The irony, seeped within President Obama’s recent
announcement that he will not wield the power of the Commander
in Chief in Syria without the consent of Congress, is rich. Congress, that bastion of do-nothings
(or so the President has said time and time again)…the target of his “We can’t
wait” campaign to usurp powers not delineated to the Executive by the
Constitution….now, the President seems calcified to act urgently without the
blessing of the branch he has so publicly vilified. Rich.
Could it be, perhaps, that the President will go-around
Congress, with his constitutionally questionable executive orders, only if he
thinks there are votes to be had by doing so? But now… now that 2/3 of Americans are opposed to military
intervention in Syria, now that Great Britain has voted “no”, now that there
are no votes to be had, Obama shrinks.
The winner of the Nobel Peace prize now contemplates truly unilateral military
action with no clear objective but a plate of metaphors (“Send a signal”, “put
a shot across the bow”…) with a consensus nowhere on the globe to be
found. I can only imagine how the
press would howl if anyone but President Obama were in the Oval office.
Obama’s theory of leadership has three elements: 1) “lead”
after someone else leads (e.g. Libya)
2) “lead” only when convinced that there are votes to be had and the mob
supports his decision and 3) appoint a blue ribbon committee to ponder a tough
decision and make recommendations (e.g. Bowles – Simpson). “Leadership
approaches”, all of which allow for the glory to stick and the mess to slip
away.
Our Founders entrusted the chief executive with awesome
powers because they knew the life of the Republic might hinge someday on the
vigorous and timely decision making only possible by a single, accountable
executive. As has been his record,
President Obama punts the tough executive decisions to unaccountable
committees. If that’s what the
Founders thought would best defend the Republic, the Constitution would have
been so written. President
Obama seems to like the perks of the office but not the lonely
accountability. Playing cards
during the raid on bin Laden?
Really?
Unlike GW Bush in Iraq, who had a coalition of 42 nations
supporting military intervention, President Obama is alone. Alone with the
bravado of a punk who never thought his bluff would be called; alone, without
the fiber to face the tyranny of circumstances faced by every President since
Washington; armed only with his teleprompter and staff notes and poll numbers;
alone without the conviction and duty to support and defend the constitution of
the United States.
Jefferson faced challenges to his ideology in his second
term, similar to what President Obama now faces, and grew into the job of
President to earn a spot on the face of Rushmore. We sometimes forget that Jefferson was a more strident
ideologue than even Obama. But
what will separate the two in history is one rose to the occasion – to the
unexpected challenges of the office – and stayed true to his primary responsibility
to support and defend the Constitution.
Candidate Jefferson never would have considered buying the
Louisiana Purchase from France – an act that effectively doubled the size of
the nation and diminished the relative importance of each state. President Jefferson, after much sole
searching put nation first and ideology second and secured the Louisiana
Purchase for a song.
Candidate Jefferson advocated a navy capable of only coastal defense. President Jefferson dispatched Preble
and Rogers to defeat the Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean and forever ended
the payment of tribute.
President Obama seems to view the tyranny of foreign policy
to be such an annoyance… it interferes with so many of his other policy
initiatives. But , perhaps not so
much of an annoyance as to interfere with his weekend golf….
We all wish the President the grace and vision and courage
to act without contradiction … to support and defend the Constitution of the
United States… that’s it. That’s
all I ask of our President. You
don’t need to reduce unemployment or save the environment or re-distribute
wealth or tell our kids what to eat at school. Don’t worry about that stuff. Really… Just focus on supporting and defending the
Constitution, consistent with the courage to set aside your ideology and your
ego and perhaps a few votes and lead with the courage of Jefferson.
C Powers
9/2/13