It’s a sad commentary on the Obama administration
both that the Republican effort to
dethrone him seems so desperately important that it
dominated (my) column-writing in the year before election
year and that the administration flouts
laws and constitutional traditions in so many ways that it’s almost
impossible to blow the whistle on them all. That said, I have been
seriously amiss in writing too little in 2011 on the following
stories, some of which I covered at length in previous years — and
all of which I enthusiastically invite other reporters and
columnists to write about.
The Obamite War Against the Heroic
FDNY: Contradicting the Supreme Court
decision in Ricci v.
DeStefano which held that results of a race-neutral exam
for firefighter promotions ought to be honored, the Obama/Holder
Justice Department has been
trying to force New York City’s fire department to throw out
results of a race-neutral test, and to admit into its academy black
applicants even if they missed 70 percent of simple questions — in
the process, blocking the admission of black applicants who
actually performed well on the test. (Go figure.) DoJ instructions
even suggested explicitly quota-based academy admissions, thus
ignoring plenty of other Supreme Court precedent. In the latest
news, the city of New York has, quite rightly,
appealed the rogue judge’s order (the judge and the Obamites
are aligned) appointing a “monitor” for the fire force’s personnel
moves.
The Obamite Effort to Discourage Voting by the
Military: Eric Eversole, executive director
of the Military Voter Protection Project,
came on my radio show in September to discuss this, but it
still merits far more attention. Clearly, the Obama administration
has, at best, fallen down on the job, and more likely, actively
discouraged military voting. Clearly, they believe military
voters tend to be conservative, so the Obamites want them
disenfranchised.
Judicial Wars: Usually one
of my favorite topics, this has slipped away from me this year —
partly because Republican senators are so frustratingly weak-kneed
about the whole subject. Ed Whelan has some statistics
here. Sadly, only a smattering of GOP senators would even
support their own Judiciary Committee Ranking Member, Chuck
Grassley of Iowa, in
opposing the nomination of Susan Owens
Hickey to a federal district court, and they
wouldn’t do even a temporary filibuster against the manifestly
ill-qualified Alison Nathan.
Blocking Obamite Efforts to Nationalize Education
Policy: U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett has
introduced the LEARN Act to let states opt out of federal
micromanagement, and it appears to be a great idea. As Gary Palmer
of the Alabama Policy Institute points
out (and as U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has been noting as
well), the Obama administration is improperly using the “waiver”
process to force their own policy choices on the states.
Obamite Flouting of Clear Legislative
Language: U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf
complains that White House science czar and compulsory abortion
advocate John Holdren is violating
the law in using federal appropriations for unapproved purposes
(in this case, certain bilateral activities with China). Likewise,
the Washington Times’ Emily Miller
catches the White House blowing off other Appropriations
restrictions, thus further indicating that he is dangerously
authoritarian in outlook.
Obamites Cheating for Union Goons:
So many examples of this tendency could be mentioned here
that I won’t even try to list them all. But here’s one
highlighted by the Workplace Fairness Institute. In short, the
National Labor Relations Board has become, like the Justice
Department, a lawless agency.
Obamite War Against Catholics and Other
Traditionalist People of Faith: The Catholic
Advocate
explains in this short online video, and writes in another
forum the following:
Think about some of the policies that have taken root
since Obama entered the White House:
• No longer
defending the Defense of Marriage Act;
• Forcing
private insurers to provide contraception like the morning after
pill to women at no charge;
• Reversing the ban on federal dollars from funding stem
cell research;
• Taking away health care providers’ rights of
conscience.
Other than the controversial spending and tax bills, these
policies are the highlights of what the Obama administration has
accomplished. This administration is leading America to a
place where religious liberties do not exist, and if we’re not
vigilant, they’ll try to take God away next. Are you
comfortable with this?
Finally, in one area where the administration’s sins are
in the background (the administration ought to use diplomatic
pressure to help out, but won’t), the manifestly dishonest
Ecuadoran environmental case against U.S.-based Chevron
Corp. continues apace despite all sorts of
evidence of
skullduggery that completely belie the idea that Chevron is
guilty of much of anything. The whole case was
rigged from the beginning.
Aside from all that, a few notes about what has been good
about 2011…. To wit: A) The old-fashioned campaign work ethic of
Rick Santorum. B) The continuing efforts of J. Christian Adams,
Hans von Spakovsky and others to highlight and fight against the
Obamite efforts to enable widespread vote fraud. C) The
conservative blogging of Jennifer Rubin
in hostile territory at the Washington Post. D) The
efforts of conservative journalists at all four of the
“traditional” conservative periodicals — The American
Spectator, National Review, the Weekly
Standard, and Human Events — to try to uphold
Reaganite conservative thought and action in an age of American
Idol mentalities and text-message attention spans. E) The
legislative and political leadership of Rep. Paul Ryan, Sen. Jeff
Sessions, Sen. Chuck Grassley, and Rep. Frank Wolf on issues where
they draw heavy liberal fire but still won’t back down. F) The
leadership at the state level of governors such as Bobby Jindal of
Louisiana, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, and John Kasich of Ohio
(along with the recently retired and underappreciated Bob Riley of
Alabama), who show that conservative governance really can work. G)
The folks at the Heritage Foundation, still the greatest idea bank
for the conservative movement, and especially the brilliant team at
its Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, who are always superbly
responsive and well informed. I) My kind and eminently agreeable
friend Victor Schwartz, who always knows what’s going on behind the
scenes in the world of lawyers. J) Fellow conservative bloggers who
labor for the cause. K) Conservative radio hosts across the land —
Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin, of course, but also too many others
to name, who keep the airwaves full of real facts and intelligent
commentary, breaking through the media monopoly of the big TV
networks. L) My colleagues at the Center for Individual Freedom and
the University of Mobile, who help make all my writing possible. M)
Al, Bob, and Wlady, for keeping the Spectator afloat,
alive, and vibrant — with a special thanks to Wlady, who does
yeoman’s work with unflagging energy, remarkable patience for the
quirks and shifting schedules of writers like me, and remarkable
good humor.
Here’s wishing everybody a wonderful 2012 — and, if I may
say so, a president-elect, by this time next year, who didn’t grow
up in Hawaii or Indonesia.
