A Petulant President

Today the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Arizona law enforcement has the right to check the immigration status of persons under arrest for other crimes. It is important to note that no one of any culture or race can simply be stopped and asked to "show their papers." In fact, the Court struck down much of the Arizona law, but the retention of this one provision has provoked a series of responses that reveal the true colors of our petulant, power-hungry despot-in-chief. Within minutes of the Court's ruling, the Administration declared that they would no longer cooperate with Arizona in any matter pertaining to this law. Obama's minions went further and set up a hot line for folks who feel mistreated by this law.

At first glance, this seems to smack of election-year pandering for Hispanic votes. While this is true, the insidious nature of this response to our legal process unmasks a nefarious agenda that reaches well beyond a few swing-state votes. What we are observing are the strategies and tactics of statism, practiced by totalitarians for more than a century. At the heart of the Obama Administration is contempt for the average citizen and the genuine belief that they know what is best for the masses. The strategy is to mobilize the disaffected that believe in more federal largesse and cultural elites that desire maximal private excess. When a leader unites these two groups and has a few business folks in her or his pocket, the stage is set for dictatorial rule. Contempt for the Constitution, the rule of law, traditional virtues, private enterprise and conservative religious traditions (except Islam) are all part of the package and provide direct parallels with another era: one dominated by the evil twin towers of Hitler and Stalin.

Add to these offenses the Imperial cloak of "executive privilege" for concealing needed documents and buying off cronies and the stage is set for the end of the American experiment in virtue-based liberty.

In foreign policy, the offenses are even more destructive for the forces of liberty and truth. The Arab Spring has devolved into the Islamicist winter, threatening any sparks of democracy and the very existence of Israel. Obama's strategy of outreach to Islamic groups and networks is more than failure - it has opened the door for aggrandizement by the radicals that lurk just beneath the surface of so many cultural and economic networks.

The upcoming election is the most important moment in American political history since Abraham Lincoln assumed the presidency. Lincoln faced a divided Union and the consequences of the founders failure concerning slavery. Today we have a nation unable to engage in civil debate, with fortunes made through victimhood, wealthy power-brokers appearing to care for the poor they never encounter and disdain for the checks and balances of our great Constitution.

Our petulant President deserves defeat in November. But the key to our future is more than the current occupant of the White House. "We the People" must be a civil, infomed citizenry taking responsiblity for our nation's future.