The Last Comic Standing August 7, 2014
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Politics, Politiocal Philosophy.Tags: Blame Bush, Dr. Robert Owens, Dream Act, Dreamers, Fast and Furious, Impeachment, Obama impeachment, Obama unconstitutional
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At one time if you had said that an African-American would be president of the United States people would have thought you were crazy. Praise God those days are behind us. At one time if you had said there would be a rogue president violating the Constitution at will and daring Congress to impeach him you would have been accused of either taking drugs or needing some. Sad to say those days are upon us.
Some will ask how is President Obama violating the Constitution?
- He made recess appointments to the National labor Relations Board (NLRB) while the Senate was in session. This was found to be unconstitutional by a rare unanimous Supreme Court decision.
- Obama Administration uses IRS to target conservative, Christian and pro-Israel organizations, donors, and citizens.
- In an unprecedented attack on the First Amendment, the Obama Justice Department ordered criminal investigations of FOX News reporters for doing their jobs during the 2012 election year.
- President Obama, throughout his Presidency, has refused to enforce long-established U.S. immigration laws. For example .
More than 300,000 captured illegal aliens had been processed and were awaiting deportation. But, incredibly, Obama stopped these deportations and ordered the U.S. border patrol to release many of these illegal aliens in violation of law and without explanation.
Congress rejected Obama’s so called DREAM ACT – which would have granted permanent residency to many illegal aliens. So Obama enacted his own version of the DREAM ACT by Executive Order, thus directly defying Congress. According to Obama’s Executive Order, illegal aliens can stay in America if they are under the age of thirty, have been in America for at least five years, are enrolled in school or have graduated from high school, and have committed no felonies.
- Obama has refused to build a double-barrier security fence along the U.S.-Mexican border in direct violation of the 2006 Secure Fence Act. This law requires that “at least two layers of reinforced fencing” be built along America’s 650-mile border with Mexico. So far, just 40 miles of this fence have been built – most of it during the Bush Administration.
- Obama’s Health and Human Services Department has, on its own (without Congressional approval), issued a mandate that all health insurance plans must include coverage for abortion-inducing drugs. As a result, pro-life employers and taxpayers are now effectively required by law to pay for abortions.
This mandate is an unconstitutional attack on the protections for freedom of religion and freedom of conscience in the First Amendment and the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This mandate also directly violates the ObamaCare law enacted by Congress, which prohibits any and all taxpayer funds from being used to pay for abortions.
Operation Fast & Furious.
“Operation Fast & Furious” was the Obama Administration’s gun-running scheme that put thousands of American-made semi-automatic weapons in the hands of Mexican drug cartels and resulted in the death of at least one U.S. Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry. Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder lied to Congress and the public, claiming he didn’t know about his Justice Department’s Fast & Furious operation.
Congress has now held Mr. Holder in contempt for defying congressional subpoenas and refusing to turn over thousands of Justice Department documents on Fast & Furious. President Obama asserted Executive Privilege to try to protect Holder. But for Executive Privilege to apply, Obama would have had to have known about Fast & Furious, making the President as culpable as Holder.
Investigators suspect that Fast & Furious was an effort by the Obama Administration to discredit lawful gun ownership in America by purposefully creating gun crimes, thus inducing public outcry for gun control. When it put thousands of semi-automatic weapons in the hands of Mexican drug cartels, the Obama Justice Department knew these guns would be used to commit crimes, perhaps even kill some Americans. Then Obama could say: “See how dangerous these guns are. We must ban them.”
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC): Regulated the Internet despite a court order from the Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. stating that the FCC does not have the power to regulate the Internet.
- Department of Justice (DOJ): Rejected state voter ID statutes that are similar to those already approved by the Supreme Court of the United States. DOJ ignored section 8 of the Voting Rights Act which calls for protections against voter fraud, and used section 5 to administratively block measures to protect the integrity of elections passed by state legislatures.
- DOJ: In violation of 10th Amendment, sued to prevent Arizona from using reasonable measures to discourage illegal immigration within its borders. Arizona has a large number of illegal immigrants, compared to other states, and needs to be able to act to reduce the number.
- DOJ: Went to court to stop enforcement of Alabama’s immigration reform laws, which require collection of the immigration status of public school students, require businesses to use E-Verify, and prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving public benefits
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC): Interfered with a Michigan church’s selection of its own ministers by trying to force the church to reinstate a minister who was discharged for her disagreement with the religious doctrine of the church
- Department of Energy (DOE): In 2009, the Obama Administration arbitrarily broke federal law, violated various contracts, and derailed the most studied energy project in American history at Yucca Mountain by denying it a license, thus costing the American people more than $31 billion.
- Without Congressional approval, Obama gutted the work requirement for welfare recipients passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
- In the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, Obama illegally shortchanged bond holders in favor of Labor Unions, despite U.S. bankruptcy laws that specify that bond holders be first in line to be paid back.
- Eager to use the killing of Osama bin Laden for political gain, Obama exposed the identity and method of operation of the Navy SEALs team that conducted the operation in Pakistan, thus exposing its members to a lifetime of risk because they have been targeted for assassination by Islamists. A short time after Obama exposed the Navy SEALs’ method of operation, 22 SEALs were shot down and killed in Afghanistan. It is a violation of law for the President or any American to reveal classified military secrets.
- President Obama established an extra-constitutional top secret “kill list” of people (including Americans) who can be summarily killed on sight – presumably by drones — without due process. Once on Obama’s kill list, an American citizen can be targeted and executed on the opinion of a single government bureaucrat.
- Obama Administration officials twisted the arms of defense contractors to not issue layoff notices in October of 2012 so as to avoid causing bad news for Obama right before the election — even though federal law (the “WARN Act”) requires such notices. Not only is this a violation of the WARN Act, it’s also an unlawful use of federal officials for campaign purposes.
- President Obama intervened militarily in Libya in 2011 without the Congressional approval required by the War Powers Act.
- Obama knowingly lied to Congress and the American people about the killing of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya. The President and his representatives repeatedly said an anti-Islamic video sparked a spontaneous uprising in Libya that resulted in the killings even though Obama knew that the attack was a well-planned military-style assault by al Qaeda on the anniversary of September 11.
- Michelle Obama’s family trip to Africa in June of 2011, including a private safari at a South African game reserve, cost American taxpayers $424,000 for air travel alone. Mrs. Obama brought along her makeup artist and hairstylist, as well as her mother, a niece and nephew, and her daughters, who were listed as “senior staff members.”
This is a long list. Obviously there are those who will dispute some if not all of them. There are others who will want to add more. Either way there seems to be a consensus that our president has decided that he can rule without Congress and that the laws don’t apply to him or his administration. When Congress won’t pass the legislation the president wants he gets in their face by announcing “I have a pen and I’ve got a phone.” He is declaring that he will use public pressure and executive orders to effect the changes Congress refuses to legislate.
Even though the House, through its republican leader Speaker John Boehner, has already declared that it will abdicate its Constitutional responsibility and not even consider impeachment, the President and his fellow-travelers are barnstorming the country daring or as some say begging them to impeach. This is a unique situation. Why would a president even speak of impeachment?
The democratic machine is using it for fundraising. They are also using it gin up support among their base and to advance their call for even more executive orders. How sad that the best strategy our rulers can come up with to seek for continued electoral victory is a straw man called impeachment. That is the best they have. They can’t point to successes in the economy, foreign relations or healthcare. They can offer nothing better than “Don’t let them impeach our guy.” This is the theater of the absurd come to life.
This reminds me of a story about a wake held for the meanest man in town: The minister gave a short eulogy and then asked if anyone wanted to say anything nice about the deceased. After a lengthy and awkward silence a voice from the back of the room shouted, “His brother was worse.”
Ever since BHO was elected all we have heard is that everything is George Bush’s fault. Is that it? Is that the best that can be said for this president, someone else was worse? And now that this timeworn mantra has lost its effectiveness is the only rallying cry of his supporters/donors, “Stand by our guy or he might get impeached”? How pathetic. The successor to Washington, Jefferson, and Madison is doing a stand-up routine with one-liners such as, “So sue me,” and “You’re not going to get me impeached are you?”
This has become so bizarre it makes one wonder, is this administration really a comedy routine?
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2014 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens
The Revolution Passed in the Night April 26, 2013
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Politics.Tags: amnesty, Cap-n-trade, Constitution, Dr. Robert Owens, Dream Act, fundamentally transform America, negative rights, Obamacare, positive rights, Progressive agenda, Second Bill of Rights
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Many things are holding the headlines hostage, the terrorist attacks, the crippling effects of Obamacare, the prospect of expanding war in Syria, and as always Iran.
There is one over-riding constant that defines as it divides the present era: the fact that America has a President who advances values and policies diametrically opposed to the traditional beliefs of a vast number of Americans. From bowing to foreign leaders to not knowing how many states there are, from vowing to fundamentally transform America to actually doing it, President Obama is to many the Manchurian Candidate.
Elected the first time on a vague promise of hope and change he has been re-elected on a blatant promise to re-distribute the wealth and complete the transformation of America into a welfare state. His bureaucratically imposed policies such as Cap-n-Trade and the Dream Act are blatant end runs around the authority of a Congress that overwhelmingly rejected both. The alarming reality we all must face is that for the first time in American history we may actually have a president who is anti-American.
Barack Obama is blatant in his anti-American rhetoric. Such as:
“In America, we have this strong bias toward individual action. You know, we idolize the John Wayne hero who comes in to correct things with both guns blazing. But individual actions, individual dreams, are not sufficient. We must unite in collective action, build collective institutions and organizations.” Emphasis added.
“And what would help minority workers are the same things that would help white workers: the opportunity to earn a living wage, the education and training that lead to such jobs, labor laws and tax laws that restore some balance to the distribution of the nation’s wealth …” Emphasis added.
“But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. And to that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as it’s been interpreted. And the Warren Court interpreted in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties — says what the states can’t do to you — says what the Federal government can’t do to you — but it doesn’t say what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf.
And that hasn’t shifted and one of the, I think, the tragedies of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement became so court-focused I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of powers through which you bring about redistributive change. In some ways we still suffer from that …” Emphasis added.
These positive rights are what Progressives have been trying to establish since FDR floated his idea of a second bill of right which included:
- The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation
- The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation
- The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living
- The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad
- The right of every family to a decent home
- The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health
- The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment
- The right to a good education
Now all of these sound great and in a perfect world might make up a laundry list of prizes falling out of the cornucopia of utopia. In a real world they would mandate a government large enough to provide everything and powerful enough to take everything away.
The whole idea of having a constitution is to limit the government which is in essence a charter of negative liberties.
President Obama goes on to state, “Now, just as there was in Teddy Roosevelt’s time, there is a certain crowd in Washington who, for the last few decades, have said, let’s respond to this economic challenge with the same old tune. ‘The market will take care of everything,’ they tell us. If we just cut more regulations and cut more taxes — especially for the wealthy — our economy will grow stronger. Sure, they say, there will be winners and losers. But if the winners do really well, then jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everybody else. And, they argue, even if prosperity doesn’t trickle down, well, that’s the price of liberty.
Now, it’s a simple theory. And we have to admit, it’s one that speaks to our rugged individualism and our healthy skepticism of too much government. That’s in America’s DNA. And that theory fits well on a bumper sticker. But here’s the problem: It doesn’t work. It has never worked.”
And of course there is his infamous “You didn’t build that” statement which exposes his complete misunderstanding of what it takes to start and grow a business.
With a leader such as this whose basic understanding of America is at such odds with those who once constituted the majority of the citizens and the continuity of our History is it any wonder that so many feel as if they are living in a conquered nation?
Conquered by who? As Pogo once told us, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Or as Garet Garrett, quipped as he chronicled the fall of the Republic and the rise of the American bureaucratic Empire said, “There are those who still think they are holding the pass against a revolution that may be coming up the road. But they are gazing in the wrong direction. The revolution is behind them. It went by in the Night of Depression, singing songs to freedom.”
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2013 Robert R. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens
Thanks for Nothing November 20, 2010
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.Tags: 2010 election, Dr. Robert Owens, Dream Act, Insolvency, National Debt, START
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Sometimes not getting everything you want is the best thing you can get. Sometimes enough is too much already. Sometimes the next time might be the last time if this time is just like the last time. Sometimes when we try to run out the time, time runs out on us. Then again, sometimes time seems to stand still, which is exactly the time we need to realize time never stands still.
Sometimes not getting everything you want is the best thing you can get. In the run up to the game-changing election of 2010 many people hoped the Republicans would gain control of both the House and the Senate. This did not happen and that is a good thing. The staggering scope of the re-alignment in the House reveals the breadth and depth of America’s repudiation of the Progressives and their welfare nanny-state. However, if the Teanami had given conservatives complete control of the legislative branch it would have set the stage for President Obama and his accomplices in the media to run against the Tea Party Congress 24/7 for the next two years. As it stands today, the House can act as an anchor slowing down the precipitous rush into the Progressive’s socialist dream world without being a foil for the next comeback kid.
Sometimes enough is too much already. While the House is now in a perfect position to slow down the Progressives march towards Utopia it might be too late. By standing on the promises they’ve made to get another chance at legislative leadership the Republicans can stop anymore over-the-top spending. They can use their power to modify bills and bring some sanity back to our budgetary process. This will be good, but it won’t be enough. The looting of the treasury that’s gone on for the last two years combined with the projected looting already commits us to trillion dollar yearly deficits for the next 10 years. Slowing the rate of growth will do nothing to stop our mad rush into insolvency. Standing still is not good enough, we must reverse course or this Titanic is going to hit the iceberg no matter where we place the deckchairs.
Sometimes the next time might be the last time if this time is just like the last time. The Republicans are hitting the right note as they prepare to take over the House. They aren’t crowing about the victory of their Party. They’re acting chastened and aware that if they mess it up this time they may end up following the Whigs they replaced in the 1850s unto the ash heap of history. After 40 years in the wilderness, the Republicans gained power in 1994. They followed through on their contract and brought in the first balanced budget in a generation, ended welfare as we had known it and inspired a pragmatic progressive to utter those long sought after words, “The era of big government is over.”
Unfortunately, they nominated a lackluster candidate and were out maneuvered by the Clinton Machine in 1996 and then fell into an impeachment debacle wherein they had to fight the administration, the media, and their own Progressive wing. Following their impeachment fiasco the GOP legislative majority followed their Progressive leaders and wallowed in the pork until disgusted voters decided to give the Democrat Progressives a chance.
The Republicans are wise to realize they’ve not been embraced by the Silent Majority / Tea Party. They’ve been given one last chance. Do what you said you would do, fight to reverse the slide, fight to save the Republic, don’t just mark time, or this time will be your last time because sometimes when we try to run out the time, time runs out on us.
Sometimes time seems to stand still which is exactly the time we need to realize time never stands still. The lame duck session grinds on, and we still don’t know what lame laws these ducks will lay before they lose the keys to the House. In a way, with the holidays fast approaching and the blessed sound of a recess bell not too far away it feels as if time is standing still. As if the angels are holding their breath awaiting the first snowflakes as we all gather to give thanks, Congress is going home.
However, the Progressives are not standing still. In the last two years they’ve effectively abdicated their Constitutional responsibilities moving much of the decision-making and oversight from Congress to the bureaucracy. Right now the multiple thousand page bills are being unwrapped like Christmas presents by the departments and bureaus and soon new regulations with the force of law will cascade out of nondescript offices continuing the transformation of America. Those dedicated to the salvation of the Republic cannot rest upon the glow of victory. We must redouble our efforts to turn back the tide. We must limit the government before the government limits us.
Now is the time to petition our representatives, asking them to actively do nothing in the lame duck session that isn’t absolutely necessary. There was no budget passed, so a continuing resolution is required. That’s all that must be done. The tax question can be postponed until the next Congress and made retroactive. The START treaty needs a closer examination. Everything else being proposed such as the Dream Act is nothing but political payoffs for members of the Progressive coalition. The best thing this Congress can do for us after all they’ve done to us is nothing. If they’ll just do that we can all be thankful.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion for Southside Virginia Community College and History for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook.
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