Falling Dominoes

It’s nice when you only have to worry about your legacy and not re-election. President Obama said he was going to make use of executive action, and he has. Attorney General Holder announced that the federal government was extending full rights and benefits – or as much as current law would permit – to same-sex married couples. These rights will apply where federal issues are involved, even in the states (still in the majority) where such marriages are not yet legal.

So it appears Mr. Obama’s “evolution” is now complete in this area – and it begs the question, what’s next? Legalized pot, most of us will probably say. Will the federal government do the same, at least agreeing not to prosecute in states where marijuana use is OK?

It may seem that dominoes fall with great speed and in rapid succession. Of course, they don’t. The actual fall takes no time at all, but the fall is only made possible by very slow but inexorable underground tectonic forces at work long before plain old gravity takes over. Mr. Holder’s announcement was preceded by Stonewall in NYC a half-century or so ago. It’s been more than a half-century since the release of “Reefer Madness.” The abolition of slavery took decades before proclamations were made and laws were signed, and way more than that for full acceptance, which some would argue hasn’t happened yet.

I have my own answers to the “what’s next” questions. For instance, I think the smoking of tobacco will be illegal in 10 to 25 years. Smoking is a pretty big no-no already. Cigarettes are prohibitively expensive. There are fewer and fewer places where one can indulge this habit. When all medical benefits are denied to smokers by the federal government and insurance companies, that will just about be the end. I am old enough to remember smoking. I actually enjoyed it – when “it” included things like the glow of cigarette-ends in the dark during an intimate late-night discussion with a friend.

How about the consumption of red meat? I probably won’t be alive when that’s outlawed, but I have no doubt that it will happen. There will be laws regarding the raising and treatment of cattle. Beef will become prohibitively expensive (if it isn’t already), and eating it will be thought of as barbaric. Personally, I still like the stuff and will be perfectly happy to be outta here when it all comes to pass.

The simple rule is, you stick around on Earth long enough, and what was anathema 50 years ago may now be cool, and what was cool 50 years ago may now be anathema. Some of this is enlightenment, and some may be mostly fickleness – but it takes more time than we think. That’s what history is all about.

Obama's Rough Patch

So we thought that perhaps once President Obama’s second term began, Congressional factions would have little choice but to concentrate on getting stuff done. What were we thinking?

Opponents of the President are basking in the steam from the boiling pot, with no fewer than three scandals brewing. There’s the security failure at Benghazi; the selective targeting of Tea Party groups by the IRS; and the Justice Department’s acquisition of AP phone records to track down a leak.

The Benghazi issue has been characterized by the administration as a “sideshow.” Not a good word choice, as it involves an apparent failure that led to the deaths of four people, including a U.S. ambassador. Is the White House itself at fault? So far, probably not, but it’s generally agreed that a ball was dropped – the question is, who dropped it? Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, because of her failure to read cables asking for more security for diplomatic personnel in Banghazi? She wouldn’t be the first CEO to have glossed over a communication. And I bet all her Republican critics in Congress have read all the bills they vote on, right? Still, the administration failed to get ahead of this problem, and at the very least, it turned into an unnecessary PR crisis.

The IRS? Its selective targeting of Tea Party groups is inexcusable, and this scandal comes at a really bad time, as the implementation of Obamacare is supposed to come with the agency’s oversight of the program. The only thing that mitigates it,  IMHO, is that some of these Tea Party groups were seeking tax-exempt status, and the IRS was trying to dig into whether that was really appropriate. IMHO again, if we had a simple, clear and sensible tax code, this problem wouldn’t exist in the first place, but that, as they say, is a separate animal.

The least important of these scandals for the average American seems to be the DOJ’s acquisition of the AP’s phone records, supposedly because it “only” involves the media. Many forget that the records will lead authorities to government officials who had confidential contact with reporters, and going forward, officials may be spooked about ever talking to a reporter again. Are we living in East Germany? If we can’t have a free press doing its job, we may not have a democracy, either.

At the bottom, or the top, if you prefer, of the AP thing is Attorney General Eric Holder. IMHO once more, if anyone in the Obama administration should be falling on his sword, it’s this guy. We’ve already been through Fast and Furious with his non-answers. President Obama would save himself a lot of grief by showing Holder the door as soon as possible.

Impeachment? Well, I’ve seen this movie before, so I’m going to take my popcorn and go home.