Brushfire of Freedom
Ram Rants
Article two, section one of the U.S. Constitution deals with the office of the President of the United States, or POTUS for those “in the know”. Article two, section two addresses the powers of the Executive Branch, as well as POTUS as the head of that branch. Let’s take a look at this oft referenced but rarely read founding document of our nation and see what we can learn about POTUS.
Section one describes how POTUS is elected, his term of office, the oath he takes before he enters office, and the general process that takes place surrounding the election. There have been some changes to the process since this document was first written. The 12th, 20th, and 25th amendments all impacted the election process in some manner, thus impacting the office.
Section two begins, “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States...”. This is the first responsibility of POTUS listed in the Constitution. It is his primary responsibility, the main purpose of the office to which he was elected. POTUS is the single highest ranking official of the military, even though he is not in the military. He is the civilian control, guidance, and direction of our military forces.
At this point, I’d like to take a step back for a moment and look at the Preamble of this same founding document.
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence (sic), promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
So, the government was assembled for, among other things, the provision of a common, national defense. It is one of the primary purposes of all three branches but, in light of the special powers granted to POTUS, it is primarily the responsibility of the President. He is the Commander in Chief. He is the man in charge of our armed forces. He can, with the stroke of his pen, deploy our forces to protect national interests around the globe. Considering that Barry is the most recently elected person to fill POTUS shoes, Barack Hussein Obama is primarily responsible at this point in history for the forces that defend this nation.
Just wanted to make sure we understood that, above all else, listed first in his list of responsibilities, Barry is in charge of the military. They answer to him, and he provides direction. Get it? Got it? Good.
Slipping back to section one, Barry took an oath to, “...faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." So, Barry was elected to the office, took the oath per section one (a couple of times if I remember correctly), and now has the responsibilities outlined in section two.
Here’s the question. Why is this man shirking his responsibility as Commander in Chief regarding our forces in Afghanistan? Instead of reviewing strategy and deciding our next steps in this war, he went off to Denmark, to campaign to have the Olympics brought to Chicago in 2016. Denmark is a nice place and all, but it’s not exactly an immediate threat to national security, right? Is Barry the President of Chicago (POC) or POTUS?
Wait, wait wait. In fairness to BHO, let me take a look at the Constitution and see if there is anything on the Olympics.
Uh, no.
Ok, let’s see if there is anything on Chicago, selling, campaigning, sports, sporting events....
Hmmm, nothing.
Denmark?
No. This seems odd. If there is nothing in here on any of these duties, then it would in fact seem that the current POTUS is neglecting his primary obligation, and in its place doing things that are not his job.
I think I’ve made my point, but in case you’ve missed it, let me be a bit more blunt. While their Commander in Chief was out shopping in Denmark, our troops were awaiting his support in a war on foreign soil. They are dying while they wait for him to do his actual, real, clearly-defined, Constitutional job. It is not much of a stretch to say that he is derelict in his duties, and that dereliction is causing the deaths of some of America’s finest.
But Ram, isn’t that a bit harsh? Think of all the jobs that would have been created had he actually succeeded. Think of how this would have helped the economy, improved our international standing, and brought peace and unity throughout the world in 2016.
But it’s not his job. We have a US Olympic committee. They are not trying to run our military, why is Barry trying to sell Chicago as a global sports venue? The fact is, per our laws and government structure, no one can make the decisions regarding the strategy in Afghanistan except POTUS. Hell, having lived in Chicago myself, I could have gone to Denmark and sold The Windy City to the IOC, and quite possibly done a better job. I can not, by law and according to the Constitution, tell General MacChrystal that we will deploy 40,000 more troops to the combat arena. It’s not my responsibility, nor do I have the authority. It belongs to POTUS, the Commander in Chief.
But again, in fairness, and in the spirit of bipartisanship, and all that, I have a potential solution. I would like to recommend that we amend the Constitution to read:
“The President shall be Campaigner in Chief, bringing forth prosperity unto Chicago and all the great cities of the nation...” Maybe Barry can accept that responsibility.
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