OPINION:
President Biden just signed an executive order on gun control he said would move America “as close as we can to universal background checks without new legislation,” as well as push for widespread adoption of “red-flag” laws.
Make way for the return of the pen and phone presidency.
This is an open Biden admission of bypassing Congress, bypassing the legislative branch, bypassing even the Constitution, because of an agenda that won’t meet with lawmaker approval — so like his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, this president is going the old executive order route.
“Wielding A Pen And A Phone, Obama Goes It Alone,” NPR wrote in January 2014.
“President Obama has a new phrase he’s been using a lot lately: ‘I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone.’ He’s talking about the tools a president can use if Congress isn’t giving him what he wants,” NPR went on.
Obama is back and his name is Biden.
The executive order sics the attorney general on gun dealers who don’t do the government’s background check bidding. That is, Attorney General Merrick Garland has been put in charge of devising stronger background checks for gun purchasers, and sellers who don’t comply will face the wrath of the feds. Is it constitutional? Is this in line with Second Amendment rights — or even in accordance with previous court decisions clarifying Second Amendment rights?
Who cares — Biden blithely shrugs.
The Democrat way is to press forward with agenda, lawful or not, then let the chips fall where they may. If conservatives want to take up the matter in court, so be it; if conservatives ultimately win in court, so be it. The end game is to push the goalpost a little bit farther down the field, so that by inches and baby steps, one day, one day at a time, the agenda is accomplished.
Whether it takes four weeks or four years — or even 40 years — is not so much the Democrat concern as knowing the purpose is ultimately accomplished.
And on the Second Amendment, Democrats won’t rest until it’s completely stripped of power.
The end game of Biden, as with all Democrats, is to attack the Second Amendment to the point that it’s ultimately meaningless. Legislation; executive order; pen and phone dictate — it’s all the same. So long as guns are taken from the American people, it’s all good. Democrats care nothing for the Constitution.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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