Fixing America

What follows is one man's fantasy for fixing America.  Enjoy!

On Tuesday, January 22, 2013, the day after the inauguration of the reelected President and Vice President, millions of second amendment supporting Americans arrive in Washington DC.  They have not come, as they have in the past, to hang out on the Washington Mall and listen to speeches.  They are here to carry out a plan that began to be conceived on the day following Election Day 2012.

Those that have traveled from the southern states have gathered on the steps of the Capitol building.  Several thousand of them enter the Capitol and turn left, to the people's house, the House of Representatives.  The security officers for the building offer no resistance.  The group entering is too large and too well armed.  Besides, they knew this day would come.  They had secretly hoped it would have come a lot sooner.

The entrance of these Americans on to the floor of the House interrupts the proceedings. Before any House member has a chance to speak, a man wearing a LNYHBT tee shirt informs the politicians that the group now before them has sworn an oath to restore the Constitution as the governing document of our Federal government.  The members of the House can choose to participate in this process or they may choose to resign from office.  He jokingly tells them that this is what he calls being “pro-choice.”

He continues by explaining that, effective immediately, the Constitution will be followed.  It will be followed as it was intended to be followed by its Framers and by the people of the thirteen states that ratified it. 

The voice of an objection starts to be heard but is quickly drowned out by the sound of hundreds of weapons being made ready for use.  The objector abruptly stops speaking.

The man asks if anyone is choosing to resign.  The room is silent.

After a brief pause another leader of the visiting group announces that the next order of business will be to elect a new Speaker of the House.  She looks at the current Speaker and strongly suggests to him that he nominate Allen West.  The Speaker nods slowly and then in an awkwardly quiet voice nominates former congressmen West.

The woman says, "The Speaker has nominated Allen West to be the Speaker of the House."  Is there a second she asks?

“Seconded” shout the voices of 434 people sitting at their desks.

She smiles.  "Are there any other nominations?"  Silence.

She smiles again and then turns to the current Speaker and asks him to call for a vote.  The vote is quick and unanimous.  Allen West steps out from the crowd to assume the role of Speaker.

The Lt. Colonel says, "Speeches can wait.  Let's get to work."

One of the visitors, a more formally dressed one in a suit, tie and handsomely holstered well polished revolver, hands Speaker West some papers.  They are Articles of Impeachment against the President and the Vice President of the United States.  They were prepared by constitutional scholars of the Heritage Foundation.  He reads out loud the complete list of high crimes and misdemeanors committed by the President and Vice President over the last four years.

When he is done reading he calls for a vote to Impeach the President and Vice President.  The vote is unanimous.  Speaker West thanks the members for their bipartisan support.  He tells them he has an Impeachment to deliver to the Senate but he shall return.  No one should leave.  The House is still in session.

Speaker West exits the House and makes his way over to the Senate.  Several thousand Americans line the hallways and fill the rotunda.  The crowd is respectful and serious.  He enters the Senate and finds a thousand more Americans along with all 100 Senators.  Without uttering a word Speaker West delivers the Impeachment to the Senate Majority Leader.  Standing next to the Majority Leader is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  The Chief Justice's presence had been made possible with the assistance of Americans from several of the northern states.

Upon seeing the hand-off of the Impeachment, the Chief Justice now understands why he has been asked to come to the Senate.  Without any prodding he commences the Impeachment Trial of the President and Vice President of the United States.  He asks Speaker West to present his opening argument.  The Speaker reads the Articles of Impeachment to the Senators.  He then turns to the Chief Justice and tells him that the House rests its case.  No one makes a case in defense of the President or Vice President.  The Chief Justice calls for a vote on impeachment.  One-hundred Senators vote guilty on all of the charges.  The Chief Justice announces that the President and Vice President, having been found guilty of the Articles of Impeachment, are removed from office. 

In accordance with the succession plan in the Constitution, Allen West is sworn in by the Chief Justice as President of the United States. 

President West nominates Sarah Palin to be his Vice President.  Within a few minutes she is confirmed by both the House and the Senate.  She emerges from the throngs of visitors to the Senate and is quickly sworn in by the Chief Justice.

Back over in the House the former Speaker has nominated Paul Ryan to be Speaker of the House.  A vote is taken and it is unanimous in its approval of Ryan.

President West submits a bill to both houses of Congress repealing Obamacare.  It takes only a few minutes for both houses to unanimously vote for repeal.  President West signs the bill.  He does this with a single pen and without any fanfare.

President West announces that the capital of Israel is Jerusalem and that the US Embassy to Israel shall be moved from Tel Aviv to the holy city at the soonest possible date.

President West submits a bill lowering the corporate tax rate to zero.  The change is retroactive to 1/1/13.  It passes the House and then the Senate unanimously.  President West signs the bill.

President West submits a bill eliminating the entire IRS code and replacing it with an 18% flat tax on all Americans regardless of income.  The change is retroactive to 1/1/13.  It passes the House and then the Senate unanimously.  President West signs the bill.

President West submits a balanced budget plan that includes funds to pay down the existing $16 trillion deficit over the next ten years.  It passes the House and then the Senate unanimously with no changes.  President West signs the bill.

President West signs his first Executive Order.  It says that all Executive Orders issued by the former president are rescinded, effective immediately.

Someone hands President West a message.  It says Moody's has restored America's Triple A credit rating.  Good news does travel exceedingly fast.

President West joins a conference call with the heads of all federal employee unions.  He tells them that the Federal government no longer recognizes the unions or their rules.  The Federal government will deal with each of its employees as individuals.  He closes by saying, "if Wal-Mart can operate without unions so can the Federal government."

President West is handed a cell phone. He can be heard saying, "yes Mr. Prime Minister, lets get to work on the Keystone Pipeline. Thank you."

A group of Americans from the western states have been busy transporting members of the President's cabinet and all of his Czars to the Capitol.  They have been made comfortable in several of the seats in the Gallery.  President West looks up and addresses the Cabinet members and requests all of their resignations.  They are handed resignation letters that have been previously prepared by lawyers from the Landmark Legal Foundation.  Each cabinet member affixes their signature. 

President West proceeds to make the following cabinet appointments: 

Secretary of State - John Bolton

Department of Defense - Newt Gingrich

Department of Homeland Security - Rudy Giuliani

Department of Interior - Todd Palin

Department of Justice - Mark Levin

Department of Treasury - Steve Forbes

Department of Veteran Affairs - Angela West

White House Chief of Staff - Rick Santorum

President West also states that the following cabinet posts and the departments they represent are eliminated: 

Department of Agriculture

Department of Commerce

Department of Education

Department of Energy

Department of Health & Human Services

Department of Housing & Urban Development

Department of Labor

Department of Transportation

Council of Economic Advisors

Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Management & Budget

Small Business Administration

United States Trade Representatives

United States Ambassador to the United Nations

The Senate unanimously approves the President's nominations and eliminations.

The new cabinet members assemble near the President, prepared to offer any advice or receive instruction.  One of them hands the President a bottle of Two if by Tea, the tea made by a company owned by Rush Limbaugh.  It looks like the blueberry flavor.  President West says thank you and takes a moment to have a drink.

President West joins a conference call with governors of all 50 states and tells them that full enforcement of all existing immigration laws will commence effective immediately.  He will be instructing the new Attorney General to cooperate fully and swiftly with state requests for detention and deportation.  He asks the governors along the border of Mexico to start building a moat and asks the governor of Florida to start rounding up some alligators.

President West whispers something to Vice President Palin.  She whispers something back.  A few moments later she is seen using one of the Senate phones and she can be heard telling the UN Solicitor General that the US is withdrawing from the United Nations along with all funding for its operations.

President West again addresses the members of the Gallery.  He asks for all of the Czars to stand.  He announces that they are all fired and under no circumstances will he replace them.

Megyn Kelly

President West requests the resignations of both members of the Supreme Court appointed by the impeached president.  Coincidentally, both judges have been peacefully brought to the Senate by Americans from Alaska and Hawaii.  They are handed previously prepared letters to sign.  With barely a glance they sign the letters and hand them to the President.  President West then announces his nomination of Megyn Kelly and Miguel Estrada to fill the sudden vacancies on the High Court.  They both receive unanimous approval of the Senate.

President West asks the Senators to follow him back to the House for his first joint session of Congress.  The armed and alert Americans in the hallways continue to maintain a professional demeanor. 

As he is making the walk the President is handed a note.  Upon reading it he smiles.  It appears that the Iranian nuclear program has been dealt a major setback as a result of a series of expertly executed bombing missions.  He carefully folds the note and places it in his pocket.

The President and the Senators enter the floor of the House.  Once the Senators have found a place to sit the President begins to speak.  He takes a moment to thank the members of Congress for their excellent work.  The applause is deafening.

There is much more to do he tells them but he suggests that they could use a brief lunch break.  West starts to leave the podium, stops abruptly, then returns to the microphone.  "One more thing. There is no more free lunch in Congress.  If you want to eat you pay.  See everyone back here at 1300 hours. Don't be late! Dismissed."

Chan Lowe & Conservatism

Chan Lowe

Chan Lowe proves cartoon after cartoon and column after column that he either has no clue as to what conservatives believe or that he doesn't care what they believe and will just make it up to suit his narrow view of the world.  Choose to be a liberal Mr. Lowe, if that makes you happy, but stop misrepresenting conservatism.

In a recent column Mr. Lowe opined on a sex survey distributed by the State of Florida.   I agree with Mr. Lowe that the Florida sex survey is a ridiculous waste of taxpayer money.  However, I don't agree it is representative of conservative thinking anymore than I think Bill Clinton, John Edwards, Al Gore, or Gary Hart's treatment of women is representative of liberal thinking.

Whoopi Goldberg

I also don't agree that words spoken by certain candidates for senate represent the views of all conservatives.  If I did then I would also have to believe that Whoopi Goldberg speaks for all liberals when she said of 43 year old Roman Polanski's raping and sodomizing of a 13 year old girl, "I know it wasn't rape-rape. It was something else but I don't believe it was rape-rape."

Larry Flynt

I don't pretend to know, as Mr. Lowe appears to, the level of fascination that conservatives have with the topic of sex.  I don't pretend to know the liberals fascination with the topic of sex either but if the adult entertainment industry is an indication of the satisfaction level then it would be my guess that liberals are the more fascinated ones.  Larry Flynt, to the best of my recollection, never offered a bounty for dirt on a liberal.

The conservative concern on these matters, and all matters, centers around the powers of the Federal government.  The intent of the framers of our Constitution was that our Federal government should have limited powers.  They enumerated the specific powers in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.   Then they added what turned out to be the 10th Amendment that says all other powers not in the Constitution are reserved to the states or the people. Despite Supreme Court decisions to the contrary, the reality is there is nothing in the Constitution about sex, abortion or contraception. There is not an enumerated power granting the Federal government any voice whatsoever on these matters. Constitutionally, each state is responsible for its laws governing sex, abortion and contraception.  The states are not required to make any laws on these matters.   Absent any state laws, sex, abortion and contraception decisions would be left to the individual.

Conservatives don't believe women (and men) are incapable of making these decisions or any decisions about their lives.  To the contrary, conservatives believe in individual liberty and self determination.  People should have the freedom to make their own decisions.   Some of those decisions will turn out to be good, while others may turn out to be bad.  In a civil and moral society the results of those decisions accrue to the individual.  There is no obligation for the individual to share the results of their good decisions with others, nor is there an obligation that others shelter the individual from their bad decisions.   However, we know from experience that Americans freely share their success with others, while others freely provide support to those that are truly in need.  We the People do this better and more efficiently than any government, not matter how large or how small.

Conservatives believe that there is a need for a Federal government but it is not the bloated out of control government that makes laws for abortion, contraception, marriage, light bulbs, shower heads, vending machines and school lunch menus.   Conservatives believe in a responsible and constitutional Federal government with specific enumerated powers.   All powers not enumerated are vested with the States or We the People.

So, Mr. Lowe, if you didn't know what conservatives believe you do now. Please stop with your misrepresentation and dishonesty.   If you want to know more about conservatism might I suggest you put down your National Geographic and pick up the book Liberty and Tyranny by Mark Levin.

THE SPEECH BARACK THOUGHT HE GAVE

Below is a revised version of this speech by Barack Obama on 9/12/12.  My changes are in CAPS. Enjoy!
-------------------------------

Remarks by the President on the Deaths of U.S. Embassy Staff in Libya

Rose Garden

10:43 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Every day, all across the world, American diplomats and civilians work tirelessly to advance the interests and values of our nation. Often, they are away from their families. Sometimes, they brave great danger.

Yesterday, four of these extraordinary Americans were killed in a TERRORIST attack on our diplomatic post in Benghazi. Among those killed was our Ambassador, Chris Stevens, as well as Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith. We are still notifying the families of the others who were killed. And today, the American people stand united in holding the families of the four Americans in our thoughts and in our prayers.

The United States condemns in the strongest terms this ACT OF TERRORISM. We're working with the government of Libya to secure our diplomats. I've also directed my administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts around the world. And make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the TERRORISTS who attacked our people.

Since our founding, the United States has been a nation that respects all faiths. We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. But there is absolutely no justification FOR TERRORISM. None. NATIONS EITHER STAND WITH US AGAINST TERRORISM OR THEY STAND AGAINST US AND WITH THE TERRORISTS.

Already, many Libyans have joined us in doing so, and this TERRORIST attack will not break the bonds between the United States and Libya. Libyan security personnel fought back against the TERRORISTS alongside Americans. Libyans helped some of our diplomats find safety, and they carried Ambassador Stevens’s body to the hospital, where we tragically learned that he had died.

It's especially tragic that Chris Stevens died in Benghazi because it is a city that he helped to save. At the height of the Libyan revolution, Chris led our diplomatic post in Benghazi. With characteristic skill, courage, and resolve, he built partnerships with Libyan revolutionaries, and helped them as they planned to build a new Libya. When the Qaddafi regime came to an end, Chris was there to serve as our ambassador to the new Libya, and he worked tirelessly to support this young democracy, and I think both Secretary Clinton and I relied deeply on his knowledge of the situation on the ground there. He was a role model to all who worked with him and to the young diplomats who aspire to walk in his footsteps.

Along with his colleagues, Chris died in a country that is still striving to emerge from the recent experience of war. Today, the loss of these four Americans is fresh, but our memories of them linger on. I have no doubt that their legacy will live on through the work that they did far from our shores and in the hearts of those who love them back home.

Of course, yesterday was already a painful day for our nation as we marked the solemn memory of the 9/11 TERRORIST attacks. We mourned with the families who were lost on that day. I visited the graves of troops who made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan at the hallowed grounds of Arlington Cemetery, and had the opportunity to say thank you and visit some of our wounded warriors at Walter Reed. And then last night, we learned the news of this TERRORIST attack in Benghazi.

As Americans, let us never, ever forget that our freedom is only sustained because there are people who are willing to fight for it, to stand up for it, and in some cases, lay down their lives for it. Our country is only as strong as the character of our people and the service of those both civilian and military who represent us around the globe.

No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible TERRORIST act. And make no mistake, justice will be done.

But we also know that the lives these Americans led stand in stark contrast to those of the TERRORISTS. These four Americans stood up for freedom and human dignity. They should give every American great pride in the country that they served, and the hope that our flag represents to people around the globe who also yearn to live in freedom and with dignity.

We grieve with their families, but let us carry on their memory, and let us continue their work of seeking a stronger America and a better world for all of our children.

Thank you. May God bless the memory of those we lost and may God bless the United States of America.

END
10:48 A.M. EDT

History Will Be Made

History was made in 2008 when the United States of America elected its first black (mixed race) president. Win or lose, Obama will make history again this year, either by becoming the first black president reelected or the first black president to not be reelected.

In recent weeks there have been signs of desperation in the Obama campaign because fundraising has been weaker than expected. It is not from a lack of trying. Emails are blasted daily imploring people to contribute. The campaign has suggested that couples getting married ask their guests that in lieu of a gift they make a donation to the Obama campaign. Many fundraising events include a lottery where the prize is dining with the Mr. and Mrs. Obama at the fundraiser.

Obama has targeted some of his recent policy decisions to benefit groups that might reward his decision by pulling out their checkbook. Almost two months ago Obama completed the evolution of his opinion on same sex marriage. He announced his support for the concept and then attended a series of fundraisers geared towards groups that would be appreciative of his latest epiphany.

A few weeks ago, Obama announced that he was ordering the use of prosecutorial discretion with regards to enforcing immigration laws against certain members of the illegal immigrant population. The following week he was in Mexico for the G-20 Summit and in Orlando to speak at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Annual Conference. The week after that, he attended two campaign events in Miami.

Perhaps the most despicable misuse of the Executive branch of government for the benefit of the incumbent is how Eric Holder is doing everything that he and his staff can think of to stop states from implementing voter id laws and from making reasonable efforts to remove ineligible voters from state voter rolls. Apparently, for Obama to win this election, he will need the support of the three I's, Independents, Illegals & Ineligibles.

Obama has run for political office six times. He is five and one. The one loss was a primary race in 2000 for a seat in the House of Representatives. He has never lost to a Republican. But what if Obama's fundraising difficulties continue? What if his internal polling is showing there is nothing he can do to win? What if Holder can not prevent the cleansing of the voter rolls? Can Obama's ego handle losing a national campaign to a Republican? Will he have the desire and energy to continue a fight that he knows he will lose? How will losing affect his legacy?

Should it become clear to those inside the Obama campaign that there is no road victory, there is an option that would save him the humiliation of losing and result in his name being used in the same sentence as President Lyndon Johnson. Like Johnson in 1968, Obama could choose not to run. He could even borrow Johnson's words to make his announcement:

With America's sons in the fields far away, with America's future under challenge right here at home, with our hopes and the world's hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office--the Presidency of your country.  

Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.

Now this would be big. How big? It would be OJ Simpson big, except bigger. It would be bigger than Michael Jackson, bigger than the British Invasion, and bigger than our national deficit. It would be almost as big as Chris Christie but not quite that big.

On TV, radio, and in print we will be treated to an over the top love fest for the unselfish act by one of the most historic leaders in the history of mankind, both real and fictional. Reporters will claim to be left speechless by the President's announcement, right before they blather on non-stop about the enormous sacrifice the President is making. The 24 hour news cycle will need to be expanded by at least another hour.

Like Lincoln and Kennedy, Obama's shortened term of office will serve to leave behind a legacy far better than the one that might have been had each served eight years. Except, Obama will be alive, allowing him and his people to help write how he will be remembered. (You may recall the Obama team got some practice rewriting history with several of the Presidential bios stored on the White House web site.)

With Obama out of the race the investigations into the origins of his birth, the questions about his social security number, the mystery of his college grades, the relationships he had with Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers and other extremists, and the factual discrepancies in his autobiography will greatly die down. While some might continue to investigate, the results of any discovery would have no affect on an election. Donald Trump will go away, World Net Daily might shut down, and Sean Hannity may need to go to a half hour TV show and a two hour radio show.

Left in the wake of this monumental announcement will be the wildest game of political candidate poker the country has ever seen. Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Clinton will certainly give great consideration to competing for the nomination. Others will jump at the opportunity as well. For the first time in a long time the Democratic National Convention will be must watch TV.

Meanwhile, the Romney campaign would be tossed into disarray. It will be stuck in a holding pattern waiting to find out the ticket they will be running against. All their previous plans will be for naught. GOP fundraising might slow down while the donors wait to see who the Democrats are running. On the other hand, the right Democratic nominee might reenergize their party, causing their fundraising to sharply increase.

Time is of the essence for this to happen, if it is to happen.  The sooner Obama makes a decision to abandon the campaign trail, the more time he will have to concentrate on the awesome duties of the presidency, as seen through his eyes. He should be able to play at least 40 rounds of golf. He will have the time to take Air Force One to London and attend all 17 days of the Olympics. Fundraising efforts can be directed towards the construction and maintenance of his presidential library. He could pen any number of executive orders without concern for how it would affect his reelection. He would have oodles of time to review the lists of people seeking a pardon, making sure that there is a proper and untraceable quid pro quo.

Upon leaving office in January and after a year or two of Monday morning quarterbacking the new president, Obama will be ready to assume a more worldly position, such as President of the International Olympic Committee or Secretary General of the United Nations. Another media frenzy will surely follow his next career move.

Sometimes we need to take a step or two backwards in order to move Forward, in order to make history. Oh, did I mention that Obama will make tens of millions of dollars as soon as he leaves office?

(Yes, I know this isn't going to happen, just like I knew there was no way Chief Justice Roberts was going to vote with the liberal judges.)

Jeopardy

Obama Q&A for $200 Alex.

Alex: The answer is:

"Well the truth of the matter is, you know, as President of the United States I have a lot of responsibilities,"

Abraham: What did Obama answer when he was asked, does the President of the United States have a lot of responsibilities?

Alex: Sorry, no.

Martin: What did Obama answer when he was asked, what's the funniest thing President Bush told you?

Alex: Sorry, that is incorrect.

John: What did Obama answer when he was asked, does Michelle load you up on the weekends with honey-dos?

Alex: Sorry, not even close.  The correct answer is, what did Obama say on June 11, 2012 in response to, there are a lot of Democrats that are upset you didn't campaign for Tom Barrett.

Unfortunately, it is non-responsive answers like the one our President gave above that has put our constitutional republic in serious jeopardy.

Let's give the President credit for correctly stating the volume of responsibilities of the President of the United States.  They are conveniently enumerated in Article 2 of our Constitution.  The President is the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy and the Militia, he may require the opinion of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, he shall have Power to grant reprieves and pardons, he has the power to make treaties, he shall appoint Ambassadors, Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court and certain other officers of the United States, he shall have the power to fill vacancies while the Senate is in recess, he shall from time to time provide a State of the Union, he shall recommend to Congress for their consideration measures that he judges to be necessary, he may convene both houses of Congress, he may adjourn Congress if there is a dispute over adjournment, he shall receive ambassadors, and finally, he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

The President certainly has a lot of responsibilities.  So has every one of the 43 President's that came before him.  So will the 43 that come after him.

Implied in the President's answer is the time required to fulfill his responsibilities left no time available to go to Wisconsin and campaign for Mayor Barrett.  This part of the President's answer, like so many other answers given by the President and his surrogates, is so blatantly  untrue that I wonder how they speak these words while maintaining a straight face.  Don't ever play poker with Obama or members of his inner circle.

The signatures on the petitions to recall Governor Walker were certified on March 30, 2012 and the election took place June 5, 2012, leaving 66 days available for campaigning.  According to the President's daily schedule, during those 1,584 hours he attended several meetings and signed legislation that appears to be in keeping with his constitutional responsibilities.  His schedule also shows that during the  95,040 minutes he attended 29 campaign (code word for fundraiser) events.  He also hosted an Easter Egg roll, traveled to the country of Columbia (where some his secret service agents got secretly serviced) and joked he was there scouting out vacation spots, honored NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, hosted the NCAA football champs, was interviewed by Jimmy Fallon, hosted the NCAA basketball champs, completed the evolution of his thoughts on gay marriage (with help from his daughters), hosted at the White House a concert honoring songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David (apparently my invitation got lost in the mail), was a guest on The View, welcomed the Major League Soccer champions to the White House, gave the commencement address at Joplin High School in Missouri  (haven't these people suffered enough?), delivered the commencement address at the US Air Force Academy, and presented the Medal of Freedom to the Honorary Chair of Democratic Socialists of America.

Most of the weekend days during the 5,702,400 seconds showed no public schedule for the President.  We do know Obama played golf six times on the weekends on the dates of April 1, 7, 21, 29, May 12 and 26.  Perhaps the President was not aware there are golf courses in Wisconsin.  505 golf courses to be exact.  With a little planning Obama could have flown to Wisconsin, campaigned early in the day at a diner for breakfast, played 18 holes with some union bosses, and then back on the campaign trail for dinner with some wealthy liberals.

The President's claim that his presidential responsibilities left him with no campaign time for Wisconsin is laughable.  (If only he had an airplane at his disposal to fly him wherever and whenever he wanted to fly.)  The speculation that Obama stayed out of Wisconsin to avoid being associated with another election loss may be true but even if Walker was too strong of a candidate to defeat and Barrett too weak of a candidate to win, it was an opportunity for the President to be seen and heard by members of his base that he will need in November.  As with Coakley in Massachusetts, Corzine in New Jersey, and Giannoulias in Illinois, if the Obama backed person loses the blame gets attributed to the weakness of the candidate.

Obama entered his presidency with the belief he could bully Congress and the States to sign off on his agenda.  After the 2010 mid-term election he found out this was no longer possible.  Gridlock does not begin to describe the current stalemate in Congress.  It is more like an asteroid has hit the Earth and the grid has been vaporized.  Nothing is getting done in Congress between now and election day.

The States are even more out of Obama's control.  Twenty-seven States have sued the Federal government over Obamacare.  The Federal government sued Arizona over its new immigration law.  Florida and the Federal government are suing each other over the process of validating its voter rolls.  The State issues are filled with real world nitty gritty details that get in the way of Obama's grand utopian views.  Getting into the trenches of the local politics of Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Milwaukee and Racine would not have resulted in capturing the hearts and minds of the Badger state. 

Obama has learned there is no need for hand to hand combat along the streets of Madison when you have the ability to fly drones all over America.  The only way for the President to move Forward with the Hope and Change agenda is to bypass Congress and the Courts.  He ignored the court when it ruled he had to lift the moratorium on drilling in the Gulf.  He unilaterally decided to stop enforcing the Defense of Marriage Act.  He made recess appointments when the Senate was not in recess.  He signed a treaty without the approval of Congress arguing that what he signed was not a treaty but rather, an executive agreement (whatever that is.)  These have been big, sweeping, unprecedented, unconstitutional executive branch actions or inactions.  Other than some huffing and puffing by Republicans, the President has gotten away with his failure to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.  The checks and balances the Framers counted on to keep our government limited, are safely stored in the same lock box with all of our social security savings.  Somewhere the anti-Federalists are screaming a collective, "I told you so."

On Friday, June 15, 2012 the President bypassed Congress again with the announcement of a new deportation policy.  This appears to be a clear usurpation of an enumerated power of Congress stated in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, "to establish a uniform rule of naturalization."  If Congress does not do everything within in its Constitutional power to check the executive branch then we may as well cut spending by shutting this Congress down. 

Alex: It is time for Final Jeopardy.  The category is Authoritarian Rulers. Contestants, round your wagers to the nearest trillion.

Alex: And the answer is, Barack Obama, 2009 to 2035. (Cue the music.)

A Tweet Which Will Live In Infamy

This article can be found on the American Thinker web site.

Help for a Liberal: The Invocation

This article can be found on the American Thinker web site.