I’m not a smoker, never have been. But I clearly remember a time when Americans were permitted to smoke just about anywhere they wanted: restaurants, office buildings and even airplanes. As antiquated as that sounds, there was a time that no one would have ever dreamed that smoking would be made illegal not just in those places, but just about any public place. Smoking is a terrible habit, unhealthy for users and bystanders alike; but for our purposes, let us explore it as a stand-alone metaphor for how the left gets things done.

The Statist’s preferred method toward accomplishing an end begins with the drumbeat. Slow and steady, yet persistent toward the goal, sprinkling in catch-phrases and slogans that are easily understood and repeatable by the masses. In today’s case, we examine the Obama administration’s drumbeat toward accepted lawlessness.

There are a few things we know about Barack Obama’s administration:

1. His disdain for the legislative process and generally the Constitution
2. His administration is as tightly-controlled and focused on “controlling the message” as any administration in history.

When Eric Holder, the chief law enforcement officer in the land, tells the New York Times that he agrees with state attorneys general ignoring laws they do not believe in, it is not an accident. It’s a trial balloon. The president knows and understands that his reputation is that of a lawless president willing and able to ignore laws under the guise of “getting things done” or “moving forward.” Polls regularly show that Americans become easily frustrated with gridlock, even when they vote for it. Obama knows this as well.

Holder’s words to the attorneys general were meaningless by themselves, but put into perspective with the FCC’s attempt to monitor American newsrooms, this is obviously a desperate move to save a dying presidency. When the FCC story first broke, the noise was loud (from the right) and the policy was pulled (for now). Will Americans rise up and tell the president that we are a nation of checks and balances? A nation of laws? Or will they shuffle along and tell breathless reporters that “something has to be done?”

Will they shoot down the trial balloon? Let us pray they do.

Long live the Republic.