The Great Dictator

George Will's piece on the State of the Union makes an important point about the extra-constitutional grasp of Obama.   From unelected "czars" to recess appointments when there's no recess, to comments about how "if Congress won't act, I will," to entering wars (Libya) without Congressional authorization, to claiming the right to borrow money without Congressional approval, to.... well, the list goes on and on.   The man seems to wish he were a third-world dictator, and he's well on the way to turning America into a third-world power, complete with debased currency and an Evita Peron-wannabe for First Lady.   Here's Will:

Obama, an unfettered executive wielding a swollen state, began and ended his address by celebrating the armed forces. They are not “consumed with personal ambition,” they “work together” and “focus on the mission at hand” and do not “obsess over their differences.” Americans should emulate troops “marching into battle,” who “rise or fall as one unit.”

Well. The armed services’ ethos, although noble, is not a template for civilian society, unless the aspiration is to extinguish politics. People marching in serried ranks, fused into a solid mass by the heat of martial ardor, proceeding in lock step, shoulder to shoulder, obedient to orders from a commanding officer — this is a recurring dream of progressives eager to dispense with tiresome persuasion and untidy dissension in a free, tumultuous society.

I commented to someone recently that what scares me is not the prospect of Obama winning a second term.   What worries me is the prospect of Obama running for a third term.   And a fourth.   And a fifth.