Thomas Sowell Shreds Obama on BP (NYSE:BP)

Using the BP (NYSE:BP) accident as a backdrop to expose the roots of the Obama administration and where this country is heading if it continues in the direction it is pointed toward, Thomas Sowell sliced and diced Obama and his cronies, showing the end result, if not stopped, will be tyranny in the country, and unprecedented and unchecked power.

With tyranny the idea and practice Sowell is attacking, let's look at where he starts dismantling Obama and his administration, using the extortion tactics which ended with BP caving into the demands of Obama.

Sowell asks in an editorial titled 'Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny?' ... "Just where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that a president has the authority to extract vast sums of money from a private enterprise and distribute it as he sees fit to whomever he deems worthy of compensation? Nowhere."

By the way, the tactic the thugs used to make everyone back off their criticism was the usual viciousness and hatred from the left, attempting to quickly shut their opponents up by intimidating and painting them as opposing the paying out of legitimate claims to those affected by the oil spill, essentially demonizing them with lies, using the media as their tool as usual. Bill O'Reilly from Fox joined in, not bothered at all by the shakedown Obama and the Democrats performed on BP, not seeming to have the mental capacity to understand where it will lead to as Obama does it time after time in every crisis he faces.

For O'Reilly, while I'm serious, I don't even mean it personal, I mean he really doesn't seem to have the intellectual ability to figure it out; the reason he strong-armed Michele Bachmann concerning BP being shaken down by Obama, which they in truth were.

The issue has never been one of whether those filing legitimate claims should be compensated, Obama and the Democrats knew that. The issue was Obama again taking power he doesn't have the right to take, and do whatever he wants with it, using the suffering of people to manipulate the masses to accept it, and to demonize all those who oppose it, creating what appears to be a grey area, but in fact is a direct attack upon the Constitution of the United States.

Sowell adds, "If our laws and our institutions determine that BP ought to pay $20 billion — or $50 billion or $100 billion — then so be it.

"But the Constitution says that private property is not to be confiscated by the government without 'due process of law.'"

In what appeared to be confusion in Michele Bachman on O'Reilly the other day, it reminded me of Sarah Palin when she ran with John McCain as the vice presidential candidate. You could tell she strongly believed one thing but was given talking points which made her sound confused, and made her look somewhat anemic at the time.

This is the first time I've seen something similar in Michele, but I think she'll recover and do great, but it does point to a somewhat cowardly Republican leadership, who obviously did something to rein her in, although even more surprising is it looks like she gave in to the pressure.

You can tell when O'Reilly pressed her that she struggled with her response, not because O'Reilly intimidated her, but over whether or not she was going to toe the party line in this case.

The big deal over Barton saying it was an shakedown, and then apologizing was of course the backdrop to this interview, but even he should have stuck to his guns, and we could have gotten a clearer picture of what really was going on.

That's why Obama, the Democrats, and the media they control screamed as loud as they did. They understood the consequences of being exposed as leading America to tyranny in what they're doing, and they'll continue screaming as loud as they can every time they go beyond the Constitution and act as if they're accountable to no one.

Sowell concludes:

"With vastly expanded powers of government available at the discretion of politicians and bureaucrats, private individuals and organizations can be forced into accepting the imposition of powers that were never granted to the government by the Constitution."

The medicine, according to Sowell, is to not just pay attention to the individual cases Obama and the Democrats are damaging the country with, but look to the core issue, which is "American democracy is being dismantled" right before us, and nobody seems to be concerned over that reality.

To battle it we must become informed citizens, says Sowell. More than anything, that's probably the reason behind the rise of Barack Obama, as people, like Bill O'Reilly, aren't able to discern the roots of tyranny, and wholeheartedly agree to it based on the end justifying the means. It never can, and its the root of tyranny to take action based on it, as we are getting taught by the Obama administration and the Democrats.

To believe in constitutional government is to believe the end can never justify the means.

So now we have an unconfirmed "czar" with access to $20 billion of BP's money to do with and award to whoever he wants to, all in the name of getting the money out quicker than BP because so many people are suffering, even though BP was doing fine with that, already dispensing of over $105 million from claims made from businesses and individuals.

This is a shakedown and it was extortion. To back off from that is ridiculous, as it could have been explained continually, and over and over again, that the fund is illegal, and it would make thing go any quicker, as we're already seeing from the new escrow fund czar, who talks a good talk, but not much else.

But even if he does a good job is beside the point. He doesn't legally have the right to have the job in the first place, and principled lawmakers should have resisted the pressure and stood together against forcing BP to put the $20 billion into the fund (over a 4-year period).

Sowell notes that a continual series of these practices has emerged, moving in unison with each crisis. Each one will give to the government a little more power, and ultimately, as Sowell concludes, it'll lead to country ruled in tyranny.