Obstructionism and the government’s failure to govern

February 13, 2017

President Donald Trump

OPINION by OTIS PAGE

It appears the 9th Circuit is compromised – that it joins a clear strategy to use the judicial powers to politically stall and harass President Trump through the obvious legal vagaries of the 1st Amendment’s religious clause. The 1st Amendment for Constitutional lawyers has become a garden for disputes and argumentation. The record is clear on this fact as exemplified by the 9th Circuit ruling.

As a review, the States of Washington and Minnesota argued, and the 9th Circuit Panel agreed, in response to a lousy presentation by the federal lawyer representing Trump, that the Executive Order violates the Establishment and Equal Protection Clauses of the First Amendment.  Because it was intended to disfavor Muslims.

They offered evidence — which should never  been considered — of numerous statements by Trump about his false intent to implement a “Muslim religion ban” when the issue as stated by Trump was selected Islamic terrorism endorsed by seven specific countries previously identified by the Obama administration.

This is a farce. A disgrace. So besides the obstructionism being displayed by Democrats in Congress – supported throughout the United States by well-funded civic demonstrations – the Democrats are exercising legal strategies through the 1st Amendment to legally obstruct Trump.

The legal establishment is totally politicized, which is no surprise, considering the obvious and compelling present split of the Supremes.

This is a war of tactics and Trump does have the upper hand. For the “truth will out” and sensible people will see this for what it is – the absolute carryover of Obama’s progressivism confronting the reality that we face every day in our personal lives of balancing the check book while seeing the tragedy of drug damage and excesses by those who don’t.

The Congress is an over paid, very expensive, over protected group whose only task appears to be to obstruct each other to grasp and maintain power. It is inefficient overly politicized and even the judiciary, is now corrupted.

I am concerned about the fallacy of our governing. The argument regarding textualism and originalism in interpreting the Constitution has been long aborted by legal precedents that have expanded the law — such as Windsor versus Connecticut and the rationale of “penumbras,” the Roe versus Wade matter and Texas precedent on sodomy. But the greatest examples are the vagaries that have been expounded on religion issues in the 1st Amendment.

What is going here? Where the founders wanted to protect the nation against the religion of the British crown, it now wallows in the depths of “political correctness” allowing a vicious religion of Islam, a religion that advocates the killing of non-believers. Islam is a religion to be protected as exemplified by the recent issue of Trump’s attempt to control immigration from nations that by record hate us.

Putin would not allow this, but our government so far does. Why? Because we now see that our government’s three elements of the judiciary, the legislative and the executive are all involved in a power play to control. In a dictatorship, where the cause is just, or even if not, the issue of power is determined efficiently by the sword and not by obstructionist tactics.

Our greatness as a nation is based on Christian ideals and not the materialism of Marx. But the “ideals” are subordinated to the naked lust for political power as exemplified now by the Democrat’s and Progressive’s obstructionism. Looked at it in a religious context, are we exposed to God’s wrath as stated in Roman’s 1:18-32?

I suggest we may be as stated by the outstanding theologian James Dunn,  Professor of Divinity at the University of Durham, who amplifies the meaning  of Romans 1 regarding God’s wrath:

“….God gave them over to what they desired;  He did not, it should be noted,  give them their desires,  rather He gave them to what they desired and the consequences of what they desired.

“God handed them over to the freedom for which they yearned;  not their freedom to them,  but them to their freedom……….

“And thus it becomes clearer that God’s wrath is indeed the converse of His righteousness,  since both express and bring to effect the world as God intends it to be:  righteousness through faithful dependence on the Creator leads to salvation (and eternal life);  wrath through self deceitful pride and self-indulgent desire leads to self-destruction (and eternal death).”


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Otis you appear to have partaken in the consumption of the Trump Paranoia Punch. Please don’t let this intoxicate you to a point of irrational thinking. with or without Trump, America will prevail. Not only in it’s strength. but it’s inherent ability to accept all walks of life.


So the GOP wants to do away with government obstruction? Does this mean Merrick Garland finally gets a hearing?


With all due respect Otis, our very system of checks and balances (US Constitution Article 1 Section 1) helps ensure that no one branch Executive, Legislative and Judicial can assume any more power than the other. It’s a great system that has prevented our Democratic Republic from failing for the last 243 years.

Think about it.The court system is merely doing it’s job.


Democratic Republic? Seriously? Wow. Try again.


Separation of church and state?


The irony of the “separation of church and state” is that it is not found in the Constitution or Bill of Rights. This was a phrase that Jefferson used to describe his take on the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.


Just a reminder, 1A reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”


How would banning any religious group prohibit the free exercise of that religion? You may freely convert to and practice Islam (or any other religion) without fear that the government (Congress) will not outlaw that.


Separation, indeed.


Here, I even ddg.gg’d that for you:

“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”¹


1. Jefferson, Thomas. Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists: The Final Letter, as Sent. The Library of Congress Information Bulletin: June 1998. Lib. of Cong., June 1998. Retrieved 14 Feb 2017 from http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html.


Thankfully, other were intelligent enough to keep it out of the constitution!


Respectfully Roy, for the record Sharia Islamic law violates the “establishment of religion” and “Free Exercise” clause of the First Amendment.


Sharia Islamic law is based on the belief that it is the only law that prevails between Muslims and God, that the secular powers of government are subordinated to Sharia law. Therefore Sharia law respecting an establishment and its exercise of religion holds all secular laws are secondary to Sharia.


Other Muslim dominated countries advocate Sharia Islamic law as their “constitution”. They are theocracies not democracies. But the United States of America’s Constitution affirms Sharia law violates the “establishment of religion” and “Free Exercise” clause of the First Amendment because of its sanctions against non Muslims and its intolerance of other religious beliefs.


All Muslim immigrants swear dedication to the Constitution and laws of the United States of America. Nevertheless, Muslims follow the Koran’s teaching on the war against nonbelievers. They swear Sharia law is the true law even when they state they do not!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj8J62BqRMo&feature=youtu.be


A Muslim’s spiritual possession and religious dedication is deep and profound promising heavenly rewards. One example is the instruction in Sharia for destroying nonbelievers – as advocated by fanatical Imams and Mullahs of the Islamic faith.

Islam fanatic’s call to kill and murder nonbelievers is endowed in their Scripture — the Islamic Koran that unambiguously specifies a war against infidels — one who does not believe in the teachings in the Koran.


“Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, and seize them, Beleaguer them and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war…” (Qur’an 9:5)

This is the existential reality of the Islamic faith: A true Muslim — especially when led by a fanatical Mullah — must follow the teaching of the Koran to “fight and kill disbelievers”.


The Court has used various tests to determine when the wall of separation of Church and State has been breached. The points declaring that Sharia is an establishment that violates the First Amendment on religion follows:


1. Sharia has a secular purpose in that it replaces secularism.

2. Its principal or primary effect advances Islam.

3. It fosters an excessive government entanglement with Sharia.


This test remains the predominant means by which the Court enforces the Establishment Clause. The test substantiates the thesis that Sharia violates the Constitution.


Where the First Amendment prescribes the freedom and protection of religion, it also in Court precedents provides for the exceptions where the law is violated by intent and practice. This begs the question is Islam and its Sharia Law exempted from the Exercise clause of the Constitution’s Ist Amendment when it advocates the killing of disbelievers?


Otis, all of those words just to miss the point! Sharia would only violate the First Amendment if the US Government mandated that it be recognized as the nation’s religion (establishment clause) – not “recognized AS A religion,” that is misconstruing the intent completely.


Throwing in what sharia is only serves to obfuscate the simple fact of the matter: the 1st Amendment prohibits Congress from passing a law that establishes Islam (Islam is already established); it also prohibits Congress from passing a law banning the practice by citizens.


Your final question is also quite cheeky, you are basically asking if a religion prescribes murder, is it ok… obviously not, ask the Satanists (if any are left) if they were allowed to murder in the name of their “religion.”


I do not think we are in disagreement, and I do not view Islam as a religion (as I would not view Hinduism as a religion); rather, they are philosophies or world-views. It boggles the mind that free-thinking adults would believe that the Author of Life prefers to have His creation kill. Then again, I’ve been “tainted” by Christianity… ;-)


tl;dr version:

The U.S. has no law that says “Islam is great” – ergo, it has not respected the establishment of Islam. In fact, we have no law by Congress that says any religion is great; no religion’s establishment has been respected via a law.


Land of the free and home of the brave?


That sentence actually reflected American values, years ago. Not anymore.


Nowadays, the cowards that comprise the right wing conservative movement have made adjusted this sentence to be


Land of the once free, and home of the cowards.


America, land of the chicknsh!ts, led by Brietbart, and Faux Spews. Load their minds with lies and absurdities, and watch the cowards fall in line and repeat the lies.


Shameful, isn’t it?


People like the writer of the article have been terrorized by inaccurate information that feeds into their prejudices.

Joseph Goebbels is the patron saint of the right wing media. Tell them lies over and over and weak minds come to believe the lies as truth.


“Alternative Facts”


This is the kind of person that we progressives are up against. People who’s ideology is a mix of blind nationalism, irrational fear and dogmatic religion. The Faux/Breitbart consumer has been manipulated into believing that terrorism is a real and likely event in their daily lives and foreigners are the suspects. They are readily willing to trade our freedoms for greater security and governmental control. How do we communicate with these poor frightened souls that believe in the freedom of religion as long as it’s their religion and anybody who’s beliefs are not the same as theirs are gong to burn in hell? Will they understand that refugees from the middle east have never committed acts of terror in the US? These poor people just want to get out of a war zone and live the American dream just as all of our ancestors did.


Trump is the sort of person that most of the entitled/entrenched fear — be they regressives or conservatives. Their long-held turf of personal gain is being threatened by an outsider and they don’t know what to do.


You offer a great deal of personal opinions in your posting as if they are fact when indeed, they are nothing but malarkey. Please don’t make the mistake of thinking that you’re fooling others with your words.


I am very sympathetic to those that want to emigrate to the USA to better their lives and of those that follow them. I’m less than sympathetic to those that do so illegally. I’m not at all sympathetic to those that want to come here to change the USA.


If today’s immigration restrictions applied 130 years ago, there is a good chance that many of my ancestors (mostly northern Europeans) would not have been allowed in. I don’t know what your ancestry is but I suspect that the same is true for you because it is for most US citizens descending from immigrants more than 90 years ago.


I am not sure what the current restrictions are on Mexican immigrants are but not long ago legal immigration was limited to less than 10% of those who applied. The rest were either denied outright or put on a waiting list that was 10+ years long. I too would like to see immigration done within the law but given the lack of reform coming from a government that places partisan politics above fairness and justice, I have trouble blaming people from coming over the border illegally.


As for those who want to come here to change the USA, I agree with you there — but probably disagree with you on the relative numbers of them.


Speaking as a liberal myself, we don’t do our “side” any good if use derogatory words to describe the “other side”. Referring to them as “poor frightened souls..” does not entice one to thoughtful dialogue. They’re fighting words.


We might stand a chance to change someone’s mind on the other side if we did not come off as elitist–and superior when we are engaging them.


By using these words you choose to fight–not furthering anything or bringing anyone along with you-which in turn takes you further away from what you purport to advocate for.


So, one could argue that you’re really not about changing anything, but rather you are just drawing attention to yourself and feeling superior. We get a lot of that here.–On both sides. Too bad. Ideas are fun things to kick around.


Tell Otis he is wrong, which he is, and why. Exchange ideas. The facts are on your side. Calling people who feel similarly to Otis names furthers nothing.


State your side well–and you win the argument. Setting people off with these kinds of elitist statements, intended to make oneself feel good, only serves to make the job harder for those fighting for liberal causes.


You’re killing me Smalls.


Well said, with one exception. Changing people’s minds is often not that easy. This is especially true when “facts” are in dispute. But it can still be done with some given persistence and civility.


I have met Otis and respect him as a person. I have found common ground on some things even if I think he is wrong on others like this. You are right that it is at least counter-productive to spew anger or disdain when engaging in debates. It also exposes someone as socially immature or lacking self-control when it is done repeatedly.


Whether you are a liberal judge or a congressman, a member of the left wing media or just a democrat civilian and your politics are steeped in leftism you recognize that 90% of the time the offspring of immigrants vote democrat.

There is a push by the left to allow as many immigrants as possible to enter our nation by any means necessary. Legally, illegally by temporary visa then overstay, climb a fence, whatever it takes.

The democrat party knows they are not getting the votes they once did from the American working class and this is how they plan to make up the difference in numbers.

It’s as simple as that…if you think all of this caterwauling is because of big hearted caring people wanting to help the poor immigrant you are mistaken.

Their goal is votes. This constant roadblocking and protesting, judicial intervention and congressional slow down will go on for the next 4 years! Get used to it.

Unfortunately for the left,this tactic doesn’t work anymore. The people see right through the hypocrisy.

The nations founders never intended the judicial branch of government to become the nations legislative and executive branch all rolled into one.

they (the courts) do not get daily national security briefings and thus should leave matters of national security to the executive. The ruling to block president Trump was an over reach and it will be rectified one way or another.


“. . . you recognize that 90% of the time the offspring of immigrants vote democrat.”


If this is even close to the truth (& I suspect it is not), it is because xenophobia on the right has driven a lot of immigrants away. The majority of immigrants (legal or not) come here because they are attracted to the economic opportunity that capitalism provides. Many of them are also social conservatives with a big emphasis on family and family values (including most Muslims.) They could easily be conservative voters as well if the conservatives didn’t cater to the fears of those looking for a scapegoat for problems they perceive.


While I know that there are a few who come looking for a “free ride” and some more who take advantage of “free rides” if they are available, most would be happy to have the opportunity to make their way just like any of our immigrant ancestors. I would bet that the liberal:conservative ratio among them would be no more than 50:50 if they were not bashed by the existing conservative power structure.


Otis – did you forget to take your meds? Your ramble is rather incoherent.