Obama selectively enforces the law

The Register-Guard’s Jan. 18 editorial stated that elected officials have no authority to defy federal laws. The laws Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller vowed to defy were created by the president. Our Constitution is built on the proposition that the president isn’t the author of laws, but their chief enforcer. The U.S. Constitution has no provision for the executive branch to pass laws, only the legislative branch has that power.

The editorial also stated that our elected officials have the right, and responsibility, to resign if they can’t (or won’t) carry out the responsibilities of their offices; those responsibilities start with enforcing all the laws — not just those conforming to political ideologies.

The incumbent president has insisted on selective enforcement of federal immigration law.

Last June he decided to no longer enforce the laws affecting 800,000 young illegal immigrants brought into our country as children by their parents. He defended his action by announcing it was “the right thing to do.”

After Washington and Colorado voted to legalize recreational marijuana use, Obama said he won’t enforce prohibitions on the sale and possession of marijuana because he has “bigger fish to fry.” The president also is ignoring the law defining marriage as between a man and a woman, signed by President Clinton.

I’ve seen no editorial outrage, demand for recall or warnings about the consequences of selective enforcement of those laws. Why the velvet-glove treatment of a president who’s not carrying out his sworn duties?