ca*pri*cious
adj.
Adj. 1. capricious - changeable; "a capricious summer breeze"; "freakish weather"
unpredictable - not capable of being foretold
2. capricious - determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason; "a capricious refusal"; "authoritarian rulers are frequently capricious"; "the victim of whimsical persecutions"
arbitrary- based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse or caprice; "an arbitrary decision"; "the arbitrary rule of a dictator"' "an arbitrary penalty"
Sound familiar? What the heck... let's review:
1. After the 2008 election, there were calls by many on the Left for President Bush and his administration to step aside and let the Obama administration take over during the financial crisis prior to the constitutionally mandated date of January 20th (20th Amendment). The constitutional date for presidential inaugurations has been so revered in American history that prior to the 1933 date change to the 20th Amendment from March 4 to January 20, only four exceptions were made. These four presidents delivered their inaugural addresses on March 5th because March 4th fell on a Sunday. Respect for the date was only superseded by respect for the Sabbath. Times have changed.
2. Three days after entering office President Obama overturns the Mexico City Policy which prohibited the use of American taxpayer funds for abortion services overseas. He does this against the will and consent of a majority of Americans.
3. On February 4th, Obama announces pay caps of $500,000 for executives of companies receiving TARP money. Interior Secretary Salazar cancels 77 leases to oil and gas companies made by the Bush administration, while letting 39 stand. The authority for the executive to determine private enterprise executive compensation limits and to arbitrarily cancel contracts is enumerated in which part of the constitution? Don't answer that.
4. On February 21st, Obama's DOJ affirms the Bush administration's position that enemy detainees in Afghanistan do not have the right to use U.S. courts to contest their detention. On November 13, Attorney General Holder announces that 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad will be tried in downtown Manhattan within several weeks. He does this against the will and consent of a majority of Americans. In a rare show of sensitivity to public opinion there has been no announcement as to when and where KSM will be tried, but apparently it won't be in Manhattan. May we suggest GITMO, which is yet to be closed as Obama repeatedly promised during the campaign?
5. March 30th, Obama announces restructuring ultimatums for Chrysler and
General Motors effectively taking government control of two of the Big Three auto
firms. Obama fires the chairman and CEO of GM. In the restructuring deal, the
UAW ends up with a majority share of Chrysler (55%), making the term "secured"
creditor meaningless and once again shattering the very idea of constitutional
protection of contracts. The transactions are effected using capital infusions from
TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) slush funds as leverage to coerce reluctant banks. He does this against the will and consent of a majority of Americans.
6. April 5th, Obama gives a speech in Prague touting unilateral nuclear
disarmament for America and her allies. This, while rogue states such as North
Korea and Iran have been shown to have nuclear ambitions and the intent to
threaten their neighbors and/or sell their deadly wares to terrorists. His
unilateral disarmament policy is naive and dangerous and against the will and
consent of a majority of Americans, not to mention it is in direct conflict with
his role as president.
Those are some of the major events for 2009. In 2010 thus far, we've seen...
7. The comprehensive health care bill passed by the Senate is "deemed" passed by the House
using a procedure previously reserved for budget items. After at least 54
speeches by the president, lots of back room deals and severe arm twisting, the
measure is more unpopular with Americans than ever. It becomes law against the will and consent of a majority of Americans.
8. After Arizona passes a law intended to allow state police to enforce
immigration laws the federal government won't, the Obama administration
announces that immigration officials won't process illegal immigrants picked up
under the new law. This raises three main issues: 1) The president doesn't
acknowledge the concept of equal standing before the law. 2) The president
doesn't to plan to faithfully preserve, protect and defend the Constitution as he
promised in the oath of office. 3) The president doesn't care that a large
majority of Americans support the Arizona law and want the borders secured
before any immigration laws pass. He punishes Arizona against the will and consent of a majority of Americans.
9. In an event little noted by the mainstream media, Congress fails to write a
deadline, which they did, but that they didn't even bother to write one. The
budget is non-binding, but has serious implications as to the political will of
Congress to tax and spend responsibly. We, the taxpayers, should insist the
holders-of-the-purse-strings not only face the awful truth of the budget mess by
writing a budget... we should insist Congress live or die by a balanced budget.
10. In response to the oil spill devastating the Gulf of Mexico, Obama has
extorted $20 billion out of BP for another of his many slush funds (TARP,
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and now this). At least these
funds won't come from the taxpayers' pockets, but we should all be alarmed that
our president is so capricious as to utterly ignore due process and the rule of law.
We should also note he has an open hostility for free enterprise which suggests,
if America weren't so bullied by political correctness, we could openly call our
president a socialist. And if "progressives" weren't so intellectually dishonest in
pursuit of their aims, they would openly admit it.
When the government stops governing with the consent of the people, it is
tyrannical. When the government is capricious in the extreme, disregarding the
rule of law, confiscating property, imposing punishments on those who would
adhere to the rule of law, using extra-legal if not unconstitutional procedures to
jam down its agenda and picking winners and losers in contractual disputes, it is
contemptible even if the ends are as glorious as it intends. Such a government
is abusive, dangerous and illegitimate and must be opposed by every person
wishing to remain free.
God bless America! And to borrow my brother's tag line... buy more ammo!
Anyone, said T.S. Eliot, could carve a goose, were it not for the bones. And anyone could govern as boldly as his whims decreed, were it not for the skeletal structure that keeps civil society civil -- the rule of law. The Obama administration is bold. It also is careless regarding constitutional values and is acquiring a tincture of lawlessness. [...] The administration's central activity -- the political allocation of wealth and opportunity -- is not merely susceptible to corruption, it is corruption. - George F. Will, Tincture of Lawlessness: Obama's Overreaching Economic Policies, May 14, 2009, The Washington Post
1 comment:
That Eliot quote is a jaw dropper.
So much common sense - wisdom - transported in the folksy imagery of carving a goose.
Capricious. Yeah. There's a word. Obama's policies certainly appear slap-dash and arbitrary.
It's the great power-grab beneath those ricocheting policies that finds us queuing up in comment sections like yours as we try to name this threat and prepare for war against it.
We are living in the most interesting to times.
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