Obama, executive orders, and the 'Gephardt Doctrine'

I've talked before about the possibility of Obama not even bothering to wait for Congressional approval of his citizen disarmament agenda, and I wasn't the first. Walls of the City also covered the subject well, as undoubtedly did others.

Obama's selection of Eric Holder for Attorney General would indicate to me that he is unlikely to get much advice about the blatant unconstitutionality, on many levels, of citizen disarmament by executive order--I expect Holder will think it's a splendid idea.

Some might argue that "The Lightworker" will not be interested in picking that kind of fight (and looking at the Congress he'll have, he may not need to make an end-run around the legislative process). Some might point out--quite correctly--that executive orders have no legal power to overturn the Supreme Court's rulings on Constitutional questions.

Then again, though, perhaps Obama is a believer in what I'll call the "Gephardt Doctrine."

"When I'm president, we'll do executive orders to overcome any wrong thing the Supreme Court does tomorrow or any other day," Gephardt said.

Gephardt, then a Democratic congressman from Missouri, said that in 2003, back when he hoped to be the Democratic nominee for the 2004 presidential election.

Frankly, I don't believe the majority decision in Heller will prove much of an obstacle to Obama's citizen disarmament agenda. Still, it's pretty clear that he would like Justice Stevens' dissenting opinion even better.

Under the Gephardt Doctrine, Obama could "overcome" the "wrong thing" of the majority decision's statement that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to own firearms, unconnected to service in a government sanctioned militia.