Thought Experiment: What Would Have Happened if President George W. Bush Had Blatantly Failed to Comply With Two Federal Court Orders

Imagine if President George W. Bush has defied not one -- but two -- distinct federal court orders. For example, say that a federal court ordered all terrorist wiretaps halted and Gitmo closed. And -- further -- imagine Bush openly defied the courts and continued the wiretaps and Gitmo interrogations anyhow.

Try to imagine the indignant screeds, the raw outpouring of leftist hatred and the immense pressure brought to bear against the White House by legacy media and their complicit drones on the left. Imagine the calls for impeachment, the comparisons to Nixon, the Bush-as-Nazi posters, the high-pitched shrieks by Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich, the hatred and vitriol, the burn-him-in-effigy marches and protests, and other unspeakable acts of, uhm, incivility.

In that light, please consider the following news stories.

• Obama Invites Crisis If He Ignores Ruling:

The decision by federal judge Roger Vinson striking down President Obama's signature health care law effectively ends ObamaCare unless some higher court overturns it... Failure of the Obama administration to stop all activity related to the law that the federal court held to be unconstitutional would create a potential constitutional showdown between the two branches rarely seen in our nation's history. When coupled with the state's refusal to submit to federal regulations implementing a law that has been stripped from the books, our nation is looking at a potentially historic fight not only between branches of government but between the states and the federal government.

Back in the 1970s, it was openly asked what would happen if President Nixon simply refused to hand over the taped conversations from the Oval Office in spite of the demands of the federal courts. Of course, that speculation proved unnecessary as Nixon did turn over the tapes, and resigned from office.

...Ultimately, the rule of law must prevail in this instance. Unless and until Judge Vinson's decision is overturned by a higher court, the federal government must follow it... Failure to do so would unnecessarily throw our nation into its worst constitutional crisis since the Nixon impeachment.

There's the 'I-word' again. I'm hearing it more and more these days.

• Judge holds Interior Dept. in contempt over ban:

The federal judge who struck down the Obama administration's moratorium on deepwater drilling after the Gulf oil spill held the Interior Department in contempt Wednesday, and ordered the federal agency to pay attorneys' fees for several offshore oil companies... U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman chided the department for its 'dismissive conduct' after he overturned the agency's decision to halt any new permits for deepwater projects and suspend drilling on 33 exploratory wells after the Deepwater Horizon blast...

Gee, I wonder whose money the Interior Department will use to pay those fines? And whether they care?

Put simply, Barack Obama is playing with fire: he is flirting with a true, Nixonian constitutional crisis in which the executive openly defies court orders by the judicial branch.

Contact your Representative in Congress now and demand that HHS Secretary Sebelius and Interior Secretary Salazar be subpoenaed post haste. Have Congress ask them whether they are complying with the courts and, if they are not, take every available legal action possible against them.