“It is unheard of for a U.N. member state not to oppose resolutions critical of its own laws,” The Associated Press emphasized in a story earlier this week.

But the AP reporter noted that very thing may happen in the next few weeks – and it will be the United States with egg on its face.

Cuba’s delegation to the United Nations plans to introduce a resolution condemning the U.S. trade embargo against their country. Normally, as the AP stressed, the U.S. delegation would oppose that and vote against the resolution.

But President Barack Obama is considering an order to our representatives to abstain from voting on the matter if it comes before the U.N. General Assembly.

“Following through on the idea would send shock waves through both the United Nations and Congress,” the AP reported.

It would not be the first time Obama has thumbed his nose at Congress, of course. He has become notorious for not enforcing laws with which he disagrees and for taking diplomatic and military action without consulting lawmakers.

Doing that on the very public, official stage of the U.N. – formally telling Congress to take a hike on a law it put on the books – is a new level of imperial behavior, however. Increasingly, ours is becoming a nation not of laws, but of one man.