Less than 24 hours after President Obama illegally rewrote the law he had previously jammed down Boehner's -- and the country's -- throat, Boehner handed the budding dictator a clean debt-ceiling hike.

Last October, Obama vindictively shut down the federal government upon his having refused to delay ObamaCare, which of course is exactly what he himself lawlessly did on February 10, 2014!

Of course, Boehner is hardly in a position to argue now, having foolishly (immensely so) accepted responsibility for the shutdown.

Never mind Boehner's cowardice (we'll get to that in a moment); what kind of moron cedes that kind of maneuverability to the enemy?

Here is what a real leader would have positioned himself to say on February 11 to the man known as Obama:

"Not only has Obama once again dictatorially rewritten a law read by nobody who passed it, he has also accepted responsibility for last October's shutdown.  Last October, we asked Obama to do exactly what he himself did yesterday in a completely illegal way, but Obama preferred the alternative of shutting the government down, knowing that he would act on his own, illegally, whenever necessary. 

The time for Obama's lawlessness has come to an end.  The only way he is going to get a debt-ceiling hike is if he delays the individual mandate.  If he refuses, the consequences of his refusal fall upon him.  We are only asking him to do legally today the kind of thing recent history has irrefutably shown he will do tomorrow, but illegally."

Instead, assuming that Boehner actually dislikes ObamaCare, he is gambling that the practical depredations and inconveniences of ObamaCare will undo the law.

The problem with this strategy is simple: a country whose legislators allow the executive to usurp their power and defy the law of the people is, sooner or later, doomed -- because under such circumstances, monstrosities even greater than ObamaCare are all but certain to follow.

Of course, Boehner does not have the constitution for any of this.  Whether it's to do with race, government shutdowns, the nature and scope of executive power, or anything else really--eunuchs like Boehner allow the Democrats to dictate the terms of the debate -- which means battles are lost before they are even "engaged."

Dr. Jason Kissner is associate professor of criminology at California State University, Fresno.  You can reach him at crimprof2010@hotmail.com.