Bob Woodward may be the most respected journalist in America. He’s predominantly liberal minded. Along with Bernstein, he is largely responsible for ending the presidency of Republican Richard Nixon. This great icon now says that Barack Obama was lying to the people about the Sequester. For this, he has been threatened by the White House, which menacingly told him he would “regret” his honesty.
It is also now obvious that the President lied about the causes of the attack on our ambassador in Benghazi, a lie he told in the Rose Garden, at the United Nations, and most disgracefully, at the solemn ceremony when the bodies of the fallen were returned to American soil. His mendacity continues as Americans continue to wonder why government personnel have been prevented from providing their insights. And why, most disturbingly, so many military and intelligence leaders, who were prevented by this White House from attempting to rescue our personnel, have been dismissed from their posts.
Lying is only part of the problem.
This Administration has repeatedly evidenced utter contempt for the law. Its Justice Department refuses to prosecute blatant cases of voter fraud. It has declared war on local sheriffs when they seek to follow the Constitution, rather than “executive orders” and other personnel dictates of the Chief Executive. Mr. Obama has set up a private organization that charges a half-million dollars to arrange meetings with him—influence peddling on a scale never before imagined in our body politic. He has, on a number of issues, simply decided which laws his administration will enforce and which it will ignore.
The President has clearly signaled his disdain for our system of government, and the mandate for the separation of powers. In 2011, when Congress wouldn’t completely bend to his will, he sought to avoid the normal discussion and compromise of our democratic process by announcing his “We Can’t Wait” initiative, stating that if Congress didn’t obey, he would find a way to go around them. He has refused to pass a budget during his tenure in office, allowing him to govern without accountability. When this backfires, he blames it on anyone else. The specifics of his signature legislative piece, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act were hidden from the people and opposing legislators alike during the passage process. Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that his attempt to circumvent Congress through his odd interpretation of “recess appointments” was unconstitutional.
The President refuses to answer why, after spending over $700 billion on his “stimulus” program (much of which went to organizations that assisted in the bundling of funds for his campaigns) the economy remains a wreck, and why this doesn’t compel him to change course. Or why, with gasoline prices skyrocketing, he refuses to allow projects like the Keystone XL pipeline to move forward.
Mr. Obama won’t explain why he has alienated America from our traditional allies, and why he continuously kowtows to Moscow’s Putin. He won’t describe why he is so reluctant to use the word “terrorist.” Obama won’t explain why he didn’t object to China’s takeover of a resource-rich offshore region belonging to our Philippine friends, or why he is oddly reluctant to take firm action against Iran’s nuclear program. (The White House had to be practically dragged into supporting sanctions.) His proposals for unilateral U.S. nuclear disarmament and unilateral U.S. arms reductions border on complete irrationality.
He treats the Bill of Rights as a mere suggestion, which he freely ignores. He nominated a Supreme Court Justice who stated before Congress that she didn’t believe in unalienable rights. He has pressured religious institutions to engage in acts that they find morally reprehensible, or face regulatory consequences. He ignores 10th amendment rules providing that powers not specifically given to the federal government are reserved to the states or the people. Along with his Senatorial allies, he has (unsuccessfully) attempted to force media outlets—predominately the few that have had the backbone to disagree with him—to give “equal time” to his supporters. His Environmental Protection Agency has trampled private property rights on a stunning scale.
These acts cannot be taken as mere excesses necessary to overcome harsh obstacles. By every objective standard, whether your perspective is liberal, conservative, Democrat or Republican, the results of his policies have been shockingly bad.
Unemployment is higher than when he took office. Long term unemployment is at unprecedented levels. He has spent more in four years than Bush did in eight, with no substantive results at all. The economy has slipped back into recession. Our exports are dropping.
Around the world, America’s influence hasn’t been lower since before World War 2, as a newly invigorated Russian military struts its muscles, China’s armed forces have attained superpower status, and North Korea openly parades its ICBMs and nuclear weapons with impunity. Islamic fundamentalists have replaced the pro-American government in Egypt. Cuba now heads the CELAC organization, which includes every nation in the western hemisphere with the sole exception of the U.S. and Canada. The Taliban and al Qaeda are resurgent.
Americans desperately wanted Obama to succeed, to be, as our first black president, an historic figure bringing our nation together. Instead, he implements extremist policies which have economically devastated black and white communities, and he employs divisive class warfare on an unprecedented scale. He treats those with divergent views as enemies rather than fellow citizens with differing perspectives.
This failed and dangerous presidency must change course.
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