COMMENTARY | Elections have consequences. Unfortunately, one negative consequence of the last presidential election is that for next four years, the public will be continually exposed to the foolish assertions spouted off by President Barack Obama’s opponents.
The Hill reported Tuesday that during a Christian Broadcasting Network interview, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., inferred that Obama is acting like a king over the 19 executive orders he plans to implement regarding gun control. Paul said, “I think having a monarch is what we fought the American Revolution over and someone who wants to bypass the Constitution, bypass Congress — that’s someone who wants to act like a king or a monarch.”
If Obama were a king, then why haven’t all the anti-Obama mouthpieces like Paul who continually run down the president been silenced? After all, kings have that power to silence those who oppose them. The goofiness of conservatives and tea partiers never ends, even in the face of reality of what presidents can and can’t do.
According to The Washington Post Tuesday, Obama’s reported 19 executive actions regarding gun control would include research on gun violence and modernizing the federal tracking system for guns, criminals, and the mentally ill. Yet experts warn that without major legislation passed by Congress, those “relatively narrow in scope” actions by the president won’t have any major impact on gun violence. Jay Carney, White House press secretary, commented, “It is a simple fact that there are limits on what can be done within existing law.”
Furthermore, if Obama is so omnipotent, he would raise the debt ceiling and implement comprehensive immigration reform by decree, but has he? No. He instead admonishes Congress to do its part in passing such legislation like he will over gun control legislation.
And where was this “king” rhetoric against former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush when they issued executive orders on gun control, as reported by NYMag.com Tuesday? I followed current events during their presidencies, and never once heard such nonsensical accusations.
Gun fanatics can legally stockpile all the firearms and ammunition under the false hope that they’ll be able to defend themselves against a repressive government. But while Obama isn’t a king, he is the commander-in-chief of a military that would have no trouble putting these people in check — that is, if he really wanted to act kingly.
