The Western Schism of the 13^th and 14^th centuries saw five antipopes contest the legitimate succession to the pontifical throne. The schism was officially put to rest by the Ecumenical Council of Constance in 1417, although three of the five papal charlatans continued unsuccessfully to rebel against the authority of the Council. What we might call the American Schism of our day resembles a bizarre rerun of that sectarian clash, albeit in a secular dimension. For eight years Washington was not Washington, but Avignon on the Potomac, presided over by Anti-President Barack Obama II.

Many observers feel that the controversial ascension of Obama to the White House is no longer newsworthy. The sun has apparently set on Obama’s destructive stewardship of the country. He must be allowed to fade into political irrelevance while the country tackles without distraction the enormous problems that confront it. “There’s a lot of work to do,” writes one commenter to a recently posted article of mine, “Let’s start by consigning Obama to the dustbin of history, and repeat his name no more.”

This is a relatively common sentiment, but it is, I believe, a blinkered view of the Obama phenomenon. The sun is still at its zenith as the reality and repercussions of Obama’s tenure remain in force. Obama isn’t going away. He is intent on maximizing the damage he inflicted on the country during the two terms of his faux presidency, having now set up shop in Washington to pursue a post-presidency agenda advancing a left-wing insurgency, civil unrest, racial conflict and the destabilizing activities of a shadow government. His Alinskyite community organizing, 501(c) (4) nonprofit operations, advocacy with DNC backing for the “fundamental transformation” of America, a $60 million book contract, and the lure of obscenely lucrative speeches, clearly meant to further his former executive policies (as well as line his pockets), all continue to promote, as Mathew Vadum writes, “the social polarization and ethno-cultural balkanization he encouraged while president.” Not even post-presidential interventionists like the heroic Teddy Roosevelt or the irritating nuisance Jimmy Carter saw fit to establish tactical headquarters in the city on the hill. Unlike any of his 43 predecessors, Obama is without shame or compunction in his violation of post-presidential tradition, conduct befitting the program of an anti-president.

But this is by no means the whole story.

American presidents swear an oath of office to honor the Constitution and defend the nation’s interests. Obama has done neither. If fact, he has labored assiduously against the social integrity, economic viability and political well-being of the country, burdening it with runaway debt and unemployment, initiating a program of lemon socialism (the stimulus package) and a form of national mortmain (GM, Chrysler), doubling down on scandals like Global Warming (that isn’t happening) and Obamacare (that isn’t working), repeatedly lying to the electorate, turning government institutions like the IRS against his own people, legitimizing theft via wealth redistribution, ruling through a camarilla of unaccountable special advisors or “czars,” dismantling the nation’s border controls, favoring the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization at home and abroad, surveilling across the national spectrum, acting, according to the New York Post, as a “stooge” for the Russians, and effectively vandalizing the country’s international image, prosperity and security. This is Obama’s so-called “legacy,” a kind of Herostratic honor (after a 4^th century Ephesian named Herostratus who destroyed the Temple of Artemis in order to immortalize his name). Such a list of sinister “accomplishments” alone would amply qualify him for the title of Anti-President.

Further, as is common knowledge, the biographical dossier we have at our disposal is radically incomplete. All Obama’s vital documents are sequestered: his name change, baptism and adoption records, Noelani Elementary School records, Punahou School financial aid or school records, Occidental College financial aid records, Harvard Law School records, Columbia senior thesis, record with Illinois State Bar Association, and his law client list, medical records and passport records, among others. He has also suppressed the marriage license of his parents. His backdated Selective Service form remains unexplained and his Massachusetts Social Security Number appears to be invalid. Moreover, the digital copy of Obama’s birth certificate released by the White House on April 27, 2011 remains contentious; its authenticity has been disputed by many expert analysts. And there is considerably more that suggests we are dealing with a factitious personage, which would also qualify him for the title of Anti-President.

For these three reasons -- Obama’s intimate and continuing presence on the political scene, his Herostratic legacy, and his problematic dossier -- the Obama phenomenon cannot be pretended away as a matter of dwindling significance or as a peripheral distraction from present concerns. On the contrary, the election of Obama and all that it has entailed constitute an unprecedented rupture in the continuity of the American republican system of governance, ushering into power an interloper with imperial pretensions and a questionable history. What we are remarking is a break in habitual expectation regarding the presidential succession and a symptom of a profound malady in the body politic that demands remedial treatment.

One way or another, Americans must deal with the rip in their own political space-time continuum that brought a disruptive influx of dark energy into their world. As Chief Executive, Obama was the primary facilitator of the neo-Marxist revolution that is splitting the nation into warring moieties. He remains both its operational mover and symbolic architect. Such are the wages of an anti-presidency, whose effects will persist until they are recognized and materially resisted.

A change in the political culture of the U.S. would have to supervene. The present administration should do away with the scourge of pervasive voter fraud, a criminal offense that in all likelihood helped to bring Obama over the top and worked in favor of Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. Motor Voter would need to be repealed and mandatory Voter ID legislated to replace it.

Most crucially, a law requiring the public exposure of all biographically sensitive, campaign-financing, civil status and professional data pertaining to a presidential candidate might form part of the solution, removing the stigma and guarding against the return of the Obama effect. Such a move would be the American counterpart of the deliberations of the Council of Constance, eliminating the specter of an anti-president once and for all. There can be no doubt that the issue needs to be discussed, probed and resolved to ensure that a Schism of this nature does not happen again.