Not My Constitution

    It has come down to this: Is it time for this country to abandon the Constitution and replace it with ad hoc solutions? This question is pitting liberals and conservatives against each other on the most consequential issues of our times.

    Every elected official is sworn to uphold and protect the Constitution of the United States. But it seems that many politicians utter these solemn words while muttering under their breaths, “except when the Constitution doesn't serve my purposes.”

    We have seen the denigration of constitutional principles from both sides of the ideological spectrum. When Donald Trump says he wants to close mosques and prevent all Muslims from entering this country, he is ignoring essential provisions of the First Amendment. When Hillary Clinton vows to write tax and gun-control regulations that circumvent the legislative authority bestowed on Congress, she is in fact promising to violate the Constitution. But of course both Trump and Clinton are taking their cue from the Master.

    After Barack Obama repeated over twenty times that he did not have the authority to overrule or ignore Congress, he proceeded to do just that routinely on immigration, on ObamaCare, on the Iranian agreement, and on climate regulations. When he did not inform Congress before releasing five Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo in exchange for Sergeant Burgdal, he broke the law. But so what? What are the consequences?

    It is one thing for Obama to break the law, but it is quite another for him to brazenly act with confidence that he will not be held accountable. It is not so much the Constitution that he is violating, but the very moral fabric of our democracy. He may sanctimoniously lecture us about “the values we all share,” but his actions make him, in my eyes, is a traitor to those values.