Let us start with Congress with the presumption that the Republicans will control the Senate as well as the House of Representatives. The Republican leadership, in particular the establishment mainstream Republicans, will very likely misread the opportunity and expectations of them by the American public and especially their base voters and spend all their energies and debates in attempts to bring down President Obama whether through directly attempting to impeach him and failing or by endless hearings against President Obama himself and other members past and present of his administration. There is a definite probability that they would attempt to bring former Attorney General Eric Holder, assuming he ever is replaced which nobody appears to be in any great hurry to find a replacement. Between Fast and Furious and the rest of the litany of assumed misdeeds the Republicans could spend most of the last two years of President Obama’s terms simply holding hearings on Holder and Benghazi, their two favorite subjects for attacking the President. Such a scenario would be the greatest waste of time and missing of opportunity in the history of politics.
The Republicans, should they control both houses but not have sufficient numbers to override Presidential vetoes, they should still pass the bills which the American people would see as taking responsible approaches to actually get the government out of the way of the economic engine allowing it to adjust to the situation as it exists and slowly rev up and begin to produce jobs and economic activities which have been moribund for the past six years plus back to the last year and a half of the George W. Bush Presidency. They should not bother trying to repeal or modify the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) as such would be a waste of their efforts and not actually showcase their agenda should they ever gain the kind of situation which President Obama enjoyed and squandered; the complete control over the entirety of government with the White House and majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives plus their Senate majority was filibuster proof as they held over sixty seats. The Republicans should have debates to display their agenda for two to three weeks on each grand piece of legislation which would make the core of a government where they were allowed to freely pass their agenda. By having open hearings and discussions they might also be able to get the media to cover these legislative deliberations, even should they attempt to portray them in a negative light, thus placing them before the American public. Granted such a plan depends on the ability and desire of the American public to care about the workings of the Congress and actually see through any slant in the media. Unfortunately, we are more likely to witness the Republicans waste their opportunity and as a result the Democrats might be able to win back the Senate and maybe even the House of Representatives as well as retaining the White House as a result of the 2016 elections, but more on this later.
President Obama after the election will have even less reason to remain even slightly limited by the Constitution. The President has already shown complete contempt for the Republican controlled House of Representatives and even to ignore the will of the Democratic controlled Senate. This disregard for any convention or limitation will permit President Obama to work on completing the rest of his promises to fundamentally change the United States of America. His intent to mold the United States in his image is just another reflection of his narcissism which knows no boundaries and once the final election which might have any effect upon his ability to rule and rule absolutely, President Obama will finally be cut loose to enact the edicts by Presidential use of a pen and the phone to those minions who he can rely upon to take to the streets if necessary and cause sufficient disturbance to allow him to continue writing executive order after order as he intends. The areas where President Obama would have the greatest influence should he choose is in the makeup of the General staffs of the military since he can request the resignation of any General at his pleasure. He could then replace them with people from within the military who would be more accepting to his desires to limit the use of the military outside of the United States and with no regard to consequences or treaty start redeploying all the military personnel either back home or someplace where their capabilities are least necessary such as the deployment to West Africa to presumably assist with the fight against Ebola. Exactly how combat troops are supposed to engage and fight microscopic targets is beyond my meager ability to figure, but I am sure the President gave them orders which would address such difficulties. But the military is the least of the areas where President Obama could enforce his will.
There is the possibility that should the Democrats lose their majority in the Senate that during the current Senate’s lame duck session that Senate Majority Leader Reid could call them back to Washington for an emergency session because a number of Supreme Court Justices had retired such as Justice Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg who is of advanced age and suffers from cancer. Then President Obama could send candidates for ratification and as Senator Harry Reid used the nuclear option which now allows for confirmation of Presidential appointees to only require a majority decision for cloture, thus ending any chance for filibuster, which forces an immediate confirmation vote. President Obama and such a session of the Senate could very easily place as many new and young very leftist Justices onto the Supreme Court as Justices retired allowing such appointments. President Obama could really let loose the Environmental Protection Agency and other Cabinet posts and departments to enact regulations using even the flimsiest of authorizations from actual laws. We might even become aware of other surprises ensconced within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act mega-legislative effort. Remember former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s comment that we had to pass the bill to find out what was in the bill. What else might be hidden in the language of the over two thousand pages of the legislation now law that would allow for more malfeasance.
The real problem that arises is, with a compliant Attorney General willing to simply cover up for anything the President or members of his Cabinet or other appointees placed throughout government as well as those willing to act in accordance with the instructions of those who will be tasked with carrying out any edicts or regulatory enactments which originate with the White House and relayed down a pipeline of favorable and willing and dependable government employees, all of whom will have sufficient time in service, this allows all to be completely safe from consequences while performing and enacting new regulations. This is an area where President Obama and his appointees making up his administration including the various Secretaries in the Cabinet as well as the numerous Czars which were not reviewed nor approved by Senate confirmation remaining un-vetted yet holding great power and sway with some even having more influence than the Cabinet Secretaries who presumably held the sole supervisory over their departments thus allowing the President to rewrite regulations almost at will. Exactly how far President Obama is willing and planning to go in remaking the United States is an unknown that will be revealed over the remaining two years of his Presidency with the first hints coming early next year and possibly a little earlier, all depending on election results and how willing the President might be and how far he would risk going. Whatever the coming events, it will prove to be interesting and the only actual unknown is how exciting and challenging these coming events will prove. As the ancient Chinese curse goes, “May you live in interesting times,” and we certainly do live in such times.
While we are predicting the future let’s peek into my crystal ball and see who might end up as the Democrat candidate for President in the 2016 election cycle. I might try to also include the Republican candidate but with so many unannounced and almost ready to runs, that prediction is going to have to wait until the field has been decided though I can predict which politicians will not be the republican candidate. A quick rundown of the Republicans who will not appear on the 2016 final ballot are Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie and Speaker of the House John Boehner for starters. Now on to the Democrat candidates and the somewhat controversial prediction. Almost everybody has placed their chips on Hillary Clinton and with her latest appearance and her apparent new improved look, they have good reason to choose her. The problem is the voice and the speeches are still Hillary Clinton who was initially tainted by some claiming she only married Bill to ride his coattails to prominence and this was only reinforced by her run for Senate in New York, a state where she had barely taken up residence. Then Hillary Clinton has also been tainted by her inept performance at Secretary of State and especially the Benghazi slaughter of four Americans including Ambassador Stevens and his aid as well as two security personnel and former seals who put up a heroic fight while waiting for the cavalry to come over the hilltop in the nick of time. That cavalry never was permitted to even mount up let alone ride to the rescue. The echo of, “What did you do during the Benghazi nightmare and why was there not more security since you knew there were potential problems and a definitive threat of an attack?” Because of the obvious candidacy of Hillary Clinton and the reputation of the Clintons for not appreciating those who choose to oppose them, just ask the Obamas, there will be few Democrats rushing to compete with Hillary Clinton. There is one exception and she is a candidate whose history depicts a woman who is not easily cowed and is bold enough to have made obviously fictitious claims in order to gain scholarship and more and now sits as United States Senator for Massachusetts. As you have likely guessed or know, the person I believe will win the Democrat nomination for President is Elizabeth Warren, Native American deriving her family having Cherokee and Delaware Indian heritage, listed herself as a minority in professional directories. Yet she questionably denied that she ever tried to gain a professional advantage through her lineage. Still, Elizabeth Warren has the near perfect liberal progressive credentials and presents herself well and has a similar experience to President Obama when he first sought the White House against Hillary Clinton as well. Further, the United States low information voters and some easily swayed voters who simply desire to be a part of the majority and will follow a sweeping trend just to be considered in with their peer groups will vote for a good story line repeated in the media and popular culture spots such as social media and comedy news reports. This may prove to be a part of the Presidential election cycle should either party, particularly if it is the Democrats, should place a woman at the top of their ticket, then they may tap into the desire of the American public to crash and break down all of the remaining barriers they perceive to remain in their societal history. Despite the seeming problems which have accompanied President Obama, there will be those more than willing to place a woman in the White House; and not only a woman, but a Native American woman making Elizabeth Warren potentially the first self-proclaimed Native American President and the first woman President. How can that combination possibly lose? My only request is please do not kill the messenger if this message proves incorrect; I tried and took the chance and now wait for the dice to stop spinning.
Beyond the Cusp
Beyond the Cusp 
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