The Obama Presidency is over.  Oh he will still remain in office, for at least a while, but his Presidency is over.  The action taken by the House of Representatives today is a public vote of no confidence.  It is an announcement to the world that Obama no long has the support of the U.S. congress.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/06/24/116459/house-defeats-libya-measure-295.html

I cannot find a single example of this ever happening to a U.S. President.  Even during his darkest hours, this did not happen to Richard Nixon.  Bill Clinton was literally impeached by the House and put on trial in the Senate, but he still had the support of congress with regard to foreign policy.  Even when he ordered bombing attacks on Iraq literally on the eve of the impeachment vote, congress supported him.  The reason is that congress knows that taking this kind of action is a fatal blow to a President’s ability to conduct foreign policy.

There were some strong voices in congress trying desperately from letting this happen.  This included people like Marco Rubio, Joseph Leiberman, John McCain and Lindsey Graham.  None of them supported Obama’s foreign policy, but all were concerned over the impact of such a public rebuke.

This is totally Obama’s fault.  The congress would have supported him on Libya, if he had only bothered to ask.  But by his stubborn refusal to acknowledge the constitutional responsibilities of congress, he forced them to confront him.  This is a sad day for Obama, but it is even a sadder say for America.  I can’t really blame congress, because Obama left them no choice.  They either let him assume dictatorial powers or they destroy him.  They chose to destroy him.

This puts us at grave risk.  Every nation on this earth and every enemy of the United States now knows that we do not have a President of the United States.  We still have a person with that title, but he no longer has the authority required to do the duty.

I really don’t know where we go from here, because this is uncharted territory.  My guess is that Obama will just go on as before, pretending nothing happened.  That, of course, would be the worst case scenario.  Ultimately it will result in even more serious constitutional confrontations.  An honorable man would resign.  Nixon did not resign because he thought he could not win, he resigned because he acknowledged that he has lost the political power to do his job.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/080974-3.htm

Mr. Nixon said he decided he must resign when he concluded that he no longer had “a strong enough political base in the Congress” to make it possible for him to complete his term of office.

Obama has lost the political power to do his job.  But I don’t think he is capable of understanding that or admitting it.  In the meantime there is a leadership vacuum at the top of the federal government.  No matter how you feel about Barack Obama, this is a sad day for America.

TDM