America: Are we being 'transformed' and ... if so ... into what?

The week before he was elected president, President Obama made the bold statement that, “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”

No doubt, at the time, most of us would have written this off as the usual overblown rhetoric of a politician pumped up on his own favorable poll numbers. Instead, it turned out to be a warning.

We don’t have time or space here to recap all of the “changes” brought about in the first year of the Obama administration, but among the biggies were the federal government takeover of major components of finance and industry (also known as socialization), the appointment of communist sympathizers to major posts in the administration, and the dismantling of national security policies that had kept us mostly safe for the eight years since Sept. 11. 2001.

What has become abundantly clear in the last year is that the president not only has a goal of “fundamentally transforming” the country, he also has a plan for how to do so. That plan might be compared to science fiction writer A.E. van Vogt’s strategy for writing a novel, which was to make sure at least one new thing happened on every page — a new character, a new plot twist, a new gimmick, a new gadget — anything to make you forget he was not really a very good writer to begin with.

As one critic said of van Vogt recently, “he’s a writer who will not calm down. His stories have lulls or quiet stretches, to be sure, but even then they’re always telling you about how urgent and important they are.”

Does that remind you of the State of the Union address? Well, yes, there is a rhetorical similarity, but there is a functional similarity, too, which is much more profound — namely, the never-ending parade of “new ideas” that characterizes the Obama administration on a daily basis.

It turns out that if you want to fundamentally transform a country, the best way to accomplish that is to introduce so many revolutionary ideas into the mix that some of them just have to slip through. The last month or so has been typical.

Let’s go back to mid-December. With little fanfare and virtually no explanation, President Obama issued an executive order on Dec. 17 granting Interpol, the international police force, full diplomatic immunity to operate in the United States without accountability to our laws and courts. Why would he do so? He didn’t say. Just one more new idea to keep us guessing? And since the American component of Interpol falls under the Justice Department’s umbrella, do we now have secret police who don’t need to answer to anyone? Just asking...

Then there was the attempted Christmas Day bombing incident aboard a jet bound for Detroit. We discovered, as a result of the Justice Department’s handling of this case, that foreign combatants have the right to remain silent (after their underwear doesn’t explode, at least).

This month, it was announced that the president had signed another executive order creating yet another “new idea” in governance. This one has gotten very little attention.  According to the official press release on Jan. 11, “The President today signed an Executive Order establishing a Council of Governors to strengthen further the partnership between the Federal Government and State Governments to protect our Nation against all types of hazards. When appointed, the Council will be reviewing such matters as involving the National Guard of the various States; homeland defense; civil support; synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities.”

Interesting idea, but what exactly is it? Does this perhaps fulfill President Obama’s campaign statement that, “We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded...”

He never did explain that statement, which came when he deviated from a prepared speech on national service that he delivered on July 2, 2008. But perhaps this newly organized council which will “protect our Nation against all types of hazards” fits the bill. It clearly has a strong national security component, and appears to set the stage for using military forces in the United States, something generally illegal since 1878 under the Posse Comitatus Act.

Nor should you make the mistake of thinking that the Council of Governors is just a collection of governors friendly to President Obama. That would reduce it to just another laughable political entity intended mainly to lobby for federal dollars for pork projects back home. But in addition to “ten State Governors who will be selected by the President to serve two year terms...” and who will then “represent the Nation as a whole,” the council will also include the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs, the U.S. Northern Command Commander, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau.”

Say what? Aren’t you scared yet? What exactly does it take?

Do you really want a “civilian national security force”? WHAT EXACTLY IS IT GOING TO DO? AND WHO IS IT GOING TO DO IT TO? Or, after a year of fighting over health care, stimulus, and cap and trade, are you just too numb to care?

Again, let’s turn to the words of critic Graham Sleight about A.E. van Vogt’s authorial “sleight of hand.”

“...van Vogt ... keeps opening trap-doors under the reader each time they think they have a hold on the shape of the narrative.... As soon as you start questioning the logical bases of a van Vogt story, it very often falls apart, but that’s not the point... You are not supposed to ask these questions: the ideal effect is of surfing the wave, not asking about fluid dynamics.”

Remember, when one thing keeps happening after another, in rapid-fire succession, “you are not supposed to ask questions.” If there is anything that better sums up the magical first year of the Obama administration, I don’t know what it is.

n Frank Miele is managing editor of the Daily Inter Lake and writes a weekly column. E-mail responses may be sent to edit@dailyinterlake.com