What To Do About The Imperial Presidency?

It seems I'm not the only one who notices that Obama's unilateral declaration of war is illegal and dangerous. I've run into a story over at Time and another story at the New York Times. We already know what all this means: the rule of law is dead, and we are now faced with an elective emperor rather than a public servant. The question is what do we do about it? Here are a couple of ideas.

What should happen first and foremost is that the House of Representatives impeaches Obama for high crimes and misdemeanors, after which the Senate tries and convicts him of same, removing him from office and rendering him prone to criminal prosecution. But good luck with that. The denizens of Capitol Hill have long since cast off their own fealty to the Constitution and their oaths of office. There being no rule of law, legal mechanisms will not take care of this.

No, the proper solution is for everyone else to treat Obama as an outlaw and refuse to obey his orders.

This duty falls primarily on soldiers, whose oath is NOT to blindly obey the president, but rather to uphold the Constitution and defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic. If the president clearly violates the Constitution, as here, the choice is simple -- either you honor your oath, or you help establish a modern Caesar. Besides, whatever harm ISIS might do to us pales in comparison to the harm an imperial presidency can inflict. This is a true test of bravery, more demanding than trying to kill a designated enemy. Do you have the bravery not to kill when given an illegal order to do so? 

Apart from soldiers, anyone who claims to honor the Constitution or the rule of law has a clear path as well, even if it's not an easy one to walk. Will you speak out against what's happening and refuse to support it, or will you bury your conscience and take the path of least resistance? Are you an American, or a latter-day Roman? Are you a human being with a mind and a soul, or a lump of animated flesh whose only goal is sustenance and daily survival?

Are you free, or a slave?