President Obama's newfound love for the U.S. Constitution would be amusing if it were not so hypocritical. Unfortunately, congressional GOP leaders share in the hypocrisy.
While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he won't let Obama remake the Supreme Court by appointing the next justice, McConnell wants the Senate to approve Obama's TransPacific Partnership, aka Obamatrade, enabling Obama to remake our economy and nation long after he has left office.
How did we get to this public display of affection for the Constitution and this rank hypocrisy?
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The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia enfevered the already elevated animal spirits of the Democrats.
The White House, acting on its maxim to never let a crisis go to waste, and acting in concert with the Clinton campaign, is pushing a Supreme Court nomination fight to energize base voters for the November elections.
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Democrat political operatives are well aware of the fact that Obama's chances to fill the vacancy rank somewhat below Rev. Jeremiah Wright's chances of securing the papacy. But they are more than willing to aid and abet voters' delusions.
The rubes, also known as Democrat base voters, want the president to replace Antonin Scalia with a raging progressive, and their party's leaders are actively encouraging them to believe he could actually do it.
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The loyal minions are convinced that Supreme Court appointments are, or at least should be, above politics. This is, of course, ahistoric nonsense.
The Supreme Court has been a political flashpoint ever since the founding of the republic. Thomas Jefferson accused his Federalist rivals of packing the bench. In the landmark Marbury v. Madison decision, the Supremes gave themselves the power to strike down laws approved by Congress and the executive. Partisans of all stripes (including now-extinct Whigs) have been howling bloody murder ever since.
But President Obama has been more than happy to feed the fever dreams of the left. A former constitutional law professor should know better, but no matter. You don't let facts get in the way of politics.
In one of his most condescending and snarky public statements ever, Obama claimed to be amused that strict constructionists would deny him his chance to appoint a third Supreme. Posing as a strict constructionist, he said the Senate must consider his nominee since the Constitution does not prohibit election-year appointments.
But this president doesn't give a wit about the original intention of the
Founders. Obama and his fellow travelers believe the Constitution is a "living document" that can be interpreted as they wish.
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Obama wants it both ways. When it suits his purposes, a malleable Constitution can confer unwritten powers to the federal government and guarantee rights to his favored "victims." Yet he invokes a literal reading when that serves his purposes.
We saw this movie before when Barack "Both Ways" Obama, then a senator, filibustered the nomination of Samuel Alito. Not confining himself to a yes or no vote, as a strict reading of the Constitution would prescribe, he tried to block the "advice and consent" process. Now he's telling the Senate it cannot block him.
You could say Obama is consistent in his inconsistency, though you cannot say he is honest about it.
We shall see if there is any consistency – or honesty – among GOP congressional leaders. Don't hold your breath.
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Mitch McConnell has stated that the Senate will not allow Obama – a lame-duck president – to make a lifetime appointment to the most important court in the land. This momentous future-shaping decision should await the next president, McConnell intones solemnly.
But the majority leader wants Congress to approve Obama's TransPacific Partnership, aka Obamatrade, in a lame-duck session after the election, when many of the members voting on it will have been fired or retired.
Obama's sweeping international regulatory agreement will enable him to "write the rules for the world's economy," as he describes it. It would empower foreign bureaucrats to issue rulings overriding U.S. laws and courts – including the Supreme Court. Yet it would be taken up as legislation requiring a simple majority for passage, not as a treaty that would need two-thirds approval by the Senate. How's that for respecting the Constitution?
For the same reason the GOP should not allow Obama to reshape our nation's future with a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, it cannot let Obama reshape our nation's economy, sovereignty and future with Obamatrade. Not now, and not in a lame-duck session when the president has packed his bags and is heading out the door.
Media wishing to interview Curtis Ellis, please contact [email protected].
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