By Rusty Humphries
TRN Nationally Syndicated Radio Host
TPNN Contributor
I have read that Abraham Lincoln got precious few hours of sleep each night during his presidency. The lingering, awful war ravaged his mind and body. One only needs to look to pictures of Lincoln circa 1860 and Lincoln circa 1865 to see the creased, haggard face brought on by only 5 years of a bittersweet presidency. Lincoln was an unhappy man, tortured by problems that needed solving.
I often imagine Barack Obama similarly. He paces back and forth, stirring the children to wake once in awhile. He paces because something weighs on his mind, too. It’s not the preservation of the union- he spends his days dismantling that piece by piece. No, he spends his nights wondering, “How can I impose my will on all who call themselves Americans?”
He must be exhausted.
President Obama is not interested in live and let live. He has zero interest in cooperating with people with different perspectives or different attitudes on life. Americans are not people for him to lead, they are people for him to rule. Believe me, there’s quite a difference between the two.
Obama meant what he said when he said he would bring change. His every thought and deliberation revolves around change. Change through guiding public perception through skillful use of the media, change through public campaigns and, when all else fails, change through edicts and decrees.
Obama has tried to change the conversation on gun control. However, unfortunately for him, the facts don’t support his stance. Don’t worry; he’s willing to change those, too.
When he needs to drum up support for his policies, he simply states, “The vast majority of Americans support me in my fight.” The media dutifully reports the anointed one’s bold affirmation and just like that, “facts” are born.
However, Americans don’t agree with the president. Last week, Obama’s approval rating was at 49% while the NRA’s approval rating was at 54%. The NRA also saw a quarter-million members join in the month after Newtown and as anti-gun-rights rhetoric began heating up. Americans are buying guns at a feverish pace, ammo is hard to find and yes, Americans are gobbling up those super-scary “assault weapons.” But, in Obama’s America, it doesn’t matter what the people want- they will get what he feels is good for them.
It seems that Obama’s policies are the broccoli of ideas- pushed on Americans while we hear, “It’s for your own good.” The only difference is that broccoli actually is good for you and never leaves you bereft of prosperity or liberty.
At this point, Congress is just a hurdle for Obama to deal with. His Congress has not passed a budget in over three years, and nobody on the left seems to care. Obama goes through Congress as a starting point, but seems to always finish his policy pitches with “or else.”
“Raise taxes… or else.”
“Raise the debt ceiling… or else.”
“Pass gun control measures… or else.”
He bullied Congress into raising taxes, and the weaklings caved. He’s already announced that not raising the debt ceiling is not an option. At this point, he’s asking. If he gets an answer he doesn’t like, he will raise the ceiling himself. He wanted gun control enacted. They were moving too slowly, so he went ahead and did it himself- despite having no Constitutional authority to do so.
Like all good tyrants before him, he tries to get the consent of the legislative body. If they agree, great! If they don’t, the end result will be the same, but with a few more hurt feelings.
Obama does not look to the Constitution for guidance on what his job entails. He paces at night not because he wants to govern justly; he paces because he wants his rule to mold America into the backwards, socialist, third-rate, classless nation that he has always envisioned.
That’s the change he meant when he promised it to us four years ago. And though Obama encourages the comparison between himself and Mr. Lincoln, I can say with a great degree of certainty that Honest Abe would never find such a comparison apt or flattering. He would be ashamed.
Rusty Humphries is a nationally syndicated radio host heard across the USA on over 300 radio stations and is listed as the 6th largest radio audience by Talkers Magazine. He is also a regular contributor to TPNN.com
