Posted on 06/18/2011 7:09:51 AM PDT by libertarian neocon
This is pretty disturbing news coming from the New York Times, a paper which is finally starting to focus on abuse of power in the Obama administration. So the Office of the General Counsel, backed up by Obama's own Attorney General and the Pentagon's General Counsel all said that our Libya intervention counted as "hostilities" and therefore would require Congressional approval to continue past May 20th. Did Obama listen to them? Of course not. He found other lawyers that gave him an analysis that allowed him to do whatever he wanted and just followed them. This is all highly irregular and really stinks to high heaven. Clinton's head of the Office of Legal Counsel is quoted as saying "“Decisions about the lawfulness of major presidential actions should be made by the Department of Justice, and within the department by the Office of Legal Counsel, after consultation with affected agencies." Which kind of makes sense from an ethical standpoint right? The Attorney General is the Chief Compliance Officer of the United States, therefore the chief executive shouldn't be over-ruling him just because he can. It's as if Obama thinks he is some kind of monarch who can do whatever he wants by divine right or something. Maybe this is why he is not releasing his transcripts? Perhaps he failed constitutional law? I'm not even sure he did so well even in middle school civics class.
Obama seems to have a history of this type of behavior, that "I'm the President and I can do whatever I want." Remember when he told the GOP "I won" during negotiations over the failed stimulus? Remember when he told McCain "the election is over" at the Healthcare Summit? Or when he said he didn't want the GOP "to do a lot of talking"? As if getting 52.9% of the vote allows him to get unlimited power and the right to shut up the opposition (which he continues to try to do, e.g. his proposal to require government contracts to disclose their political donatons in order to allow him to blackball GOP firms). He doesn't seem to understand that we are not an absolute monarchy, we are a constitutional republic with checks and balances and that while the majority rules, the minority still has rights. That the President can't actually start wars without Congressional approval and UN Security Council Resolutions, while giving cover from an international law perspective, do nothing to make our intervention legal by US legal standards.
We're at the point where even Dennis Kucinich is praising Bush for going to Congress to approve our interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq and slamming Obama for not doing the same with Libya. I remember when protesters were calling our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan "illegal", though in fact both of them were perfectly legal under both US and International law. It actually took a liberal like Obama to get us involved in an "illegal" war.
Zer0 believes hisself to be the Caliph.
Does he think he is the King? Why YES, yes he does!
I think that “Dictator” is more appropriate.
When is Congress going to say “Enough is enough!” and begin Impeachment hearings?
This Congress is showing that they are all talk and no action when it comes to upholding our constitution!
Although impeachment is appropriate for a number of actions Obama has taken, impeachment shouldn’t be attempted.
First, impeachment would allow him to cloak himself in “black victim” status, which might enable him to be re-elected.
Second, the Senate would never convict. In fact, I doubt there would be more than a handful of votes for conviction even if the House impeached.
IMO, obviously.
This man and Eric "My People" Holder have set race relations back at least a half a century or more. As far as Eric's People are concerned, I have this to say "You people think you're in charge now. Go get your handouts from Obama and his bankrupt government. Don't come round my door. Nothing I have is for you."
In a word: Yes
For as brilliant as the media tells us he is, he can't understand the difference between "governing" and "ruling"
Presidents "govern"....Kings "rule"
Saving for later.
Like when President Palin goes into Cuba.
I agree, impeachment is a long shot but when you have liberals starting to turn on him, it becomes much more of a possibility. I think that if the courts overturn Obamacare the leftist groups will start wondering “so what was the point of electing this guy at all? He has achieved nothing and has actually turned the country against us after everything was going our way!”
A lawyer's opinion means absolutely nothing.
Obama;s actions are clearly unconstitutional and the matter needs to be fast-tracked to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In my dream scenario, Dennis Kucinich and Code Pink would call for impeachment. :-)
That's so .... Nixonian.
Nixon - When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal
Agree. The leftist thrill is gone. The tingle ain’t there. Zero will drag down many Dems with him. Avoid impeachment.
Obama is about to lose his base. What’s the motivation for them to turn out? Aside from the $20 they get and a chicken dinner. Wars continue and new ones started. Record black unemployment.
Obama's power grab is just another example of Executive abuse which creates frustration due to the fact that Congress as well as the States neglect to push back and exercise their own powers.
Gov. Perry, although moderate in a lot of ways, is one individual pushing back. We need Boehner/governors to give the Obama administration and the Federal Judicial Oligarchy the “middle finger”. A lot of civil disobedience and ingenuity can disrupt this administration.
Actually, he *knows* he’s King. Until you gents remove him, that is. And don’t expect an election to have any effect.
Does a bear crap in the woods?
I’ve heard of judge shopping...but LAWYER shopping?
Desperate people doing desperate things.
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