Barack Obama, trolling Republicans
Jonah Goldberg posits that the real reason for Obama’s immigration edict is that he’s trolling Republicans:
The real goal is twofold: Cement Latinos into the Democratic coalition, and force Republicans to overreact. He can’t achieve the first if he doesn’t succeed with the second. It remains to be seen if the Republicans will let themselves be trolled into helping him.
I think it’s pretty clear that Obama’s executive action on immigration had multiple motives and goals, and that intimidating Republicans into cooperating by passing a comprehensive immigration bill was one of them. This would be a way to get what he wanted.
But if it didn’t work, he’d get what he wanted, anyway: an angry right, which he could frame as unsympathetic to suffering humanity; a compliant press, which would laud his power grab rather than criticize it; a grateful leftist base; and the voting loyalty of the Hispanic bloc.
Not bad for a day’s work.
The next important question is, of course, what will the Republicans do? I am willing to wait till the new Congress is installed and they are at full force to see—although, unfortunately, “full force” will not be full enough to either override a presidential veto or convict in the Senate after impeachment in the House. That limits Republican options to various sorts of defunding (which, if I understand it correctly, could be vetoed by Obama, especially if he doesn’t mind forcing a shutdown, which I believe he would welcome), and court cases in which I don’t think Congress will be found to have standing. That’s where the states come in; for example, Texas is planning a suit.
Many on the right believe that Boehner, McConnell, and the rest of the “establishment” Republicans would be only too happy to appease Obama (and the Chambers of Commerce) and give him what he wants in terms of immigration legislation. But I actually think that this executive action of Obama’s is less likely to earn their cooperation than before, not more. They have been disrespected by Obama, and their own Republican base is now more fired-up against anything that smacks of amnesty, work permits, or paths to citizenship.
I don’t know what Republicans really think, though, or what they’ll do. I always have assumed (and somewhere I have a post about it, although I don’t have time to find it right now) that the Republican leaders were undecided what to do about immigration, and that their own statements about how they wanted to pass a bill were political theater rather than statements of actual and specific intent.
What I do know is this: in order to stop the tyranny involved in an executive action such as Obama’s, and minus an opposition supermajority in Congress, the most important factor would be pushback from the president’s own party. After Watergate, for example, Nixon probably could have weathered an impeachment if Republicans had not turned against him and informed him of that fact. Similarly, if enough Senate Democrats were outraged enough by Obama’s action to make a two-thirds majority in the Senate for conviction, he’d be gone.
The way the system is set up, stopping tyranny or corruption is greatly eased if the integrity of our representatives trumps their party loyalty. Good luck with that; in the last fifty years, the only people I can recall demonstrating that sort of integrity in enough numbers to matter were the Republicans of the Nixon Watergate era. Prior to that, we have the time during the 30s when a significant number of Democrats opposed FDR’s court-packing scheme.
Now? I can hardly imagine it.
The democrats have no integrity and as far as I can tell their only principle is expediency. During Watergate the democrats professed outrage over Nixon’s lies. However when Clinton perjured himself and suborned perjury from Monica Lewinski the democrats defended him. They were saying so what, who cares, no big deal. Lying to the public is OK if you are a democrat.
This is not on topic, but i want to wish all a joyous and safe Thanksgiving. Extended family will soon arrive and preparations for tomorrow’s dinner will begin tonight. Enjoy your blessing neo and company.
A robust American economy is needed to have any wealth at all, whether it is to be redistributed or enjoyed widely through freedom. As bad laws strangle the economy and provide destructive perverse incentives, Republicans should point out that Obama’s socialist mischief is killing the Golden Goose. Even a few among the indolent can grasp that.
Another thing Republicans should emphasize is that there is no reason Mexico can’t be prosperous enough to provide opportunities for its citizens at home. Highlight the corruption and statist policies that keep Mexico poor.
If they want to pander to the hispanic voter, Republicans should create a commission that would offer moral and legal support for Latin Americans fighting the travesties in their own countries, such as the missing students in Mexico. Instead of coaching illegal immigrants how to beat the system, perhaps American embassies and consulates south of the border could promote the legal and economic principles that allow(ed) America to be prosperous.
The response that works is winning the White House in 2016 and reversing the executive order.
First, I’d like to second Yancey’s comment above.
Second, in response to this remark,
I think there are enough panicked democrats and there is now enough friction between the congressional democrats and the administration, that there very quite possibly are enough votes to impeach Obama.
If Obama continues to antagonize the vast majority of Americans, and I think he will, there will be overwhelming sentiment from the voters to dump him and stop the damage.
The congressional democrats are survivors. If it meant keeping their seat, they would vote to impeach, and vote to convict faster than scraping shit off of a shoe.
The question is do the gutless republicans have the sand to do it? Personally, I doubt it. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am. We will see in due time.
Victor Davis Hanson wrote a piece recently about the economic decline in California that is pertinent. He said that the richness of the state, its vast agricultural economy and Silicon Valley, combined with a once excellent infrastructure would make it almost impossible for the state to implode. A quiet decline over a long period of time was his prognosis.
Now take that to a national level. No matter what dastardly laws, edicts, and regulations Obama gets through, this country will not implode. To achieve the destruction he wants will require something on a major scale like massive civil unrest or even civil war.
He is preparing for it. He has been quietly dismantling the military. Thousands of officers have been retired. The most recent and ominous sign is the firing of Defense Sec. Hagel. He is putting his people in place while he taunts the opposition. He is no longer interested in even the pretense of cooperation or negotiation.
Obama intends to rule, one way or the other.
The Democrats now demand, and then get, pure party loyalty. I saw this at such a low level as my own faculty colleagues. One of them gets some local radio time on liberal issues. He freely admitted that he clears everything he is going to say with the party higher ups before he goes on. Now extrapolate that to the national level. The Dems will NEVER turn on Obama. Cryin’ John, and Doughboy McConnell?….fuhgetabutit.
I think Chuck is closer to the truth in his analysis.
The Left intends to rule. All the peasants that resist or rebel, will be annihilated.
Fortuna audaces juvat.
– Latin proverb
The Republicans should heed the advice. It was proven to be true for many Roman emperors, and now for our own.
If the totalitarian behavior described by physicsguy is prevalent, then academic freedom is dead. This is going to require outside intervention by the taxpayers who finance so much of academia to either defund academia or else to fire the faculty who are involved in this travesty and to forcibly break up the academic cabal.
Trolling is the right word for it. President Obama doesn’t aim for accomplishment. All he does is goad his opponents. They’ve admitted this, that the administration will overstate things just because they know how they’ll enrage the right.
I saw a special about Washington DC in the 1980’s recently. It came out just before Marion Berry passed away, and it reminded me of all the corruption and crime he got away with. There’s a problem in the black community: they reward their politicians for being scoundrels. I think it goes back to Adam Clayton Powell. If the system is corrupt, the rascal who runs roughshod over it must be a hero, right?
He and by extension the left may be preparing for it. But they only succeed if we let them.
So, first, a happy Thanksgiving to all! Despite the present state of affairs, we have a lot to be thankful for. Let’s not forget that.
Second, maybe a little off topic, but if you could effect change, what would you do? Where would you start specifically?
I have said before,
the breaking up of the MSM monopolies.
the immediate elimination of the Corp. for Public Broadcasting
Serious tax reform so as to make it fairer and de-fang the IRS
The list goes on.
What’s on your list?
THE place to start is by taking the DC intrusions into state governance off the table.
At this time, the Feds are using the purse to abuse the various state budgets. To obtain ‘matching funds’ the various states must bow to DC.
This tic TOTALLY reverses the economic and political restraints imposed by the US Constitution.
It’s the place to start.
The EASIEST thing for Congress to do is to start spewing out BLOCK GRANTS for this and that. This is the PRIMARY way of gutting the DC control system.
As it stands, DC is making ALL the rules — and kicking in, say, 25% of the monies.
This is not a ‘helping’ scheme — it’s a power controlling scheme — that CENTRALIZES DC power — and K Street.
It should be tackled FIRST.
I can’t imagine B.S. vetoing block grants to Blue states.
Any attempt along such lines will have him impeached — and CONVICTED.