One of the most absurd tools that the Republican National Committee uses in its distraction campaign against us is the incessant whining about President Obama’s “czars”. Because the monarchs of imperial Russia were called czars, they assume that you will believe that anyone associated with that title is a communist and, therefore, evil. Yes, that’s what they think of you.

The term dates back as far as President Woodrow Wilson’s administration during World War I, but it has never been the official title for a presidential adviser. It is purely a creation of the media. Every president since Franklin Roosevelt has appointed special advisers, which the media have termed “czars” because the actual job titles are too long for newspaper headlines.

The whiners claim that they evade constitutional authority because the Senate doesn’t confirm them. That is not true. Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the US Constitution says:
“(The president) shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, . . . shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.”

That means that the president has the legal authority to appoint people to certain positions without Senate confirmation. And Congress has given every president the authority to appoint special advisers on specific topics. The czars generally have a very limited scope of authority, little or no staff, and no budget of their own. They are within the Executive Office of the President, and are supervised by the president’s chief of staff.

The Senate confirmed eight of Obama’s 32 czars and they carry such titles as

· United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability (Bank Bailout Czar) *
· Senior Advisor President's Automotive Task Force (Car Czar)
· Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change (Climate Czar)
· Director National Drug Control Policy (Drug Czar) *
· Director of the White House Office of Health Reform and Counselor to the President (Health Czar)
· Director of National Intelligence (Intelligence Czar) *

* These positions were confirmed by the US Senate.

During last year’s presidential campaign, they whined about Obama’s inexperience. So now, when he hires experts to advise him on particular issues, they plant a phony title on them and then whine about the title. Gotta love those hypocrites. Have you ever met a kid who just likes to whine? No matter what’s going on, no matter how safe and comfortable they are, they’re just not happy unless they’re whining. And then they don’t understand why people don’t want to be around them.

Seriously, we all have better things to do with our time.