Talleyrand said that after Napoleon had committed some senseless outrage that hurt his cause. The same holds true for our President's Constitutional "Innovation". But first let me be clear: I think the current illegal immigrant situation is untenable and immoral. We need as a nation to resolve the iniquitous exploitation of millions of undocumented and illegal immigrants in a way that is just to them and to the people like my Sister In Law who worked two jobs and spent half her life bringing every one of her siblings from El Salvador legally. Unfortunately our President by acting outside of our constitutional traditions has made solving the problem much harder because:
He has made the issue infinitely more partisan. Many conservatives and moderates agree with me that we need to solve the problem. It was hard enough to be in favor of reform when you had Democrats proclaiming that the rise of immigrant groups 'guaranteed' Democrat hegemony going forward. Now the President, in the face of a crushing electoral defeat, without even waiting for the new Congress, freelances a 'solution' that is cynically tuned to provoke a segment of conservative opinion and cause an overreaction. By acting unilaterally he is repeating the abortion blunder, poisoning the issue for a generation or more.
He has "Taken 5 million hostages". Things that can be 'done' by decree can be undone by decree. These people's 'amnesty' is not based on law but on the President's whim and his party's continuing ownership of the White House. Paradoxically the man these people consider to be their 'savior' is also their jailer.
He has set a precedent that is much more harmful to his party than it is to Republicans. The Democratic party's agenda is very heavy on state solutions to problems that include detailed regulations, subsidies, mandates and 'enforcement'. It would be easy for a Republican President to decline to enforce these mandates. I can make a long list of pet Democrat laws that would collapse into nothing if a President Rubio or Jindal simply decided to use his newfound, shiny Barack Obama issued 'prosecutorial discretion'. The Republicans, being less interventionist are far, far less exposed. It is unwise for people with glass jaws to throw punches.
He has given a sterling example to the electorate for why they need to elect a Republican next time. Some voters who usually lean left but value the protections that a constrained executive give them will think twice before encouraging this type of behavior. And people who usually lean left but are upset about immigration (almost every black American and the white working class, for example) will have one more reason to veer rightward. People forget just how quickly black voters switched from Republican to Democrat over a salient issue.
He has shown himself to be a deceitful narcissist. Wapo has documented twenty occasions where Barack Obama talked about not having the power to do what he now intends to do. He is doing so in spite of the many bad outcomes that flow from it for the worst reasons possible: to remain 'relevant' and to secure his 'place in history'. In other words to indulge his prideful vanity. They really didn't preach much bible at that church he used to go to did they?
He has shown his party to be cowards. Barack Obama and the Congressional Democrats could have passed any reform they wanted in his first two years. It would have been easy and completely constitutional. But they feared losing votes so they chose not to. The Democrats talk a good game about how they support the President on this but they're in fact cowards who have provoked a constitutional crisis rather than doing what they say is the 'right thing' and taking the political consequences.
The Supreme Court. Barack Obama has missed his opportunity to replace another aging liberal on the court. It is unlikely that Justice Ginsberg will make it another six years, much less ten. The President's high handed action and Harry Reids suspension of the filibuster for Appeals Court confirmations provides Mitch McConnell with all the cover he needs to suspend the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees when President Paul appoints a down the line conservative replacement for Ginsberg or Breyer or both.
I change my mind: it was worse than a crime and worse than a blunder: it's a strategic own goal of epic proportions whose reverberations will last for at least a generation. We can be so selfish and short sighted when we think righteousness is on our side. In a Republic the process and the faith and loyalty it engenders is more important than today's outcome. Much more important. Fuck that up and you fuck everything up. Our dear left friends have forgotten that to the nation's sorrow. This is going to get ugly before it gets better.
No comments:
Post a Comment