As disturbing as was President Obama's lawless usurpation of constitutional authority in circumventing the DREAM Act to grant backdoor amnesty, this type of overreach is nothing new for him.
He has frequently complained about how democracy and the Constitution are "messy" and do not permit him to exercise the authority of a Chinese president. But he nevertheless warned us that he would be pushing forward with his agenda through executive orders and administrative actions "on a wide range of fronts."
But he has outdone himself this time, even going beyond limitations he freely recognized not long ago, when he complained that he didn't have the authority to impose his immigration policy wish list. Perhaps recent polling numbers showing him trailing Mitt Romney have increased his desperation.
His frontal assaults on the Constitution are so brazen now it's hard not to conclude that he was willing to take a calculated risk that his excesses would offend fewer rule of law sticklers than they would attract Hispanic voters.
A few people emailed and tweeted me and said they bet I was disappointed my new book, "The Great Destroyer," had already gone to print so that I couldn't include this latest example of Obama's destructive behavior.
To the contrary, I told my well-wishers, I had in fact included this backdoor amnesty stunt in the introduction to the book (pages 6-7), saying Obama had already been considering it. I told you the book was timely — and comprehensive.
Let me give you some other examples of Obama's recurring pattern of executive encroachment on the legislative branch, which, taken together, will demonstrative why many of us are so concerned with these assaults on the Constitution, as well as Obama's destructive swath against our nation's financial health, our national security, our values, our economy, our oil and a host of other things.
His administration deceived Congress and the public in reporting that the Comprehensive Review Working Group survey revealed that our military rank and file supported the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," before the service members had even been questioned.
It took steps to shut down the Yucca Mountain nuclear storage facility, in which Congress had already invested $12 billion, without securing an alternative site — the decision being based solely on policy reasons, not science.
While Obama pretended to be against — he later "evolved" — same-sex marriage, his administration unilaterally denounced the Defense of Marriage Act and said it would not defend it in court.
The administration granted waivers to certain states from the No Child Left Behind Act's math proficiency requirements, on the condition that these states impose its education policies. Outrageous.
It submitted a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council that sounded like a liberal policy screed, in which it strongly criticized America's "discriminatory" record against the LGBT community and minorities. It even offered up for review and critique Arizona's immigration law, an effort to allow an international body consisting of many notorious human rights-abusing and America-hating nations to pass judgment on our sovereign state. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was rightly incensed.
Obama unilaterally crammed down a restructuring of the automakers, in which he forced secured creditors to receive far less and enabled his unsecured union creditor friends to receive far more than the law provided. The administration disproportionately allowed minority- and female-owned dealerships to retain their businesses. And, as everyone now realizes, the Justice Department dismissed an already won case against New Black Panther Party members for voter intimidation, which DOJ insiders informed us was based on an unwritten policy forbidding the pursuit of such cases involving black perpetrators against white victims.
Though only 12 percent of employees are union members, the administration granted the majority of its 1,231 Obamacare waivers to plans run by labor unions.
Then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates was furious that the administration, in its shameless PR orgy following the Osama bin Laden raid, had leaked vital national security information that could put our troops at risk.
The Department of Justice has repeatedly refused to release the majority of "Fast and Furious" documents to congressional investigators, in flagrant contempt of Congress.
The administration pressured Solyndra to delay layoffs until after the November 2010 elections so as to avoid political damage, costing taxpayers an additional $40 million.
When a federal judge lifted the administration's offshore drilling ban, the administration just slightly rewrote it and re-implemented the ban, in defiance of the court. Administration officials also doctored a report from experts to deceitfully downplay the economic damage that would result from the drilling moratorium and overstate the environmental risk that would result from lifting the ban.
I'm just getting warmed up, but it suffices to say that it's past time for Democratic lawmakers to join with Republicans in defending our Constitution and our liberties against this rogue president.
David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book, "The Great Destroyer," is available now. Follow him on Twitter @davidlimbaugh and his website at www.davidlimbaugh.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
