Posted by
Roxanna M. on Wednesday, April 04, 2012 1:19:10 PM
The late Jim Croce sang a song with this refrain: "You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit into the wind. You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger, and you don't mess around with Jim." The idea is that you don't do these things because something bad will happen if you do.
Well, Obama didn't do any of the foregoing, but he certainly tugged on the black robes of justice by saying that he was "confident" that the Supreme Court would not "take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress." Let's look at that.
First, it would not be "an unprecedented, extraordinary step" for the Supreme Court to overturn a law that it deemed unconstitutional. Between 1789 and 2002 (the last year for which data is available), the Supreme Court overturned 158 acts of congress as being unconstitutional. During that time, the Supreme Court overturned 1,539 (state, local, and federal) laws that it deemed unconstitutional.
Secondly, "passed by a strong majority". Really. The margin in the House was 7. The margin in the Senate was 21. Hardly a "strong majority" in either body.
Obama also referred to the justices as "unelected", as though that was a bad thing. If our Constitution is followed, those justices will still be sitting on the bench long after the community organizer from Chicago has been returned to his old stomping grounds.
I think that what Obama was really saying was "Don't cross me." I have long been of the belief that Obama thought he could get through the presidency without breaking a sweat. He'd propose something. People would swoon. Congress would pass the necessary legislation. And he would sign it, all without interfering with tee time or his weekly parties. Funny how real life gets in the way, huh.
Well, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas, also currently hearing a case against Obamacare, has taken umbrage at Obama's remarks and has ordered the Department of Justice to submit a three-page, single-spaced letter addressing whether the Executive Branch believes that federal courts have the power to strike down laws they believe are unconstitutional and has given them until tomorrow to do so.
Since there is no question that federal courts have this power, what these justices have done is force the Department of Justice, which is part of the Executive Branch, to write a letter that will disparage Obama's comments and, thus, Obama himself for making them. It's kind of like a schoolteacher forcing a student to write "I will not say stupid things" on the blackboard 100 times.
In the bigger picture, though, Obama's comments are far more sinister, especially if taken together with his comment "When Congress refuses to act, Joe and I are going to act." In other words, Obama is saying "I want my way." These comments form a picture of a man chafing against our constitutional system, a man who would be much more comfortable being a dictator, with a compliant congress and judiciary implementing his will.
These latest comments also seem to indicate that not only does Obama believe that the Supreme Court just might throw out his signature "achievement," but that he might be starting to unravel a bit. Are cracks beginning to form in the facade of "No Drama Obama"?
Obama has never really had to work for anything. He has no idea how to behave when someone says "no" or when people regard him with less than complete adoration. When this happens, he goes off script and lashes out, saying stupid things in the process.
This order from the Fifth Circuit is a good comeuppance to someone who has come to believe in his own omnipotence.