He’s Not Your Commander In Chief, Dennis Miller!

By on March 24, 2011 in Congress, Constitution
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While watching The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News recently, I heard Dennis Miller say to Bill O’Reilly that President Obama is “my commander in chief.”

Ummm…no he’s not Dennis.

Now someone might accuse me of being hypercritical, but I assure you, I’m not trying to slam Dennis Miller. However, his statement really bothers me and it should concern everyone, because it reflects both widespread ignorance of the Constitution and the increasing militarization of our society. Americans are witnessing an unprecedented expansion of Executive power and it’s critical that we understand precisely what the President’s constitutional role as commander in chief is.

If you’re a civilian, the President is not your commander in chief. If you’re in the National Guard, he’s not your commander in chief either, unless and until your unit  is federalized. But what about the regular Army and Navy?

Article. II. Section. 2. Clause 1of the Constitution states:

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States

However Article I gives Congress and not the President the authority to declare war. Unless it is to repel a sudden attack against the United States, presidents have no authority whatsoever to deploy troops without prior Congressional authorization in the form of an explicit declaration of war.

About Derek Sheriff

Derek Sheriff [send him email] is a research analyst for the Tenth Amendment Center. His articles have appeared in various publications, and he writes regularly for the Center on issues related to state sovereignty and nullification. His blog and podcast "Principles of '98" can be found at www.PrinciplesOfNinetyEight.Com. View his Tenth Amendment Center blog archives here, and his article archives here.
View all posts by Derek Sheriff →

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Philosopherking
Philosopherking

I'm glad someone said this but this is not a recent phenomena because, since the progressive era, the president has been seen as a community cult leader. In my opinion, they created the leadership cult around the president which gives him an almost personal power over each person. We call him leader but by saying he is a leader it implies that he can lead us around in the same way a military commander can, gang leader, or community leader can. We give them our loyalty and service and pledge to obey their PERSONAL prerogative which goes beyond being lead by the law. The law is the only power over our actions since we can only be punished when we violate the law. We can not be punished when we do not align ourselves with the president's will which means the only leader is the law itself.

The constitution inhibits the president's leadership status (as well as any other person in the government) since laws they create are second to the supreme law of the land. The beauty of constitutional systems is that the legal authority they establish by the passage of any laws is second to the law of the constitution. The constitution is difficult for them to alter which means they are ultimately powerless in those systems. Isn't it wonderful and wouldn't it be even more wonderful if everyone realized that?

Steve
Steve

Yes, you're being too critical. Its my Army. He's the Command in Chief of my Army. So he's my Commander in Chief. But the role of subordination it the opposite of how you interpret it. I, the American citizen, am boss of my Command in Chief.

Steve