All Arminda

This article comes to us courtesy of allarminda Guest Contributor: Peter Lindsay.

You might be surprised to learn that dung spitting is a sport in some parts of the world. Who can spit small, hard pellets of dung the farthest wins. According to my sources, the distance of the spit is measured where the pellet comes to rest. The closest comparison in America is the sport we call politics, and President Obama’s most recent dung pellets have come to rest on the graves of our Founding Fathers.

If politics is a sport, then I’ve been the spectator who cheers for both teams when great plays are made. Great games have great referees too, and it’s time to blow the whistle.

The President made a law. That’s the job of Congress.

Congress has been debating a bill that aims to help undocumented people who arrived in the U.S. before age 16. It’s been a slow process since the initial bill passed the house in 2010. So, the President circumvented Congress and issued a memorandum establishing amnesty for those very people. To be clear, this is not an attack on amnesty. It’s an attack on the alarming shift in the balance of power in our government.

I’m not an expert on the Constitution, but even spectators can spot a foul on the field. We are a great nation because of the rule of law. The President taught law at the University of Chicago. What did he teach? To ignore the Constitution? That’s not what I learned from School House Rock.

What does the boy say to the bill on the steps of the Capitol in that animated, musical short film? I’ll tell you. He says,“You mean even if the whole Congress says you should be a law, the president can still say ‘no’?” That’s called a veto.

So what is it called when the Congress says “no,” or “not yet,” and the President orders it anyway? I’ll tell you. That’s called tyranny.