What is a progressive like Barack Obama to do on Constitution Day?
As originally articulated by the likes of Woodrow Wilson during the early 20th century, progressivism rejected the Constitution's focus on individual liberty and held the Founding Fathers in contempt.
In many ways, Obama is Wilson's kindred spirit.
Like Wilson, Obama is not a fan of the Constitution's basic design. In his Farewell Address, George Washington celebrated the Constitution's separation of powers as being absolutely necessary for the maintenance of a free society, yet Obama has complained about this important constitutional feature. During the health care debate, he
said he would like nothing more than to bypass Congress and enact "some very elegant, you know, academically approved approach to health care." At a conference of liberal Hispanics, he
pointed out one way to grant amnesty was to "bypass Congress and change the laws on my own," admitting that "the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting, I promise you."
Obama's impatience with the Constitution's design stems, in part, from the fact that he views the document as defective. The Constitution, he has
said, "reflects some deep flaws in American culture." Obama has
derided the Constitution as "charter of negative liberties" that restricts government's authority but that does not mandate that the federal government redistribute wealth--something which Obama has dedicated his professional life to achieving.
He has even
criticized the famously liberal Warren Court for being insufficiently radical because it "never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society." More specifically, he lamented that the Warren Court "didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution."
Since in office, Obama has been quite willing to go where even the Warren Court would not. His prized ObamaCare law obliterates any discernible limitations to the power of the federal government. ObamaCare represents one of the "gradual innovations of an unlimited government," which is something that Founding Fathers like James Madison
feared.
If ObamaCare was the only policy that Obama enacted, it would represent more damage to the Constitution that has been done by virtually any previous president. Obama, though, has not limited his damage to ObamaCare. He has relied on
unaccountable czars to implement his polices, implemented a
de facto amnesty plan by executive fiat, and
scuttled the rule of law in favor of the United Auto workers during the Chrysler and GM bankruptcies--to name just a few of his transgressions.
The Founders knew that elected officials would not always be faithful to the text, history and structure of the Constitution. Accordingly, they
advised citizens to obtain a "remedy" through "the election of more faithful representatives," who can "annul the acts of the usurpers."
Barack Obama may, consistent with the vision of the Founders, receive his electoral comeuppance in November of 2012. This will provide an opportunity to reverse his destructive policies and foster a renewed faithfulness to the Constitution.
In the meantime, Constitution Day seems to be an appropriate time for Obama to reflect on the damage he has done.
--Ron DeSantis is the author of
Dreams From Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama
