XPost: alt.politics.democrats, talk.politics.misc   
   From: katt@gmail.com   
      
   On Fri, 06 Mar 2026 19:32:50 +0000,  Mitchell Holman says...   
      
   > > Only those disloyal to Trump follow the constitution.   We'll have   
   > > none of that.   
   > >   
   > >   
   > >   
   >   
   > "Constitution? We don't need no steenking Constitution"   
      
   And, obviously, Obama didn't either.   
      
   But Obama!   
      
   Under the "Pen and Phone" strategy, the Obama administration used executive   
   orders, memoranda, and agency rule-making   
   to bypass a stalled Congress.   
      
   Obama issued Executive Orders were high-impact and frequently challenged for   
   bypassing the legislative process.   
      
   Major Executive Actions (Without Congress)   
      
   Category - Action / Program - Description - Outcome/Status   
      
   Immigration:   
      
   DACA - Deferred deportation for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as   
   children. - Active (subject to ongoing   
   litigation).   
      
   DAPA - Attempted to expand deferrals to parents of U.S. citizens/residents. -   
   Blocked by Supreme Court (4-4 tie).   
      
   Environment - Clean Power Plan - EPA regulations to mandate carbon emission   
   cuts from power plants. - Blocked by   
   Supreme Court; later rescinded.   
      
   Climate - Paris Agreement - Joined the global climate accord via executive   
   agreement rather than a Senate treaty. -   
   U.S. withdrew , re-joined.   
      
   Health Care - ACA "Fixes" - Delayed employer mandates and changed enrollment   
   deadlines by "regulatory fiat." -   
   Upheld/Expired as deadlines passed.   
      
   Gun Control - 23 Executive Actions - Targeted background check loopholes and   
   mental health reporting (post-Sandy Hook).   
   - Most remains active as administrative guidance.   
      
   Labor - Minimum Wage EO - Raised the minimum wage to $10.10 for federal   
   contract workers. - Remained in effect for   
   federal contractors.   
      
      
   Controversial "War-Like" and Foreign Actions   
      
   These actions were taken with unilateral executive power without a specific   
   new vote from Congress:   
      
   Libya Intervention : Obama ordered the U.S. military to join the NATO-led   
   mission to overthrow Gaddafi. He famously   
   argued the War Powers Resolution did not apply because the mission did not   
   constitute "hostilities" since no U.S.   
   ground troops were involved.   
      
   Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA): Structured as an "executive agreement" rather than   
   a formal treaty to avoid the requirement   
   of a two-thirds Senate majority for ratification.   
      
   The "Bergdahl" Swap : Exchanged five high-level Taliban detainees from   
   Guantanamo Bay for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. The GAO   
   later ruled this was illegal because the administration failed to give   
   Congress the required 30-day notice.   
      
   Unilateral Drone Strikes: Expanded the program in Pakistan, Yemen, and   
   Somalia, including the strike on Anwar al-Awlaki   
   (a U.S. citizen), without judicial review or congressional sign-off on   
   specific targets.   
      
   Constitutional/Legal Rebukes   
      
   Several attempts to bypass Congress were eventually struck down by the courts:   
      
   Recess Appointments : The Supreme Court ruled unanimously (NLRB v. Noel   
   Canning) that Obama's appointments to the Labor   
   Relations Board were unconstitutional because the Senate was not technically   
   in "recess."   
      
   The Auto Bailout (Chrysler): While begun under Bush, the Obama administration   
   used TARP funds (meant for banks) to   
   restructure Chrysler. The move was criticized by the CATO Institute and others   
   as a subversion of creditor rights   
   without legislative authority.   
      
   Welfare Work Requirements: In 2012, the administration issued a memorandum   
   allowing states to waive work requirements   
   for welfare. The GAO concluded this was a "rule" that should have been   
   submitted to Congress for review.   
      
   =============================================================================   
      
   "Trump Derangement Syndrome" Is a Real Mental Condition   
      
   All you need to know about "Trump Derangement Syndrome," or TDS.   
      
   "Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is a mental condition in which a person has   
   been driven effectively insane due to   
   their dislike of Donald Trump, to the point at which they will abandon all   
   logic and reason."   
      
   Justin Raimondo, the editorial director of Antiwar.com, wrote a piece in the   
   Los Angeles Times in 2016 that broke TDS   
   down into three distinct phases or stages:   
      
   "In the first stage of the disease, victims lose all sense of proportion. The   
   president-elect's every tweet provokes a   
   firestorm, as if 140 characters were all it took to change the world."   
      
   "The mid-level stages of TDS have a profound effect on the victim's   
   vocabulary: Sufferers speak a distinctive language   
   consisting solely of hyperbole."   
      
   "As TDS progresses, the afflicted lose the ability to distinguish fantasy from   
   reality."   
      
   The Point here is simple: TDS is, in the eyes of its adherents, the knee-jerk   
   opposition from liberals to anything and   
   everything Trump does. If Trump announced he was donating every dollar he's   
   ever made, TDS sufferers would suggest he   
   was up to something nefarious, according to the logic of TDS. There's nothing   
   - not. one. thing. - that Trump could do   
   or say that would be received positively by TDSers.   
      
   The history of Trump Derangement Syndrome actually goes back to the early   
   2000s - a time when the idea of Trump as   
   president was a punch line for late-night comics and nothing more.   
      
   Wikipedia traces its roots to "Bush Derangement Syndrome" - a term first   
   coined by the late conservative columnist   
   Charles Krauthammer back in 2003. The condition, as Krauthammer defined it,   
   was "the acute onset of paranoia in   
   otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency - nay -   
   the very existence of George W. Bush."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)