A (somewhat) false alarm

On Sunday I received an e-mail from a friend and professional associate of mine wondering aloud if a coup d’etat was being perpetrated:

It appears from my cursory review (I could be wrong, but I don’t think so) that this EO gives this administration complete and utter control, up to and including confiscation, of all farms and equipment, and many, many other items of infrastructure if they, in so many words, choose to do so.

Well, I suppose I’m happy to report that, while the mainstream media has pretty much ignored the Friday afternoon document dump (something they are quite reliable for), Ed Morrissey at HotAir took a closer look at the Executive Order’s effects. In essence, this EO is a rewrite of one (EO12919) signed by President Clinton in 1994, but updated to reflect the new cabinet positions created since.

But there is a problem here; it’s just not the one we think it is.

The law Obama’s EO traces its origin to was passed in 1950, at the start of the Cold War. While the Soviet Union is no more and we have gone through twelve Presidents in that time span (not to mention some more or less undeclared wars and incursions to various points around the globe) the question really should be why, if the update was needed, did President Obama wait until just a few months before the end of his term? Or perhaps another question: why release this on a Friday afternoon when many millions are paying rapt attention to a basketball tournament?

I think I can look at both questions as one. President Obama has received a reputation as a consolidator of executive power through the three-plus years of his term through a combination of his words and deeds. And it’s that reputation he was living up to by releasing this at the time he did, knowing that there is a certain segment of the population which would react the way that it did, at least until cooler heads like Morrisey prevailed. The fact that no president since 1950 had ever taken this off the table leads me to believe that this is no real abuse of executive authority.

It reminds me a little bit of the boy that cried wolf. Over the last three years we have endured a constant buzz regarding the Obama birth certificate and dearth of records, the grousing about his constant vacations and golf outings, the non-stop campaigning, and of course the series of scandals like Fast and Furious, Solyndra, and so forth.

But there is a group of people out there who are his supporters and this continual perceived assault on Obama only hardens their resolve. It’s the inverse of being a Republican in Maryland, since all the Democrats in Annapolis do is make me want to redouble my efforts to change things. In some respects, the barrage of assaults on Barack Obama have fueled the fire of the Occupy movement because many of them believe he’s being picked on like the rest of the 99 percent.

It’s becoming more clear to me that we don’t play the game the right way. Where Obama is truly most vulnerable is his miserable economic record. There are thousands suffering who need to have their stories revealed for all to see: the business owner driven to bankruptcy by taxation and red tape, the college student who’s sent out countless resumes but can’t find a job, the trucker who’s parked his rig due to soaring diesel prices – these people are out there.

All these stories aren’t being told because those with conspiracy theories are looking under every rock trying to prove Obama wants to be America’s answer to Fidel Castro or Hugo Chavez. Perhaps he does, but right now he’s winning the game because our side is being merrily led on wild goose chases like this one.

I understand quite well that President Obama has the potential to do a whole lot of damage should he win a second term, but we need to show that which he’s already done in order to convince people to not give him a second chance. Unfortunately, the press (which is generally on his side) has manipulated the GOP nomination fight in such a way that whoever survives will be at best damaged goods. But Obama cannot run on his record, and that’s the Achilles heel we need to take aim at.

I used to work a full-time job in the building industry until one month after Obama was elected. I guarantee you two things: my employer knew what was coming down the pike and I wasn’t the only one this happened to.

Three years later that employer is still not back to even having the rather skeleton crew I was let go from, and while I am happy to do what I do now – even if it’s cobbling together a combination of part-time work and independent contracting – it came at a great personal cost, and I may never get back to where I once was. That is the sad state of America today, so why waste time crying wolf about an executive order that’s a copy of one from 1994?

Let’s think before we talk, and talk about what really matters. It’s still the economy, stupid.