Media Excuse Obama’s Power Grab

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post reported on Friday that “the Obama administration is prepared to push its environmental agenda through regulation where it has failed on Capitol Hill…” There was no hint that this approach is illegal or unconstitutional. The account simply assumes that the Obama Administration can do what it wants, no matter what Congress or the law says.

This kind of matter-of-fact reporting about lawlessness by the federal government is typical of the decline, if not death, of adversary journalism in the nation’s capital.

The EPA’s actions seem to reflect the advice contained in the Soros-funded Center for American Progress report, “The Power of the President. Recommendations to Advance Progressive Change.”

The problem for the administration is that the new House of Representatives is going to be controlled by Republicans who have pledged fidelity to the Constitution. Rep. Fred Upton, incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, declared, “We will not allow the administration to regulate what they have been unable to legislate—this Christmas surprise is nothing short of a backdoor attempt to implement their failed job-killing cap-and-trade scheme.”

The lawless tone has been set by Obama himself, who says that the admission of open homosexuals into the military must be done “swiftly.” That is not what the law says. The law requires that the president, the secretary of defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs certify that any changes must be “consistent with the standards of military readiness, military effectiveness, unit cohesion, and recruiting and retention of the Armed Forces.” It is far from clear whether this can be done.

Obama noted that “the old policy remains in effect” until that certification is made. However, he went on to acknowledge that he has, in effect, ordered the service chiefs to go along. He said, “…I have spoken to every one of the service chiefs and they are all committed to implementing this change swiftly and efficiently. We are not going to be dragging our feet to get this done.”

The service chiefs had opposed repeal of the Pentagon’s homosexual exclusion policy. So their “commitment” to “swiftly” implementing the new policy, as Obama describes it, is obviously being done under pressure.

Is the President encouraging a false certification in order to quickly implement the change and please his homosexual supporters? Is he asking the service chiefs to lie? Will they go along or resign in protest? This is a major story being ignored by our pro-gay media.

After the certification is made, the Congress has 60 days to review the proposed changes. This means that Rep. Buck McKeon, incoming chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has an opportunity to quiz the service chiefs about any illegal White House pressure and what questionable measures are going to be taken to force soldiers to accept homosexuals in their showers and foxholes.