The fragility of power, and the power of the people
What a difference a day makes.
On Nov. 8, President Barack Obama woke up secure in his knowledge that he had done what he had promised eight years ago — fundamentally transformed the United States of America. But on Nov. 9 — the day after the election of Donald Trump — President Obama was left only with the words of the prophet: “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.”
We need not belabor the meaning of the words of Hosea from the Old Testament, but suffice it to say that he was warning the people of Israel that if they worshipped idols and false gods, eventually they would pay the price. Or as St. Paul noted in his letter to the Galatians: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Barack Obama set himself up as a man who could get things done, and indeed he built a legacy of accomplishment — Obamacare, the Iran nuclear deal, amnesty for illegal aliens and more, but he did not bother to put a firm foundation under his legacy, and in one day it crumbled.
Obamacare had been passed by Congress without one Republican vote, using a parliamentary trick ironically called “reconciliation” though it had the ultimate effect of dividing the nation into two irreconcilable camps.
The Iran deal was one of those accomplishments that President Obama proudly pointed to as having been put together with his phone and his pen. Unfortunately, for him, it was not put together with Congress, and thus violated the fundamental constitutional requirement that treaties must be agreed to by two-thirds of the Senate.
As for Obama’s executive amnesty for certain classes of illegal aliens, it was again the president’s response to knowing he couldn’t get Congress or the American people to agree with his plan. Thus, he ruled by fiat like the emperors of old, and said “let it be so” with the power of his pen.
President Obama realizes now, however, that his pen runs out of ink on Jan. 20. That’s the day when President Donald J. Trump puts his hand on the Bible and takes the oath of office. After that, President Obama will reap the whirlwind and watch his patchwork of executive orders and parliamentary tricks swept into the ash heap of history. The people have spoken.
Of course, the new president risks the same fate for his own legacy should he choose to operate outside the rule of law. Let us pray, therefore, that President Trump remains righteously loyal to the Constitution, to his constituents, and to the principles that gird our nation. If he does, then surely he will have a firm foundation on which to build a better future, and the nation will reap not a whirlwind, but a harvest of plenty.