OPINION:
I, for one, am very happy that 2014 is over. We were Grubered, Boehnered, Ebolaed and hacked.
Riots, disappearing planes and falling buckets of ice water filled cable news shows and the Internet.
It was a good year for Taylor Swift, marijuana, the World Cup, the Islamic State and Seattle’s 12th Man. Not so good for Ferguson, Missouri, Donald Sterling, Democrats in Congress and personal privacy.
We lost Robin Williams, Shirley Temple, Joan Rivers, Maya Angelo and Philip Seymour Hoffman. We were into “Happy,” “Let It Go” and “All About That Base.”
But this is the space where we focus our attention on that person or people who, during a particular week, used their power and influence to force others to do things they otherwise would not be inclined to do.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein releasing a skewed report on the CIA, nurse Kaci Hickox, who decided to ignore Ebola quarantine rules for her own benefit, and terrorist group Boko Haram, which kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls to convert them to Islam and then sell into sex slavery, all come to mind.
Of the 40-plus Bullies of the Week for 2014 (this column began early in the year), one person stuck out as a bully who knew few boundaries.
President Obama, at times, inserted himself into places where he had no business and was shockingly silent in areas where he needed to be bold.
The apparent criteria Mr. Obama used to gauge whether he proceeds on any particular initiative seems to be as follows:
First, does it expand Democrats’ power and broaden the centralized government? Second, does it increase taxpayer cost? Third, does it redistribute those tax collections? Fourth, is it divisive? Fifth, does it make him look good in liberal and academic circles?
If the answer is yes to all of the above, he proceeds with haste in any manner possible. Obamacare, amnesty and endless regulations — check, check and check.
The really scary part is that no one has reined in Mr. Obama, so like all other bullies, he feels more emboldened. He appears to be just getting warmed up, particularly on immigration.
The far left and the special interest groups that advocate on behalf of illegal aliens already are complaining that his executive amnesty doesn’t go far enough. For example, they say illegal aliens who have already been deported and sent home should be welcomed back and given amnesty. That’s absolutely ludicrous, but they’re dead-serious. So the pressure is on to do even more. Behind the scenes — administratively — it’s certain that we’ll see Mr. Obama continue to issue internal instructions to further ratchet down enforcement and expand deportation relief to even more illegal aliens.
Standing up to bullies is a lesson most of our fathers taught us. It’s a lecture Congress apparently has forgotten and one that Mr. Obama gleefully takes full advantage of.
For his hubris, hypocrisy and horrible leadership, and for his lack of sympathy, empathy and willful ignorance of the Constitution, he swore to uphold and defend, President Obama is the 2014 Liberal Bully of the Year.
• Rusty Humphries, a nationally syndicated talk radio host, is a contributor to The Washington Times.
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