It’s funny how life works. Even when I agree with Barack Obama, I am still offended by his Big Brother attitude and nanny state tactics. Obama’s actions remind me of a dictator who thinks he knows better than you or me. Last week, President Barack Obama erased any doubt that he sees himself as a king rather than as the elected servant of the American people. Obama declared he would not defend a law passed by the Congress of the United States called DOMA (The Defense of Marriage Act).
As a well-known libertarian-conservative and states’ rights activist, I believe the federal government has no place in the debate on marriage. While I personally support gay marriage, I also believe that it’s a states’ rights issue and should only be decided at the state and local level. DOMA tramples on states’ rights, in violation of the Constitution.
But Obama’s support of my position on DOMA makes me feel no better. One could respect his argument that DOMA is unconstitutional if Obama was a consistent defender of the Constitution. But Obama is about power and pleasing his biggest political contributors, not upholding the rule of law. If Obama was frank with the American people, he would simply state, “I am your king, your ruler. Congress is irrelevant and the Constitution is a meaningless piece of paper. I will tell you what laws are good for you.” Obama knows little about truth. He received an Ivy League degree in speaking out of both ends of his mouth and a masters degree in the art of “weapons of mass distraction.”
Obama’s decision was pure politics — and a perfect distraction while the economy and global security melts down. The national debt is mounting; cities and states are bankrupt; the dollar is headed for oblivion; gas prices are escalating out of control; real unemployment is heading for a staggering 20%; the Middle East is in flames; our border is undefended. To a master of deception like Obama, this is the perfect time to distract the media and the masses. Change the topic. Open the fight on another front. Confuse, misdirect, and overwhelm the opposition, while simultaneously rewarding a group that contributes heavily to Democratic causes. Right out of Obama’s favorite book, “Rules for Radicals.”
But don’t buy into Obama’s propaganda. This has nothing to do with the Constitution. If Obama cared about the Constitution, he’d be refusing to support many of his own bills. After all, there is nothing constitutional about Obamacare. Forcing consumers to buy a product (health insurance), with the threat of government (fine or prison), is certainly unconstitutional.
If he thought the Constitution mattered, Obama certainly would not be giving unions waivers to opt out of Obamacare. He certainly would not be setting price controls on doctors, insurance companies, and medical device manufacturers. He would not be supporting cap and trade either. Since when did the Constitution give the government the power to take control of private industry?
What about bailouts? Is it constitutional to steal taxpayer money and then give it to the companies that wrote the biggest checks to your presidential campaign?
How about card check? You think it’s constitutional to enrich 7% of the population (union employees) who happen to send hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions to Obama, all balanced on the backs of the other 93% of the population? Is it constitutional to accomplish this by taking away the right of employees to vote in secret? I wonder if it’s constitutional to be a president and a union hack at the same time.
And then there’s Obama’s obsession with banning oil drilling. Recently, a federal judge called Obama’s de facto ban “unreasonable, unacceptable and unjustified.” Obama’s unconstitutional disregard for the rule of law could threaten the security and stability of the entire U.S. economy.
It certainly can’t be states’ rights that Obama is concerned with. After all, he is currently suing the state of Arizona, interfering with its constitutional right to protect its own border and citizens. Amazingly, Mexico has joined the suit. Do you think it’s constitutional for our president to be suing one of our own states, with Mexico as a partner?
So why start quoting the Constitution with DOMA? In the middle of the Great Depression II and a Middle East meltdown, why choose gay marriage as the issue to draw the line in the sand? What would the media’s reaction have been if President Bush had decided he would no longer defend the Civil Rights Act on constitutional grounds? Yet in this case, we hear only deafening silence from the media.
No matter that, for the first time, Obama and I are on the same side of an issue. His handling of DOMA is simply an extension of his non-stop Big Brother power grab through the appointment of radical czars, blatant disregard for the rule of law (see his handling of the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies), and implementation of rules, regulations, and policies that bypass Congress and the will of the American people.
Our president can cite his newfound appreciation for the Constitution all he wants. But from his actions as president, it’s clear he wouldn’t know the Constitution if it hit him in the face. This man considers the American people “serfs” and himself our king and dictator. As my father, the common-sense blue-collar butcher, used to say, “Don’t listen to what he says, watch what he does.”
Wayne Allyn Root is a former Libertarian vice presidential nominee. He now serves as Chairman of the Libertarian National Congressional Committee. He is the best-selling author of “The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gold & Tax Cuts.” His website: www.ROOTforAmerica.com.