Opinion Forum

Hail to the Chief! Of What?

May 19th, 2013

When He appears officially it is played. Who is the Chief? Of what?

Writing about Hail to the Chief here, I observed that President Obama is the chief only of the military.

The lyrics are not usually sung. Here they are:

Hail to the Chief we have chosen for the nation,
Hail to the Chief! We salute him, one and all.
Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation
In proud fulfillment of a great, noble call.
Yours is the aim to make this grand country grander,
This you will do, that’s our strong, firm belief.
Hail to the one we selected as commander,
Hail to the President! Hail to the Chief! (Emphasis added.)

We Some may have chosen him as the Chief for the Nation — probably thinking little about it — but he is not. He is the Chief only of the military. He is the Chief of the neither the legislative nor the judicial branches, two allegedly co-equal branches of Government. He seems to despise them (as well as the military of which he is constitutionally the chief, only) when they do what they are supposed to do and to accept them only when they do what he wants them to do for political purposes. There is a big difference and when they don’t, he obfuscates or lies about it all.

What a good little President! But be not concerned. Bo (aka FDOUS), the presidential canine companion, will lead the way. He could do a better job of it and probably should.