Lincoln, Obama, and Executive Orders

                This is not a question of who is right and who is wrong. It is never that simple when it comes to politics, it is however a question of right and left. It has always been political parties battling each other and getting in each others way. Nothing get done in this country that actually needs to get done because a lot of politicians who can’t agree on anything that think they are more right than the other. The only thing the parties seem to ever come close to agreeing on is war and how much their own pay checks should be.

                Lincoln wasn’t a bad president, he did what he could the only ways to do it. Most presidents wouldn’t have made it through the first month of the civil war without giving up, going home, and letting the union crumble. Not Lincoln though, He persevered and got done what he wanted to get done. There is no doubt in my mind that the Emancipation Proclamation was a war move. Free all the slaves in the South so that they will come to the North and fight for the Union. It’s a smart play that is sure to get under the South’s skin. To today’s average person The Emancipation Proclamation was a great thing to free slaves, which it was, but what is not shown is that it did not free slaves in the North. The point I am getting at is that every president does something for a reason and there is always a ripple effect. In Lincoln’s case he won a war and in doing so abolished slavery.

                The problem I have was when Lincoln is quoted to say “I have decided that I hold these powers” when he said this he was referring to the “war” powers he believed he had. He believed that it was his constitutional duty to hold these powers. I believe this is wrong, the constitution is not written for one man to decide how he wants to interpret it for his own benefit. It is written so that we as a people have our guaranteed rights, not one man using it for his own personal power. I do believe that Lincoln abused his constitutional powers, however, I believe that it did much more good than harm.

                Lincoln abused his powers and managed to do good while President Obama is not doing so hot in that department. President Obama has taken it upon himself to pass 23 executive orders pertaining directly to gun control. I have an issue with this since the right to bear arms is a 2^nd amendment right. I do not believe a president should be allowed to pass orders, that deal directly with a constitutional right, without extensive voting by congress and or the public. I believe that many presidents, such as Kennedy, pass executive orders because the constant bickering between the two parties makes it impossible for necessary changes to happen to this country. I however believe that Obama is passing executive orders just to bypass the harassment of going through proper channels and wind up getting shut down. A few presidents use executive orders as a last resort, Obama uses them because he knows he is wrong.