Arthur C. Schaper: Adams + Obama—A Match Made In Heaven!

Friday, July 12, 2013

Arthur Christopher Schaper, GoLocalWorcester Guest MINDSETTER™

John Adams was the first President from Massachusetts--how do he and the current President line up on the big issues of the day?

President Barack Obama's statist views are all apparent these days. In addition to expanding government and raising taxes, he has also resumed drone strikes and the "War on Terror". Then there's "gay marriage". At first, Obama was against it, but then he "took another look" to support it, a massive expansion of the federal government at the expense of the states and the people.

Coincidentally, Massachusetts first endorsed gay marriage. John Adams was the first President from Massachusetts, and he also drafted the state's Constitution. Imagine the conversation of contrasts that would ensue: John Adams and Barack Obama debating gay marriage. Point of fact, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the Bay State Constitution provided for the transformation of the sacrament, even though the very religious John Adams frequently referenced the Scriptures in his home-state charter. Likely he would be appalled at any justification for conduct explicitly condemned in the Bible.

Adams v. Obama

Would the first and only Federalist President John Adams disagree with Obama on other issues, too? Not likely: both favored "Big Government". Adams' Federalist agenda supported a strong central government, one massive in size, with its stability at the expense of the several states and the individual citizen. Obama advised graduates to dissuade themselves from the fear of the state. Like Adams and his Federalist comrades, President Obama endorses a loose construction of the Constitution, one which permits the federal government to engage in any act "necessary and proper" for the effective running of the United States. Most likely President Adams would have approved of President Obama and his Democratic party's expansive interpretation of the Commerce Clause, as well.

AdamsCare

Not just endorsing gay marriage, Massachusetts is also the first state to have a state-run healthcare/health insurance mandate, and President Obama admitted that Obamacare drew its basis from the Massachusetts' model. What would Adams say about state-sponsored expansion of healthcare? During the Adams administration, Adams signed into law "An act for the relief of sick and disabled seamen", which created a state-run hospital for naval officers following their retirement. How about that? Before "RomneyCare", there was "AdamsCare". The law targeted a specific population engaged in a noble service to the country, yet like "ObamaCare", the state funded this program through taxes, so that naval men who had fought for their country would have "quality care" when they returned stateside. Up to recently, Walter Reed Medical Center took care of our fallen men and women. Did the facility do the job well? Well, that remains another story altogether.

Both Adams and Obama had failed foreign forays. Despite their contrast over France, in which Adams and his party opposed France and disdained the violence of the French Revolution, President Obama maintains a bon rapport with the French Republic. Still, Adams had difficulty with a horde of Muslim terrorists, the Barbary Pirates of Tripoli, who unfairly demanded tribute from all seafaring vessels in the Mediterranean. Adams brokered a treaty with the Pirates. Fast forward two hundred years, and President Obama authorized a "no-fly" zone over modern-day Tripoli, which led to the downfall of Moammar Ghadhafi, a (probable?) distance descendant of the Barbary Pirates.

Fights with the press and alphabet soup scandals

Both Presidents had a difficult time with the press, and notorious "alphabet soup" scandals emerged during their administration.　

Obama's Department of Justice seized phone records from the Associated Press, and Obama operators have taken a hard stand on press leaks, even to marginalizing John "Watergate" Woodward. President Adams took a more direct attack. Signing into law the "Alien and Sedition Acts", Adams criminalized through fines and jail time anyone who wrote anything against the government. Like the current Commander-in-Chief, Adams was a vain man who did not like being pilloried in the press. This massive incursion of the First Amendment sponsored Resolves of Nullification from two states. Today, the "Tenth Amendment Nullification Movement" has risen against President Obama, as states resist federal imposition of unpopular policies, including the massive repudiation of ObamaCare's Medicare exchanges and laws decriminalizing marijuana.

About "Alphabet Soup scandals", Adams dealt with the "XYZ Affair": not about loose zippers, but greedy Frenchmen who demanded a massive loan and a bribe from Adams' diplomatic corps before they could meet with Foreign Minister Charles Talleyrand. "Millions for defense, but not a penny for tribute!" shouted back the United States. Under President Obama, there has been Benghazi, the IRS, the EPA, along with DOJ seizure of AP records, and more scandals likely to follow.

While Adams only served one term, Obama squeaked by to win a second, though he will likely regret advancing for himself for four more years of scandal-plagued illegitimacy. Perhaps he could copy a play from Adams' final days and pack the federal courts with like-minded jurists. While the Federalist party never won the White House again, at least jurists sympathetic to their cause would shape American jurisprudence for decades to come (judicial review, anyone?)

Adams and Obama: a match made in heaven? They would fray over two men tying the knot. As for expanding the federal government and diminishing the states and the people, the two would be of one mind. Obama the Federalist? Definitely.

Arthur Christopher Schaper is a teacher-turned-writer on topics both timeless and timely; political, cultural, and eternal. A life-long Southern California resident, Arthur currently lives in Torrance. Follow him on Twitter @ArthurCSchaper, reach him at [email protected], and read more at Schaper's Corner and As He Is, So Are We Ministries.