Executive Overreach and Dithering

2016 is starting off with a bang.  First we hear that Obama is going to issue some executive orders to make an impact on gun control.  In other words, restrict gun access for law-abiding citizens.   The story says that his White House has been looking at the issue for weeks while trying to determine if there are legal and constitutional ways for the President to issue executive orders to substantially restrict guns.  The same has been happening over at the Department of Justice.  So when he returns from his vacation in Hawaii (BTW, there is another story out there about how, despite best efforts, not one thing has been named after him out there.  Hmmmmm) he will meet with the Attorney General, put some things on the table, and determine what he can do.   What this really means is that she'll come to the Oval Office, he'll tell her what he's going to do, and she'll nod.  And his sycophants around the room will nod.  It is emerging that the main impact of the order or orders will be to beef up background checks and restrict what can be bought at private sellers.  That's it.  Big whup!  

This tells me he clearly doesn't care about this issue.  Like everything else, it's entirely political.  He has issued executive orders and bypassed Congress on many, many issues that he determines need his action.  Immigration is only one example.  Now don't get me wrong, executive orders have been used by every President and many are pretty routine and benign.  He has issued around 225 executive orders during the last 7 years which is a bit below average.  The difference with this guy, is that he uses them for major issues in which he doesn't get his way with Congress.  He gets frustrated, blames Congress for doing nothing, and marches off on his own.  The thing is, we are paying him to not only be the CinC but also to execute the laws of the land.  Congress makes those laws.  So if he wants something done or a law enacted, he needs to use all of the considerable powers of the Presidency to influence Congress to take action.  But he doesn't do that.  He seems to me to be like a petulant kid.  If he doesn't get his way, he takes action as much as he can.  He is the President for goodness sakes.  He does have considerable influence and could get things done.  He'd have to compromise in some instances.  He'd have to show some respect to people who have views different than his.  He'd have to meet them halfway.  But think back to when he was first elected.  He had a Democratic Congress.  Theoretically, he could have rammed anything he wanted through.  Just look at Obamacare.  That is impacting a huge segment of the economy and was passed with not one one Republican vote.  But it could have been different.  If he would have reached out, if he would have compromised, if he would recognize the value of differing opinions, he could get things done.  But no.  He'd rather blame Congress for doing nothing and issue a fake executive order that will accomplish almost nothing but gain him some perceived political benefit.  And he's doing this in the last year of his Presidency.  It's just unbelievable.  Check that...it's not.  Nothing is with this guy.  So you're going to see an executive order on gun control.  And it will accomplish nothing of substance.  It will only gain Obama some political points with the folks that already love him anyway.  And the fawning media will proclaim that he is at least doing something in the face of a recalcitrant Congress.  Meanwhile, mental health funding will languish and proven, effective policing tactics will be dismantled.  

So stand by for 2016.  You're going to see more of this.  You're going to see blaming, pouting, looking for lame solutions that mean nothing, and you're going to be more frustrated than you have been even during the last 7 years.  It's just maddening!

The other big story that came out today is the Saudis executing over 40 people convicted of terrorism.  And they didn't just excuse them, they did it by beheading them.  Nice, huh?  Among them was a prominent Shite leader.  So this just really pisses off Iran.  But the Saudis don't care.  They hate each other and that isn't going to change.  So we're in the situation of shrugging our shoulders.  We used to be able to say "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".  But no more.  Because now the Iranians are our friends...even though they just shot a rocket at the USS Harry S Truman as she transited the Straights of Hormuz entering the Arabian Gulf.  Nice, huh?  Watch to see what our reaction is to the Saudi action.  In a rationale world, we would at least issue a condemnation of this action.  I mean, it's barbaric.  And in a normal world, our Ambassador would be marching into the palace in Riyadh and delivering a rebuke from the President of the United States.  But now...meh!  Crickets.  If we do anything besides look up from our putt I'd be shocked.  

As for the rocket aimed at our warship in international waters that missed by 1500 yards, silence.  Hey, it missed didn't it?  No harm, no foul!  We have sunk so low in the eyes of the world that nothing we do makes a difference.  These are two examples of feckless response to a serious international incidents.  It now seems like they happen every week.  If you think that leading from behind and retreating from our position as world leaders will have no impact, you're living in a dream.  This is going to continue.  This is going to get worse.  And as 2016 unfolds, Obama is not going to extend himself in the National Security arena to do anything that will endanger his legacy of retreat.  Ain't going to happen.  So stand by.  It's going to get worse folks.

Update:  So he's had his political rally...er...press conference.  Used the East Room of the WH.  Classy!  Had all the victims lined up.  Dumped on Congress and the NRA.  All their fault.  Outlined his executive actions that will make an impact on gun control.  Only they won't.  I could link any number of articles here so you could see the fawning media falling all over themselves to laud his actions but if you're interested you can do it yourself.  Saw this pretty good summation over on VOX:

Here's what the Obama administration plans to do:

• The federal government will issue guidance that will narrow who can sell guns without a federal license, based on an evaluation of the circumstances surrounding individual gun sales. The idea is to reduce the number of for-profit dealers — as opposed to collectors or people who only give or sell guns to family members or friends — who avoid background checks, whether they're at a store, at a gun show, on the internet, or anywhere else.

• The FBI will hire more than 230 more people to help run background checks — an increase of more than 50 percent to the current staff. Lynch said this was in part needed to keep up with rising demand. "We're looking to improve the efficiency and response time of the system," she said.

• The government will also require background checks for people who try to buy restricted firearms through a legal entity, such as a corporation or trust. People were able to avoid background checks in the past through these entities.

• The Department of Health and Human Services will finalize a rule regarding health record privacy laws to remove barriers to states providing mental health records to the background check system.

• The administration will enforce tighter rules for reporting guns that are lost or stolen on their way to the buyer to make it easier for law enforcement to track down missing firearms.

• Federal agencies will encourage and fund more research into technologies that can make guns safer, largely to reduce the risk of accidents.

So this is all about expanding the bureaucracy and targeting sellers.   There are a couple of things in there that are worthwhile, like loosening up the privacy restrictions on mental health records and researching technologies for gun safety, but overall it's pablum.  It's designed to get folks who already like him to like him more.  And to demonize those bastards in Congress who believe the 2nd Amendment is actually worth defending.  There is nothing, nada, about policing initiatives, about going after criminals, about targeting gun violence in places where it's a horrendous problem, and so many other initiatives that could make a difference.  And there was nothing in there about how he's going to launch a Presidential initiative on this.  That he is going to pull out all the stops to reach out to Congress and figure out how they can come up with reasonable compromises that can be enacted into law.  Because it could be done.  But not by him.  Not by someone who holds people who simply disagree with him in contempt.  So these feel good, hollow words will gain him some further admiration from the folks who like him and will be swiftly rescinded by the next President, assuming HiLIARy isn't in the Oval Office with Bubba next door entertaining the interns.  

And here's another thing.  I know this won't be popular with all the fawning sycophants, but it is bad, really bad, when the President of the United States cries on national television.  It doesn't make him look compassionate, it makes him look weak.  It doesn't show he cares, it shows he is powerless.  And although this is a domestic issue, it carries over to how he is viewed by our enemies.  They will remember.  He has already shown his weakness in so many ways...this will just add fuel to the fire.