Opponents v Enemies

For John, BLUF:  Whatever you learned in school about the US Constitution no longer applies, at least in substance.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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My youngest Son reminded me yesterday of the story about the late House Speaker, Tip O'Neill (we were talking about the CIA and the US Senate♠).

After an aide referred to the House Republicans as “the enemy,” O’Neill corrected him.  “The House Republicans are not the enemy, they’re the opposition.  The Senate is the enemy.”

That view of Government, where each House of the Legislature guards its rights and prerogatives, seems to have gone out of fashion.  Now there is a teaming of those two Westerners, Senator Harry Reid and Representative Nancy Pelosi, and teaming to support President Obama and defend him from the Republicans.

One would think that President Obama, who supposedly taught the Constitution to college students,♥ would understand and respect the separation of powers and the supremecy of the Congress.  I believe the President lacks the sense of the importance of tradition.  He also lacks a sense of the specialness, the Exceptionalism of the US Government and the tradition behind it, going back to at least the Magna Carta.

And, all this talk of "Imeachment" is just Democrat fundraising propaganda.  And, it will remain just so much Democrat palaver until Senator Harry Reid wakes up and reaches out to Representative Boehner.

What would the late Tip O'Neill have said about all this?

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  I was saying the head of the CIA should at least resign over the spying on the US Senate.
♥  From  Wikipedia we have "He then taught at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years—as a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996, and as a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004—teaching constitutional law."  Maybe his students should be required to take a course on-line about the US Constitution to keep their degrees.  Or maybe they are destined to be Democrats appointed to Federal Judgeships.