Obama Goes Full On Watergate
In yet another sign that we have on our hands the weakest president in history, President Obama today claimed “executive privilege” in a effort to forestall his Attorney General from being recommended for contempt of Congress charges. Too bad it did not work. Gosh this all has a familiar ring to it.
Ok, this is a blog about religion and politics and I do not want to get too deep into what this all means in terms of legalities, branches of government, etc. What I do want to do is point out what this says about the necessity of a well developed character in public office. I don’t generally think much of political ads of the type you see here at left (“The Most Arrogant Man In The World”), but it did bring the whole character issue into focus for me. Religion, with its understanding of higher powers helps very much to fight against the tendency for people to think too much of themselves. That is, unless of course, the power of government and the power of religion combine – as they did when kings claimed their office by divine right. This is one of the wonders of the American revolution.
Which brings me to this Slate (yes, the Slate of Jacob Weisberg) about the effect that Romney’s faith will have on his presidency:
Romney’s faith would inform a Romney presidency in two important ways: his decision making process and his capacity to show empathy for those who don’t share his immediate experience. Both men described Mormon prayer not as a reason-free appeal for the divine thumbs-up or thumbs-down, but a process that calls a person to a special kind of rigor and engagement with life’s choices, before they ever seek God’s guidance. New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor, who participated in the discussion and has written on Romney’s religion, pointed to the passage in the Doctrine and Covenants that she said was cited repeatedly by Romney’s friends when discussing his decision making process. Guidance from God won’t come unless you think it through first: “Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind.”
The second aspect of Romney’s faith that would inform his presidency is his time as a bishop in an LDS congregation in Massachusetts in the 1980s. In that role, the equivalent to a pastor, Romney counseled members of his ward about their most personal matters. ”The fact that Mitt was a Mormon bishop in a ward that had one of every conceivable type of human,” says Christensen, who has also served as a bishop. “He personally … met with them in their home and just had a very deep sense of what was going on in that family. That is another really important attribute. He feels it, whereas other people voted for legislation that took money from these people to give to those people. That’s not an understanding of humanity.”
That shows how faith shapes us, without being “theocratic.” “Theocracy” happens when someone simply thinks that whatever they think, regardless of how they have arrived at their conclusions or its affects on others, is in fact God’s will. Another way to describe that would be “above accountability” – which brings us back to “executive privilege.” The American experiment assumes God works in history – it must for all of history has shown that faith in God is really the only way to build a strong national character. As we have discussed here often, religious political influence is indirect.
I do not think our national character will stand for what we are seeing in the last few days. God may work in history, but that does not mean that He has ordained Barack Obama as above the dictates of our constitution. Whether it be the power grab of his immigration last Friday or this gross assertion of power that the presidency simply does not have, President Obama seems to apply his will to the nation as if his will was somehow divine.
One other brief comment. This assertion of executive power must be a cover-up of some sort. One of the other things religion does is help us come to terms with our shortcomings, because it offers us hope to overcome them and the strength to bear their consequences. Our national character admires people that face up to their mistakes and endeavors to make them right. This administration is not giving us much to admire right now.
Posted in Candidate Qualifications, Reading List, Understanding Religion | 3 Comments » | 
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sewinglady on 20 Jun 2012 at 4:38 pm #
Thank you so much for your efforts, John, John Mark, and Lowell! It is interesting that in the discussion about religion, which the Left mostly wants so they can make Mormons and Mitt look stupid and/or silly; something intelligent would be said.
It is true that members of the CJCLDS are not taught that revelation or inspiration usually happen like a bolt of lightning out of the blue. We are taught that most of the time, we must think through what should be done, and formulate what we think is best. We are encouraged to counsel with others who have experience or expertise in relevant areas, if it is possible. Then, when we have completed our efforts and have at least tried to come up with an intelligent plan, we can ask God if it is right. Certainly, there are times when God speaks to each of us without such a laborious process. Sometimes decisions must be made immediately and we have no time to go through such efforts. However, bolts of lightning out of the blue are more the exception than the rule.
I can’t help but think about my own children in this context. When I tell them everything they need to do and how to do it, they don’t grow as much as when I allow them to consider a problem and how they should deal with it. God desires His children to grow, so doesn’t it make sense that He allows us to think through problems and work to solve them without telling us exactly what to do every time?
Rockgod28 on 20 Jun 2012 at 7:59 pm #
Amazing article. Thank you John, I really did enjoy everything you had to say.
June isn’t over yet. The hammer blows to the Obama campaign keep coming, actually they are more like anvils raining down on the President’s head while he uses a regular umbrella to save his political fortune.
If the job numbers for May were bad, June will be worse as indications are that the economy or markets actually shed jobs. Everything is falling into pieces. Even fundraising is all going wrong.
Just like the budget Obama submitted that the Senate in which both parties rejected with no votes supporting it, the President seems to be running his campaign the same way. His campaign has spent more money than he took in from contributions by 5 million dollars.
Nothing is going right. Every trap Obama lays down and every advantage he once had is now gone. President Obama is reaping the whirlwind he has sown for himself in failed investments, failed policies and soon a failed presidency.
Team Obama was expecting a firebrand, a tea party type of person to come from the Republican Party like Sarah Palin, Chris Christie, Rick Perry or best case situation Jeb Bush. Instead they got Mitt Romeny.
No firebrand. He doesn’t do the gut call, get upset easily and he runs a disciplined focused campaign.
Two historic policy changes and moves by a sitting President about marriage and immigration to appeal to his base and put Mitt Romney on the defensive failed. Both are emotional social issues. Marriage was getting some headway and resolution with civil unions with equal rights to marriage in every way but name. Then the President goes and attempts to recharge the debate. It didn’t work since now the Supreme Court is going to rule on the Defense of Marriage Act this year.
Team Romney just has to keep up the winning strategy they worked out. Don’t deviate or become some firebrand that a few conservatives want.
Win, that is what matters by being true to your character.
So far Mitt Romney is doing just that.
Go Romney! Mitt for President! 2012!
coltakashi on 21 Jun 2012 at 4:31 am #
Executive privilege is a privilege of the Executive, the president himself. To claim that the privilege covers the topic of the Fast and Furious firearms fiasco is to assert that the president himself was involved in the program. It is NOT a power by which a president can arbitrarily swoop down and rescue heads of Federal agencies from congressional questioning. It only covers communications between the president and his immediate advisors. I speak as someone who has worked within the Federal government most of my career, where the issue of how answerable a Federal agency’s leadership is to enforcement actions by either state or Federal agencies is a recurring issue.
So WHEN did Mr. Obama get involved in the decision to sell automatic weapons to drug smugglers? There is no IF about it–the claim of privilege means he was in on the decision!