With a second term victory behind him, the President is feeling his oats. It’s apparent in the way he carries himself and delivers speeches as much as it is in the things he intends to do. With a Speaker of the House who seems unable to stand up to him, and a Democratic majority in the Senate, the question is, can he be stopped, and if so, how?
The answers are, in two words, yes, and impeachment.
The point isn’t merely academic; as the President’s approval numbers plummet, he becomes more and more politically vulnerable. Normally, when a president in his second term gets into trouble, his first move is to shore up his base so he still has some clout in Congress. Obama’s problem is that he really doesn’t have a base at the moment. Environmentalists are put out that Cap and Trade didn’t pass; pacifists are outraged that Guantanamo Bay remains open and the use of drones dwarfs President Bush’s drone strikes in mere numbers; the gay rights movement hasn’t heard much about Obama’s passion for nationalized gay marriage.
And then there’s the female factor, key to both of Obama’s victories. What has he done to break the glass ceiling? And to what extent does he plan to trample upon the Second Amendment?
Yes, I bring up guns as an example of Obama alienating women. Last Sunday’s New York Times ran a story entitled “The Rising Voice of Gun Ownership Is Female.” Erica Goode writes, “Though they may share a fierce belief in the Second Amendment with their male counterparts, female gun owners often learn to shoot for different reasons, their interest in and proficiency with firearms not just a hobby or a means for self-defense, but a statement of independence and personal power.” (Italics mine) Further, reports Goode, female gun ownership knows no ideological bounds: “Professor [of women’s studies] Mary Stange, who hunts regularly and owns several rifles and shotguns, describes herself as a liberal Democrat.”
To summarize, there are an awful lot of liberal ideologues who are furious with the man who promised to be everything that Bill Clinton wasn’t, and as Obama charges forward, there will be others. In a matter of months, Obama will stand alone, with Congressional Democrat afraid to go near him as the next election nears, and rank and file liberals whose ideals have been shattered open to the idea of retribution.
So can he be impeached? Two factors argue against the possibility: his race, and Clinton’s impeachment. The general public would be suspect of two Democratic presidents in a row suffering a fate not previously seen since Andrew Johnson. Add the fact that Obama is the first black president into the mix, and it seems a near impossibility.
The Democratic Party base, though, uses race selectively, and it is always trumped by ideology. Obama may be the first black President, but he’s also the guy who irrationally raised expectations with unrealistic promises that couldn’t possibly be kept. A hopeful liberal scorned is an angry liberal. The possibility is that the Benghazi tragedy—a genuinely impeachable affair—will be pursued by the likes of Lindsey Graham, who genuinely wants to get to the bottom of it, and used by liberals as the perfect excuse to punish the man who failed them.
By: Will Anderson – The World According To Will
The Will Anderson Show M-F 6pm-8pm on 800 and 1230AM and 106.5FM WBHP
