I have to admit that when I heard President Obama had issued his latest executive order concerning immigration and border security, I was quite upset, for two reasons. First, I felt that (and still do) the President was sacrificing the safety of the southern United States and rendering the mission of the Border Patrol both impossible and so much more dangerous. Second, and most important, I was concerned that President Obama was writing too many executive orders, that is, governing by executive order (which is what a dictator does) and that Mr. Obama would possibly hold on to the office of president BY EXECUTIVE ORDER.
Leaving those two reasons alone for the moment, I would like to relate a few things I learned about executive orders in just a couple of hours of reading. Executive Orders, as such, are not specifically mentioned in the Constitution, but in Article II, Section 1, the president is given "executive power" or the authority to operate the executive branch, and by extension, federal agencies, the way he sees fit in order to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.." according to Article II, Section 3. President George Washington (the man who WOULD NOT be King) wrote the first executive order just THREE MONTHS after taking office. This executive order required all the various department heads (now known as The Cabinet) to report to the President on the situations of their various functions. This executive order was hardly noticed outside the government and certainly raised no eyebrows, unlike Washington's later executive order that required American citizens to remain neutral during the war between France and England.
Back to our current leader, President Obama, I have to say that I honestly expected that he would have by now issued the most executive orders of any president to date. On that presumption I was wrong. It turns out that President Franklin D. Roosevelt holds that honor, although Mr. Obama still has time to write a passel of executives orders and overtake FDR. Mr. Roosevelt issued over 3500 executive orders. To date, President Obama has issued approximately 183 executive orders, just over half the number that Bill Clinton wrote, and over a hundred LESS than Bush II issued. But I would like to point out that President Roosevelt served three terms as president due to the nation being under a State of Emergency. With all that is going on in the world today, including the ongoing War On Terror (WOT), it is not inconceivable that the President could decide it is not in the nation's best interest to hold elections in 2016. Thus he could hold onto his office via executive order stating the above.
While I now know that President Obama was acting in his scope of power to issue the executive order curtailing the enforcement of the sanctity of our southern border, I believe he is clearly neglecting his duty as Chief Executive to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." It could be argued (and has been over the years) that since the resources of the United States are limited (though one would never know, considering we in debt to the tune of $16 trillion dollars) the President must focus on those areas where he can be the most effective. Mr. Obama apparently, then, feels that border security is not a big issue. I would propose to him, however, that a WOT cannot be faithfully executed when our nation's sovereignty is intentionally unenforced.
The second and more frightening concern I have with the current holder of the White House is that Mr. Obama might follow the example of President Roosevelt and take a third term as president. UNLIKE Roosevelt, however, President Obama might decide to issue an executive order cancelling the 2016 presidential election and then simply remain in office until the WOT is concluded. Since "terror" is a concept, a belief, even an OPINION, one might say that the WOT will never end, because "terror" can never be truly eliminated. Terrorism cannot be totally eliminated, either. So, due to the ongoing (undeclared as yet) state of emergency that exists because this nation is engaged in an unwinnable war, the President has the legal authority (under the present sheeple thinking anyway) to simply executive order himself into a lifelong presidency. All President Obama need do is declare that national state of emergency then executive order away to his content.
I know some who read this may say to me that I need to take a big dose of my "nerve" medicine and just chill, because a President, even President Obama, WOULD NEVER do such a thing. To that, let me just retort that a much greater man than Obama, Mr. Abraham Lincoln, believed it necessary, and in his power, to suspend habeas corpus, and he did so, during the Civil War. Given that Mr. Lincoln was a honorable man doing the best he could in a desperate situation, there is little doubt that a less than scrupulous man might enact such powerful measures with less honorable intent than had Mr. Lincoln.
Be that as it may, and I do hope I am wrong, I am glad I detoured from my evening's activities to delve into the background and history of presidential executive orders, also called presidential decision directives, and to gain a better understanding of this subject. Almost every president from George Washington to Barack Obama has written at least one executive order. I have also formed the opinion (and this IS my opinion ONLY) that the Founding Fathers indeed wanted the president to have the power and authority to issue executive orders; however, I also believe the Founding Fathers believed the president would be very sparing and judicious in the use of this awesome power. I further believe that the government (people working in governmental capacities) as well as "the people" would have "re-revolted" if the early presidents had so effectively circumvented Congress and the Supreme Court with executive orders to the degree that our current President and recent presidents have done.
Now that we have seen, particularly during World War II and the current WOT, how the president can and does abuse the power of the executive order, maybe it is time to at least THINK about amending the Constitution so that either the authority to issue executive orders is curtailed greatly, or that this implied power of the president be specifically removed from the Constitution.
In the meantime...
God Bless America
Leaving those two reasons alone for the moment, I would like to relate a few things I learned about executive orders in just a couple of hours of reading. Executive Orders, as such, are not specifically mentioned in the Constitution, but in Article II, Section 1, the president is given "executive power" or the authority to operate the executive branch, and by extension, federal agencies, the way he sees fit in order to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.." according to Article II, Section 3. President George Washington (the man who WOULD NOT be King) wrote the first executive order just THREE MONTHS after taking office. This executive order required all the various department heads (now known as The Cabinet) to report to the President on the situations of their various functions. This executive order was hardly noticed outside the government and certainly raised no eyebrows, unlike Washington's later executive order that required American citizens to remain neutral during the war between France and England.
Back to our current leader, President Obama, I have to say that I honestly expected that he would have by now issued the most executive orders of any president to date. On that presumption I was wrong. It turns out that President Franklin D. Roosevelt holds that honor, although Mr. Obama still has time to write a passel of executives orders and overtake FDR. Mr. Roosevelt issued over 3500 executive orders. To date, President Obama has issued approximately 183 executive orders, just over half the number that Bill Clinton wrote, and over a hundred LESS than Bush II issued. But I would like to point out that President Roosevelt served three terms as president due to the nation being under a State of Emergency. With all that is going on in the world today, including the ongoing War On Terror (WOT), it is not inconceivable that the President could decide it is not in the nation's best interest to hold elections in 2016. Thus he could hold onto his office via executive order stating the above.
While I now know that President Obama was acting in his scope of power to issue the executive order curtailing the enforcement of the sanctity of our southern border, I believe he is clearly neglecting his duty as Chief Executive to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." It could be argued (and has been over the years) that since the resources of the United States are limited (though one would never know, considering we in debt to the tune of $16 trillion dollars) the President must focus on those areas where he can be the most effective. Mr. Obama apparently, then, feels that border security is not a big issue. I would propose to him, however, that a WOT cannot be faithfully executed when our nation's sovereignty is intentionally unenforced.
The second and more frightening concern I have with the current holder of the White House is that Mr. Obama might follow the example of President Roosevelt and take a third term as president. UNLIKE Roosevelt, however, President Obama might decide to issue an executive order cancelling the 2016 presidential election and then simply remain in office until the WOT is concluded. Since "terror" is a concept, a belief, even an OPINION, one might say that the WOT will never end, because "terror" can never be truly eliminated. Terrorism cannot be totally eliminated, either. So, due to the ongoing (undeclared as yet) state of emergency that exists because this nation is engaged in an unwinnable war, the President has the legal authority (under the present sheeple thinking anyway) to simply executive order himself into a lifelong presidency. All President Obama need do is declare that national state of emergency then executive order away to his content.
I know some who read this may say to me that I need to take a big dose of my "nerve" medicine and just chill, because a President, even President Obama, WOULD NEVER do such a thing. To that, let me just retort that a much greater man than Obama, Mr. Abraham Lincoln, believed it necessary, and in his power, to suspend habeas corpus, and he did so, during the Civil War. Given that Mr. Lincoln was a honorable man doing the best he could in a desperate situation, there is little doubt that a less than scrupulous man might enact such powerful measures with less honorable intent than had Mr. Lincoln.
Be that as it may, and I do hope I am wrong, I am glad I detoured from my evening's activities to delve into the background and history of presidential executive orders, also called presidential decision directives, and to gain a better understanding of this subject. Almost every president from George Washington to Barack Obama has written at least one executive order. I have also formed the opinion (and this IS my opinion ONLY) that the Founding Fathers indeed wanted the president to have the power and authority to issue executive orders; however, I also believe the Founding Fathers believed the president would be very sparing and judicious in the use of this awesome power. I further believe that the government (people working in governmental capacities) as well as "the people" would have "re-revolted" if the early presidents had so effectively circumvented Congress and the Supreme Court with executive orders to the degree that our current President and recent presidents have done.
Now that we have seen, particularly during World War II and the current WOT, how the president can and does abuse the power of the executive order, maybe it is time to at least THINK about amending the Constitution so that either the authority to issue executive orders is curtailed greatly, or that this implied power of the president be specifically removed from the Constitution.
In the meantime...
God Bless America
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