Guest Editorial
BY LAWRENCE SELLIN, PHD | MARCH 5, 2014
Ayatollah of the United States
In his 2014 State of the Union address Barack Obama threatened to use more executive orders if Congress and the American people fail to do what he wants.
Obama, America's first grand mufti of the Constitution, intends to govern by political fatwa.
Unlike a genuine Muslim fatwa, which must be based on theological evidence, Obama fatwas originate from personal whim or political expediency, but is, nevertheless, regarded as a religious ruling, which is now accepted without objection by all Democrats, submissive Republicans and the mainstream media.
The soon-to-be-codified "Obama Law," meant to replace an archaic Constitution of dead white men, will update statutes of secular law, including crime, politics, and economics, but will also regulate personal matters such as acceptable speech, suitable income, allowable beliefs, tolerable lifespan and even appropriate caloric intake.
Jonathan Turley, law professor George Washington University and a supporter of Obama's policies, was interviewed by Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly about the "dangerous" expansion of executive power in the United States.
Turley notes: "a president who is claiming the right to basically rewrite or ignore or negate federal laws ... a cult of personality for people on the left ... astonished by the degree of passivity in Congress, particularly by Democrats...We are turning a blind eye to a fundamental change in our system ... a system in which a single individual is allowed to rewrite legislation or ignore legislation is a system that borders on authoritarianism ... I think many people will come to loathe that they remained silent during this period."
For too long the American people have been silent and inattentive. Our government has become dictatorial in gradual steps and the executive branch is now attempting to usurp supreme and absolute authority.
The Democrats, the Republicans and the media have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo from which they derive power, privilege and financial benefits. Challenging Obama in any significant way would lead to a deluge in revelations about malfeasance in the federal government. Rather than tell the truth, many in power have chosen to succumb to political expediency or self-interest and, thereby, have endorsed permanent corruption in Washington, D.C.
One solution to an irresponsible federal government and obsequious press resides within Article V of the United States Constitution.
"The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate."
A convention of states can to be called to ensure that we are able to debate and impose a package of restraints on the misuse of power by all branches of the federal government. It is a convention initiated by the state legislatures, which cannot be blocked by Congress, for the purpose of proposing amendments to the Constitution. It is not a constitutional convention. It cannot throw out the Constitution because its authority is derived from the Constitution.
The status quo is no longer defensible. Unless there is a significant reversal soon, it is only a matter of time that a catastrophe will be upon us, which will inevitably lead to national collapse and fragmentation. Ordinary Americans must band together and take a stand to restore the Constitution and the rule of law, to establish political and fiscal sanity and to return the government to the people.
The ruling elites will continue to oppose any reform. They should heed the warning of President John F. Kennedy:
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D. is a retired colonel with 29 years of service in the US Army Reserve and a veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq. Colonel Sellin is the author of "Restoring the Republic: Arguments for a Second American Revolution.” He receives email at [email protected].
