet owners." Obama's just a freakin' wordsmith!!
T-Rav: I think he's more like a word processor. If properly prepared, the ingredients make a nice mixture of words. But if there's a power failure, or a computer glitch, it comes out as an incomprehensible mess. Like 57 states, or Cinco de Cuatro.
Yeah, Obama's a turd and what he's done needs to be undone, no question of that.
LawHawk,
Oh, a fortuitous occurrence. A good list. To get a complete list, you would be writing until next week.
I know Obama doesn't understand basic commerce. If he did, he would not have created Czar Positions for commerce. The American Economy, when unregulated except by naturally occurring laws, is explosive like the Tennessee wilderness. The mere act of appointing a Czar over-regulates the economy. It creates at best a grey twisted environment with small pockets of green.
Andrew: Have I mentioned that I hate Obama?
Joel: The czars would be bad enough if they understood that they are only there to assist the heads of Congressionally-created and Senate-vetted departments. But under Obama particularly, they have been used to work around both the heads of the departments and Congress. We need to rid ourselves of most of the czars and some of the departments themselves.
I specifically want to see the Department of Education gone, closely followed by Health and Human Services, Commerce, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Energy. If Homeland Security doesn't start doing its job of coordinating the other investigative and protection services instead of being just another competitor, it should go as well.
To carry on the imperial parallels, those departments comprise the Praetorian Guard.
awesome!
and I saw that TOTUS was talking - what about?
I am starting to have a hard time with him being a "constitutional scholar". I think my seven year old daughter has a better handle on the constitution then Barry does. Frankly, since he hasn't ever been properly vetted, I don't think he knows the constitution from Mary Had a Little Lamb.
He also carries this aura of "I'm the frickin President and you'll do what I say." Just watch his reaction vs. Boehners. Boehner is reserved, non-confrontational (that is doesn't come out and say what a jackass Obama is), and is fairly limited on what his goal is. After listening to it, it is hard to know exactly what sort of negotiations are taking place. Typical of lawyers, businessmen and politicians (not meant as a criticism).
Obama comes across frankly very adolescent: How dare someone disagree with me; The country is in trouble; Do what I say or the world as we know it will come to an end. Very tiresome. Politicians can be annoying due to their slipperiness and I think they should go to jail for Ponzi scheme economics and using public money to buy votes. But, I don't think most people want a wild eyed firebrand but instead someone who looks like they have everything, including their emotions, under control.
rlaWTX: You'll have to wait for a response from T-Rav. I only need to hear the sound of the emperor's voice and I switch channels. I'd rather watch commercials.
Koshcat: Obama has been a pampered pooch since birth. He is used to all his family and friends telling him how wonderful, clever and brilliant he is. If he actually taught constitutional law at U of Chicago, I am crossing it off my list of top-tier law schools (sadly, it used to be a great school with law professors who didn't believe the Constitution mandates the abolition of private enterprise).
He's nothing more than a spoiled child with adult trappings, an inflated sense of self-worth, and a severe case of narcissism. He is completely lacking in a genuine sense of humor (particularly about himself), and has absolutely no concept that anyone else might have a legitimate point of view if it differs from his.
Law, I love it when you tell us how you really feel about TOTUS!!
And I am with you about his voice... I think I'd actually watch that cell-phone screaming-at-the-spider commercial -out loud- than him.
I agree with Law et al. about listening to his Majesty. However, I read that he has now directed us to "eat our peas" and to "pull the bandaid off" in regards to his new found love for lower the deficit. Not exactly inspiring like "The only thing to fear is fear itself" or "Ask not what your country can do for you..."
Oh crap, I was supposed to do a recap? No one tells me these things!
Um, okay, Obama basically didn't tell us anything about the debt negotiations we didn't already know, said that the American public is opposed to raising the limit because they're not as smart as politicians, implied no one in Washington is really serious about a deal except him, and that everyone needs to calm down and "eat their peas." So basically, it was about as stupid as any other speech/press conference the Teleprompter-in-Chief has ever given. Oh, and FYI: "Corporate jet owners" is out as a scapegoat, "Authors who write best-selling books" is in.
Also, LawHawk, I don't think "adjunct professor" counts as "constitutional law scholar." So you can still respect the U. of Ch.--well, at least you could if it wasn't in Chicago (sorry).
I have always been a big fan of the conservative cartoonist Chris Muir. I think he nails Obama perfectly as Le Roi, "the sun king" complete with silk stockings, breeches and waist coat, ruffled shirt, powdered white wig, and fake mole. I can't even think of a Democrat who is more annoying (o.k., yeah you're right maybe Pelosi.) This debt level tax thing is amazing.
But, as ever, the end justifies the means in their world.
T-Rav - Oh, yeah, "best selling authors". What about Hollywood moguls? Where does he come up with this stuff? I'm thinking he has teenagers writing his speeches. "And, and...and rich people like best selling authors and stuff..." I think he means Ann Coulter - "Demonic" is #6 and Bristol Palin #21. He probably doesn't mean any of the liberal bestselling authors like Fareed Zakaria.
Every time HMO speaks it reminds me of "Idiocracy".
rlaWTX: Except when someone gives him an adrenaline shot to address an NAACP or union rally, he could be used as one of those yuppie things that produce sleep-inducing sounds.
Bev: Or "With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God."
T-Rav: Thanks. From now on you can just capsulize Obama speeches for us so we don't have to listen to them. LOL
T-Rav: I never got farther than "adjunct instructor," but then I had actually read the Constitution before teaching about it. An adjunct professor should at least have read it, shouldn't he? I was never sure what phony title they gave him, but I thought I remembered he had bypassed the entire "scholarly works" and "years of teaching" thing to go straight to full professor.
Tennessee: I've seen that cartoon. I didn't know whether to chuckle or throw up. I chose chuckle.
Bev: But at least the President in Idiocracy was funny and didn't wear a crimson Harvard robe. In fact, even he would probably do a better job than Obama, and we'd get some bloodsport to boot.
I was reading NRO and found this quote from today's speechifying:
“I will not accept a deal . . . in which I am allowed to keep hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income that I don’t need,” he said.
after barely managing not too scream out loud by biting my tongue HARD, I thought "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?!"
if he's got that much money he doesn't need, then by all means let him donate it to the fed govt. Or to the "Save the Kittens from T-Rav Fund". or to ME! But this sentence has go to be one of the stupidest, most inane, beyond words of reaction statement I have ever heard from a president.
and his voice isn't soothing - it's irritating, like that rock inside your shoe, or the sticker (grassburr) inside your sock, or the grit in your eye that you can still feel after it's gone, etc.
oh, and what's with eating peas? I hate peas. They taste funky and they squish. (I admit that I have food texture issues.) Does this come under that "being a grown-up" idea? His version is eating peas instead of getting to talk about the NFL or new programs? I repeat: WTF?
And why under all that is holy did he run for president if it's such a bother??
(sorry, I shouldn't have read that report; now I'm riled!)
rlaWTX: He shoulda sed "thousands of dollars in income that I haven't earned and don't deserve." And BTW, I've already applied for his extra thousands of dollars that he doesn't need, so you'll have to get in line.
Bev: Or himself. Or wait, should that be Bill Ayers? I'm so confused about that.
rlaWTX: I said "sleep-inducing," not "soothing." Jab somebody with a big, thick, dull needle full of sodium pentathol, and he'll go to sleep whether he wants to or not.
rla: SHHHHHH. "The Management" will hear you.
rlaWTX: There's an entire section of the country that thinks okra is delicious and scarf down hominy grits. I happen to like peas, and to get even weirder, I like lima beans. LOL But I really do think he considers that some sort of "adult" thing, as seen from the perspective of a five year old.
T-Rav: There are plenty of things worse than being merely an "adjunct." Unlike Obama's, at least my students remember me, and I still hear from some of them occasionally. None have ever sent a "Dear Adjunct Hawk, how come I don't remember ever seeing you at the law school?" letter.
Libertad, Fraternitad, Off with their head
(and I am sure that my spelling is waaaaaaaay off...)
rlaWTX: I think that would have worked better in Spain than in France, but we get the idea. LOL
If I remember correctly, the motto was "liberté, égalité, fraternité" for the masses, but I don't have a clue how to say "off with their heads."
LawHawk, that's what Andrew told me. He even sent me some cash in the mail once. It looked remarkably similar to play money, but I trust him.
Michelle: I thought we were supposed to eat LESS, not more! What's up with that?
Speaking of green vegetables, do you remember when Pres. Bush #1 made a real stink about eating broccoli? He said he was President and it had to have some perks and if he didn't want to eat broccoli, he didn't have to? I loved that.
Lawhawk, I like peas too, but I won't eat them if HMO makes me eat them.
thank you, Law, for the correction. I was being wishful, I guess. ;)
Hey rla, since you said you worked there, did you see where the PCUSA lifted all restrictions on the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender crowd becoming ordained ministers and lay officials? Doesn't it just warm your heart to know you're associated with such a progressive denomination?
T-Rav: The tipoff should have been the picture of the wagon and the legend "that ain't hay" next to the denominations.
Bev: I won't eat arugula because she recommends it. Now, what the hell arugula, just in case I might accidentally eat some of it? I wouldn't eat a Porterhouse steak if she recommended it. Well, maybe I wouldn't.
T-Rav: I'm pretty sure the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will do the same thing the next time it gets a chance, which is why I left it and moved to the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Sorry to hear another one went the way of the Metropolitan Community Church.
LawHawk - "Arugula" is also known as "roquette" and is very close to dandelion greens (or weeds). I happen to be addicted to arugula...maybe there's reason. GET OUT OF MY HEAD, MICHELLE!! However, I do not like lima beans. Lima beans are about the only thing I don't like to eat. And anyone who likes lima beans must be a liberal. If lima beans were the only food left on earth, I would starve. Much the same way that if the only job left on earth was in telemarketing, I would have to starve and be homeless and probably the only food available at the food bank would be lima beans...okay, as the kids say "TMI!".
I wonder how the Management would feel if I decided to start shooting lima bean growers in the face...
LawHawk, it's a real shame, especially since I went to a Presbyterian service yesterday and it was quite nice. Oh well. I'm just waiting until the Methodists follow suit, at which point I'll have to switch denominations.
Always trust a church that has "Missouri" in the title :-)
Bev: Good God! I like lima beans. I'm a liberal. NOW you tell me. You can call it arugula, roquette, or weeds, I ain't eatin' it as long as Michelle is recommending it.
T-Rav: The Methodists are almost there anyway. Remember the TV ads with all those poor black people and gays who were being welcomed to the Methodist churches after being ignominiously tossed out of or barred from the bigoted churches? The Episcopalians have gone so far with their ordination of gay and lesbian bishops that a huge schism has resulted that is causing some Episcopal churches to break away independently, others to seek the Catholic Church, and the rest to join the breakaway Anglican African bishops. The big Episcopalian TV ad was "we don't throw the book [Bible] at you."
Luther, Calvin and Wesley (and Henry VIII) must be twirling in their graves.
LawHawk, I'm pretty sure Henry VIII has bigger things to worry about in his afterlife. Catholic, Protestant or whatever, he just was not a nice guy.
I don't really remember that ad, but it doesn't surprise me. Still, at least we don't actually ordain them or talk about not throwing the Bible in people's faces (so far).
T-Rav: Poor Henry. All he got out of his divorce was syphilis and a litany of wives. First he hated Luther for being a heretic, then after he destroyed the Catholic Church in England, he hated Luther for being a faithful husband and loyal father. So what England ended up with was a state church that I prefer to call Catholic Lite. 20% less guilt.
Don't forget that Wesley founded the Methodist Church as a reform of the Anglican Church which was not originally designed to break away from the national church at all. That breakaway was the result, but not the original intent. He simply wanted to simplify the liturgy, diminish ritual and restore scripture as the basis of worship.
rlaWTX: I had a study partner in law school who was a Presbyterian minister. He and I argued religion as often as we argued law. He once told me, and not nicely, that unlike Presbyterians, Lutherans haven't changed their beliefs in 500 years (remember, this was thirty-six years ago). I responded that Christianity hasn't changed its core beliefs in 2000 years. We never reached an agreement on the issue, but I saw perpetual revisionism and ecumenalism (lowest common denominator) as a danger to the Church. But he did see his wish for radical change fulfilled over the years--the ELCA has moved to the theological left along with the other Protestant denominations. Lutheran Bishop Preuss warned back in the 60s that Protestantism, including the Lutheran Church, was in danger of becoming a folk religion. Hence, the mass rush of traditional Lutherans out of the ELCA and into Missouri Synod (the largest conservative Lutheran denomination).
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