It is impossible to read a news account of the passage of Obamacare without coming upon a reference to Obama’s “victory.” Columnists on the right and left are reporting that Obama “won” in his fight to pass this historic legislation.
Yet, Obama did not win anything. One cannot be a winner when they cheat their way to the finish line, bully their opponents into submission, and break the rules of the game. Accomplishments notwithstanding, “winners never cheat and cheaters never win.”
Obama is no different than any other individual found cheating his way to the top in business, on the playing field, or in politics.
Kenneth Lay and Jeffery Skilling built the Fortune 500, Enron Corporation, on a foundation of corporate fraud and accounting abuse. Their cheating and fraudulent practices led to the company’s bankruptcy, loss of jobs and savings for thousands, and resulted in a significant overhaul of securities regulations. Their fall from grace will forever be remembered in the business, accounting, and legal worlds.
The ostracizing of professional athletes who use steroids epitomizes the way our culture views cheaters. Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, and Roger Clemens are just a few of the baseball players that will be remembered for their use of steroids, not their outstanding performance on the field. Each will have a permanent asterisk next to his name in the record books, branding their faux accomplishments forever.
In politics, the most famous of cheaters was Richard Nixon who resigned in disgrace as a result of his role in the Watergate scandal. While the history books will certainly list his many achievements while in office, including the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam and the opening of diplomatic relations with China, Americans will forever think of Watergate when recalling the Nixon presidency.
And now we have Barack Obama, a cheater on steroids out to win at all costs. Obama came into office with promises of transparency, bipartisanship, and an end to unethical, backroom deals in Washington. Yet in order to pass his healthcare reform bill, he has broken every single one. The immoral strong-arming and bending of the rules used to pass Obamacare, together with his disregard for the will of the nation, have taken Obama to an all time low.
As Obama insisted that Americans should not worry about the process, he grew more empowered to break the rules governing that process. He ignored the simple fact that the “process” is what democracy is all about.
We should not be surprised however. Breaking the rules is nothing new for this Chicago politician and community organizer. Obama knows how to win at all costs – ethics, rules, and democracy be damned. The Cornhusker Kickback, Louisiana Purchase, California water deals, Stupak bribe, behind the scenes bullying, meaningless executive order, and use of reconciliation are all breaches of the rules. And they are breaches of trust.
Obama recently joked about becoming the “Comeback Kid,” but he is no comeback kid. He is the Marion Jones and Ben Johnson of the executive branch who broke all of the rules just to cross the finish line and claim a win.
Cheaters are not victors and the passage of Obamacare is not a victory for anyone. The passage of this bill is a lose-lose faux accomplishment; the result of disgraceful and unethical actions on the part of our elected representatives at the direction of Obama.
It will be remembered for the “process” as well as its destructive content. And Barack Obama has ensured himself a permanent asterisk next to his name for eternity.
Lauri B. Regan is a lawyer at White & Case LLP in New York and a regular contributor to AmericanThinker.com.
