With birtherism on the decline, what is the newest anti-Obama meme from conservatives? That he's the second coming of Julius Caesar. Roy Edroso notes this from Instapundit:
As you will recall, the beginning of the end of liberty in Rome commenced with Augustus Caesar who compromised the authority of the Senate through the force of arms and basically the Senate became a facade. America is poised with this proposed bill, to morph immediately from a Republic into an empire with the privileged eunuchs of the Senate as window dressing and a dictator – the first American Caesar – at the country's helm.
And leading the progressive charge is Chuck Schumer (D-NY). No big surprise there. Schumer is an elitist Marxist and a first class progressive who hates America almost as much as he loves power.
This is more than a little dramatic; far from conferring dictatorial powers on Obama, this bill would streamline the confirmation process by allowing the president to appoint low-level officials with less than the usual scrutiny from Congress. As I noted a few weeks ago, this is in line with a number of bipartisan proposals which seek to make confirmation an easier process for nominees and lawmakers, while preserving the Senate's ability to offer advice and consent.
I should point out that these cries of "dictatorship!" are only applied to proposals that might help the federal government do its job; when it comes to actual dictatorial actions taken by the president -- torture, indefinite detention, assassination of American citizens -- these conservatives are openly enthusiastic.
