President Obama’s Selective Control of His Administration
President Obama’s call to defer the Environmental Protection Agency’s new, strict standards on ozone emissions is a welcome and long overdue decision for the economy and the country as a whole. It’s fascinating to think of how the economy would be now had he shown such regulatory restraint starting the day of his inauguration in January 2009; but that could well be for him to ponder starting January 21, 2013.
Nonetheless, Mr. Obama’s decision to reign in his administration from a destructive policy comes at a rather unusual time: yet another lousy jobs report and also only a few months after he refused to lasso another executive fiefdom of his, namely, the Department of Justice.
To refresh our memories, Debra Burlingame, who lost her pilot brother on 9/11 when his plane crashed into the Pentagon, had an exchange with President Barack Obama regarding the DOJ’s plans to file criminal charges against CIA interrogators (since dropped except in 2 cases where fatality occurred), during a meeting with a select group of 9/11 families. Burlingame asked the President if he would voice his opinion to Holder on the matter of the investigation of the CIA interrogators. She said, “I know that as a former attorney … you can’t tell the AG what to do in an investigation, but these [the interrogators] are unsung heroes….and they have been exonerated in two justice department investigations. But that didn’t satisfy Eric Holder….Would you, in light of what’s happened, speak to him about standing them [the investigating prosecutors] down?”
President Obama allegedly responded that Burlingame is right, that he cannot tell Holder how to conduct his investigation.
Burlingame jumped in, saying, yes but “You can give him your opinion, will you do that?” Obama said, “No I won’t.” And then he allegedly turned and walked away.
It would appear that Mr. Obama is more than willing to walk away from 9/11 widows who rightly disagree with his policies to defend this country but he dare not walk away from his re-election campaign advisers.
-I.M. Windee
