Obama’s Pen, Phone and Scissors

by Norman Berdichevsky (March 2014)

In spite of this experience, he later acted through an executive order which was a naked deprivation of the basic civil rights of American citizens even though backed by public opinion and the Supreme Court.

These two examples of Roosevelt, undoubtedly enjoying unmatched popularity during the Depression years, just after his election victory in 1936 and following Pearl Harbor, puts into relief the bankrupt and dangerous claims of Obama to act alone with his pen and telephone.

Even in the case of the internment of Japanese-Americans, the fact that the president had no need to consult with Congress but relied on general war hysteria overlooked the many Japanese business and civic associations that had forged links with congressmen and senators and could have impeded the rush to judgment by the president. They knew their constituents better than the President or the military authorities in Hawaii who did not ask for internment for the Japanese-Americans living there. Skipping Congress or the Supreme Court and failing to win their approval makes any executive order less likely to stand the test of time.

On January 29 this year (2014), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) challenged Attorney General Eric Holder to explain the constitutional basis for the executive orders Obama announced in his speech regarding the most recent postponements and changes in the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act.

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