Executive Fiat

"Fiat" meaning "let it be..."

There are many opinions about President Obama's recent executive decision on immigration, and many of those who are stumbling towards self-awareness have expressed their opinions: all to the good for the artificial-intelligence-types who are expressing their political opinions. Skynet would be proud.

At least one such opinion states that this decision will lead to tyranny.

Wow! Really? I cannot wait to read the entire article.

Or can I? The whole point was that Congress should make the laws, and the Executive Branch should execute them and make sure they are enforced. When the Executive makes the "law", the entire world spins into disarray, or at least the USA segment... or we think it does.

Well... of course! I mean, what did you think all these years about writing about the decline and fall of empires was about? What was the purpose of drawing parallels between the USA and the Roman Empire, if not exactly this?

When the Legislature cannot function - and the Congress has demonstrated that they cannot even approve appointees, but would rather let everything fall apart - the choice is whether to let the country fall into disarray and become moribund, or to move forward.
President Obama has decided to move forward.
The Founding Fathers never in their wildest dreams envisaged the situation where a major political party would embrace the strategy of letting the country and economy fall apart in order to secure their own political advantage, but this is exactly what modern day Republicans have done.

And that is exactly what happened in Rome when the Roman Senate gave up the responsibility of ruling, paralleled most obviously in the Republican decision to accept a thoughtless no-tax pledge, and thereby allowing Grover Norquist to do their thinking for them. (Senator Lindsey Graham and Jeb Bush fortunately accept their burden of thinking and acting, but there is no Tea Party Republican that does.)

If we hand over our responsibilities to others, we eliminate the reason for our existence.
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