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Top Constitutional Experts: Obama Is Worse than Nixon
In the wake of the twin scandals of the IRS targeting conservative groups and the Department of Justice spying on AP reporters, the comparisons between Obama and Nixon are everywhere.
But what do experts say?
Former New York Times general counsel James Goodale – who represented the paper during its Pentagon Papers fight with the Nixon administration – said in an interview yesterday that Obama is worse than Nixon when it comes to press freedoms. And see this.
Former constitutional lawyer Glenn Greenwald noted last year:
We supposedly learned important lessons from the abuses of power of the Nixon administration, and then of the Bush administration: namely, that we don’t trust government officials to exercise power in the dark, with no judicial oversight, with no obligation to prove their accusations. Yet now we hear exactly this same mentality issuing from Obama, his officials and defenders to justify a far more extreme power than either Nixon or Bush dreamed of asserting: he’s only killing The Bad Citizens, so there’s no reason to object!
Jonathan Turley – perhaps the top constitutional law expert in the United States (and a liberal) – writes:
The painful fact is that Barack Obama is the president that Nixon always wanted to be.
Four decades ago, Nixon was halted in his determined effort to create an “imperial presidency” with unilateral powers and privileges. In 2013, Obama wields those very same powers openly and without serious opposition. The success of Obama in acquiring the long-denied powers of Nixon is one of his most remarkable, if ignoble, accomplishments. Consider a few examples:
Warrantless surveillance
Nixon’s use of warrantless surveillance led to the creation of a special court called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA). But the reform turned out to be more form than substance. The secret court turned “probable cause” into a meaningless standard, virtually guaranteeing any surveillance the government wanted. After hundreds of thousands of applications over decades, only a couple have ever been denied.
Last month, the Supreme Court crushed any remaining illusions regarding FISA when it sided with the Obama administration in ruling that potential targets of such spying had to have proof they were spied upon before filing lawsuits, even if the government has declared such evidence to be secret. That’s only the latest among dozens of lawsuits the administration has blocked while surveillance expands exponentially.
Unilateral military action
Nixon’s impeachment included the charge that he evaded Congress’ sole authority to declare war by invading Cambodia. In the Libyan “mission,” Obama announced that only he had the inherent authority to decide what is a “war” and that so long as he called it something different, no congressional approval or even consultation was necessary. He proceeded to bomb a nation’s capital, destroy military units and spend more than a billion dollars in support of one side in a civil war.
Kill lists
Nixon ordered a burglary to find evidence to use against Daniel Ellsberg, who gave the famed Pentagon Papers to the press, and later tried to imprison him. Ellsberg was later told of a secret plot by the White House “plumbers” to “incapacitate” him in a physical attack. It was a shocking revelation. That’s nothing compared with Obama’s assertion of the right to kill any U.S. citizen without a charge, let alone conviction, based on his sole authority. A recently leaked memo argues that the president has a right to kill a citizen even when he lacks “clear evidence (of) a specific attack” being planned.
Attacking whistle-blowers
Nixon was known for his attacks on whistle-blowers. He used the Espionage Act of 1917 to bring a rare criminal case against Ellsberg. Nixon was vilified for the abuse of the law. Obama has brought twice as many such prosecutions as all prior presidents combined [and see this]. While refusing to prosecute anyone for actual torture, the Obama administration has prosecuted former CIA employee John Kiriakou for disclosing the torture program.
Other Nixonesque areas include Obama’s overuse of classification laws and withholding material from Congress. There are even missing tapes. In the torture scandal, CIA officials admitted to destroying tapes that they feared could be used against them in criminal cases. Of course, Nixon had missing tapes, but Rose Mary Woods claimed to have erased them by mistake, as opposed to current officials who openly admit to intentional destruction.
Obama has not only openly asserted powers that were the grounds for Nixon’s impeachment, but he has made many love him for it. More than any figure in history, Obama has been a disaster for the U.S. civil liberties movement. By coming out of the Democratic Party and assuming an iconic position, Obama has ripped the movement in half. Many Democrats and progressive activists find themselves unable to oppose Obama for the authoritarian powers he has assumed. It is not simply a case of personality trumping principle; it is a cult of personality.
Long after Watergate, not only has the presidency changed. We have changed. We have become accustomed to elements of a security state such as massive surveillance and executive authority without judicial oversight. We have finally answered a question left by Benjamin Franklin in 1787, when a Mrs. Powel confronted him after the Constitutional Convention and asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got — a republic or a monarchy?” His chilling response: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
We appear to have grown weary of the republic and traded it for promises of security from a shining political personality. Somewhere, Nixon must be wondering how it could have been this easy.
Nixon’s “Enemies List” is famous, and the former head of the National Security Agency’s global digital data gathering program says that Obama also has an enemies list … which has been used to take down a wide variety of people, including the head of the CIA. The Washington Post’s Ed Rogers notes:
Obama doesn’t need a traditional Nixonian enemies list. In the digital age, with the Obama machine’s much-celebrated technological capabilities, the president can sort his enemies by keywords.
You’ve heard about the AP spying scandal, and the head of the Department of Justice implies that the government has spied on many other reporters.
Reporters who criticize those in power are being smeared by the government and targeted for arrest (and see this).
Indeed, the Obama administration is treating real reporters as potential terrorists.
After Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges, journalist Naomi Wolf, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and others sued the government to enjoin the NDAA’s allowance of the indefinite detention of Americans – the judge asked the government attorneys 5 times whether journalists like Hedges could be indefinitely detained simply for interviewing and then writing about bad guys. The government refused to promise that journalists like Hedges won’t be thrown in a dungeon for the rest of their lives without any right to talk to a judge.
Wikileaks’ head Julian Assange could face the death penalty for his heinous crime of leaking whistleblower information which make those in power uncomfortable … i.e. being a reporter.
Daniel Ellsberg notes that Obama's claimed power to indefinitely detain people without charges or access to a lawyer or the courts is a power that even King George didn't claim. Former judge and adjunct professor of constitutional law Andrew Napolitano points out that Obama's claim that he can indefinitely detain prisoners even after they are acquitted of their crimes is a power that even Hitler and Stalin didn’t claim.
Indeed, Obama has turned America into the most spied upon nation in world history, and has rolled back liberties to the time of the enactment of the Magna Carta in 1215.
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I am sick to death of all of this shit. The .gov, the banks and even the sheep are pissing me off. But I can't help thinking that I am watching the most monuental piece of History unfold. Like a giant train wreck in slo mo. I can't take my fucking eyes off of it. Please help!! I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!!!
Speaking of a train wreck, eveyone seems to be hoping for the final crash. Me included however, the addage "be careful what you wish for" comes to mind. It is bad now but when the crash comes, we may be pining for the good old days when QE was pumping the prime and you could still get food from the local stores.
Great and highly informative blog posting, GW.
And on the current events of the day:
The War on the IRS
(The Bush-Obama administration's castration of the IRS.)
What was one of George W. Bush's first actions after he stole the 2000 presidential election (other than snarfing down a celebratory cheeseburger pizza)?
Bush shut down the "high roller" division in the IRS; that section which garnered the greatest recovered tax revenues by auditing the richest individuals and the richest corporations --- and redirected the IRS against much lower-income working Americans!
Now, this information about several IRS agents targeting the Tea Party and affiliated groups isn't breaking news --- they've been sitting on this for quite some time!
So why the sudden newsy firestorm now?
On the very same day this bullcrap spewed forth, on the IRS web site (please see special links below) an international, joint investigation was announced. Their target: trillions of untaxed dollars sitting in offshore tax havens (i.e., offshore financial centers, etc.). This investigation will be undertaken by the IRS, the UK and Australia, thanks to leaked data from these tax havens.
Now this is the big story which they are misdirecting our attention away from, the one not being covered by the CorporateMedia today!
Instead, we are treated to "breaking news" of the moronic type.
Now, I'm no fan of the IRS, and we all should realize by this time that the tax code was written by the super-rich to benefit the super-rich (one need only read IRS Rule 401(a)(5) which essentially states that structured inequality, that is, screw the workers, is legally acceptable to them to comprehend that), so this is the first real egalitarian action by the IRS in many decades, but the CorporateMedia and the Bush-Obama Administration wishes to kill it!
Support the IRS in their investigation and tell the gov't to ignore this bullcrap!
Special Links:
http://www.online-accounting-degrees.net/tax-havens/
http://www.icij.org/blog/2013/05/authorities-announce-tax-haven-investig...
(Some excerpts...)
Tax authorities in the U.S., Britain, and Australia today announced they are working with a gigantic cache of leaked data that may be the beginnings of one of the largest tax investigations in history.
He added: "We know from the data we obtained there are names of people from more than 170 countries. Some are prominent citizens – politicians, celebrities, businessmen, the elite of some societies.
The files leaked to ICIJ provide facts and figures — cash transfers, incorporation dates, links between companies and individuals — that illustrate how offshore financial secrecy has spread aggressively around the globe, allowing the wealthy and the well-connected to dodge taxes and fueling corruption and economic woes in rich and poor nations alike.
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS,-Australia-and-United-Kingdom-Engage...
http://www.icij.org/offshore/tax-authorities-move-leaked-offshore-docume...
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2013/05/it%e2%80%99s-high-time-the-irs-inv...
Reading sources:
Treasure Islands, by Nicholas Shaxson
Offshore, by William Brittain-Catlin
Fascinating. I'll follow these links and read up. I wondered what the trigger was; why did this old news come out on that day as opposed to any other. This makes actual sense. Thanks!
Fuck the IRS!!! Why don't you just collaborate some more, why don't ya? The IRS is a private collection agency for the international banks that lend to the US government at interest; NONE of your taxes go towards running the government, they go towards giving douchebags like Jamie Dimon the high life from all the interest charges.
This country got to be the biggest economy on Earth BEFORE the IRS and property taxes. Chew on THAT for a while. Your misguided desire to 'do the right thing' only results in lining the pockets of KNOWN thieves and liars...
a helluva lot of money was stolen during W's tenure, and as you say is in offshore accounts (we know that because that's where Abramoff was directing it, but they never learned how much really) and it may well be that the IRS is just doing its job, (there was certainly no reason for Obama to punish the Tea Party, their existence only served to broker GOP votes, biut he does have reason to keep his rich donors happy) it wouldn't surprise me if his campaign took money from the Koch brothers PAC (in order to protect the tax loopholes of the rich) while the band played the Yankee Doodle dandy refrain for the sheeple. the IRS stuck their nose into it, and Obama is only too ready to throw them under the bus.
Yeah, But Bush was the worst of all!!!!!
Of course Turley and Greenwald are merely cowards, as they know or SHOULD know (since they are "Constitutional experts" ) that Obama is a domestic enemy of the Republic who is USURPING the office. Hussein Obama would not be a natural born Citizen, as required by A2S1C4, if he was born on the Oval Office desk and was delivered by JFK, since Hussein Obama is the British subject son of a British subject father, Barack Obama Sr., by operation of the British Nationality Act 1948.
SCOTUS precedent definition of "natural born Citizen":
"The Constitution does not in words say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners." 88 US 162, 167 (1874)
The very purpose of the requirement, as stated explicitly by the founders (SEE Federalist 68), was to prevent foreign influence into the Oval Office. Therefore it is impossible that one born of foreign citizenship could be eligible. Foreign Central Bankers have installed domestic enemy Usurper Obama w/ the assistance of a treasonous Congress (both sides), a compliant judiciary, and the useful idiot media. THIS is the real story. Greenwald, Turley and GW are mainly steam vents that protect the Usurper by not allowing the mass realization of the treason that has happened, but allow some criticism.
At least Nixon was eligible. As it stands there is no "United States" since the chief executive, who is the executor of the laws, is an illegal entity. The Constitution has been suspended you cowards!!! Constitutional experts"???? PLEASE.......
One was probably GW. That he uses the nom de plume "George Washington" is a sham, as the real GW is turning in his grave, and has spoken from it (remember the story about the overdue library book "Law of Nations"--- the book that sat open on his desk many times by the telling of history)? Well, what the media did not report was the significance of that book-- a treatise on natural law (law of nations-- see A1S8C10). In that book is the definition of "natural born Citizen" which mirrors the Minor v. Happersett definition almost verbatum.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/may/20/george-washington-...
http://www.lonang.com/exlibris/vattel/vatt-119.htm
George Washington also said "let there be no change by Usurpation".
Two people junked you. There are still some brainless fucktards who think Obama holds the office legitimately. The fact that the 'right' didn't jump all over the pathetically fraudulent birth certificate and draft card (not to mention his drunk commie foreigner dad) is either a sign of stupidity and cowardice, or a sign that they wanted this POS in office. (Or maybe they're just afraid that Obama's peeps will burn down every major city if President POS is booted from office.) I can't stand the man; when everyone was tossing his salad after his 2004 convention speech I knew then and there that he was a fraud of epic proportions, and a nasty piece of work. Thankfully I stopped listening to most talk radio, so I rarely have to listen to his BS any longer. I've disagreed with literally everything he's ever said and done, with a handful of exceptions, which are ALL cases where he reversed his position (i.e. deciding not to release any more Abu Grahib torture pictures). Sadly, not only will be be living with his poisonous legacy for decades, we'll have to hear about his tawdry life and wife for decades as well.
If O is the son of Mr. Obama , a British subject, you are correct. If he is the son of Frank M Davis, ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Marshall_Davis ) you are inccorrect. O's suspicious birth certificates lead me to believe there is a possibility of the latter. If so, his life of lies, and their cover-up, is interesting since he is basically challenging all of us to prove his paternity.
If Davis is his father then he has lied, and his (our) problems are just as large.
All whites are bad citizens and the IRS is targetting the shit out of them. Imagine that
The Tea Party could have been any color, just as long as it was a new challenging party - and the result would be the same.
Yeah, thats why the census and federal employment ppwk solicit your racial identity, and if you refuse they guess at it, and if they can't they spitball you as whatever they can squeeze the most loot for. But now that they have connected the DMV computers Moochelle can just look at your DL and condemn you.
GW wrote an article that I would green arrow. Must be a sign of the apocalypse. Unfortunately, an apocalypse is more likely then media calls for impeachment or resignation which I have no doubt would have occurred if Bush had a triple combination of covering up ambassador deaths, siccing the IRS on his enemies or being caught spying on the media in the same week.
Amazing accomplishment to be worse than Nixon AND Carter.
The world is significantly different for his having been president - and not for the better. It's all I can do to keep from ramming my gas guzzler into the Pious with the I <3 Obamacare bumper sticker I see every day on the commute to/from work - (auto) insurance rates be damned.
You mean the pious idiots in the hybrids doing 55 in the left hand lane?
Yeah, go for it, but use that oil tanker from Steven Spielburg's Duel.
Will American's take enough of an interest in theses stories to put the brakes on the over reaching antics of the Federal Government, or is this much to do about nothing? I hope this will create enough momentum to reverse the course of the Federal Government, and the continued loss of liberties and freedom in our country. I know also that in order for this to happen there would have to be great changes and that could divide our country in ways we no living person has seen before, and that is troublesome.
Seriously, the only way anyone will do anything about any of this is when any of this affects any of us in a manner which will make us literally come off our nut.
Indeed dongfruit, I'm going to LOL when the sheeple run around like chickens with their heads cut off when the EBT stops working and the riots begin. Going to be hilarious!
Top Constitutional Experts: Obama Is Worse than NixonNo shit? No shit!? This just in, top dessert experts report being fucked with a cactus is worse than eating a peanut buster parfait. Whatever would we do with out such sage experts?
The cactus threat now I know how he got his Noble peace prize.
Not gonna lie I laughed at this one.
I regret that I cannot keep hitting the green arrow for 15 mins or so.
Like the Newsweak issue that announced shocking scientic proof of differences between boys and girls, this latest finding is real news to those people.
Who are we kidding; it's not about Nixon or Obama administrations. It's about the Wall Street administrations we've had since 1913. That's what needs to get fixed first:
28th Amendment (The Constitutional Emergency Amendment)
Corporations are not persons and shall be granted only those rights and privileges that Congress deems necessary for the well-being of the People. Congress shall provide legislation defining the terms and conditions of corporate charters according to their purpose; which shall include, but are not limited to:
1, prohibitions against any corporation;
a, owning another corporation,
b, becoming economically indispensable or monopolistic, or
c, otherwise distorting the general economy;
2, prohibitions against any form of intervention in the affairs of government by means of;
a, congressional lobbying
b, electoral sponsorship or advocacy
c, educational sponsorship or publication
d, media news reporting
3, provisions for;
a, the auditing of standardized, current, and transparent account books
b, closing the FRB and the establishment of state-owned banks
c, civil and criminal penalties to be suffered by corporate executives et al for violation of the terms of a corporate charter.
Optional: (or possible 29th amendment)
The 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution is hereby repealed and Congress shall re-write the U.S. Code to reflect the changes embodied herein.
how about less laws. Let the market take care of the scumbags. consumers can drop a stock price to zero in no time tlat. Less Laws and less gov!
That would be fine except the scumbags are running the markets and making the laws; consumers are going broke.
Who's talking about stock prices?
Do you understand any of this?
Hello decentralized,
If you do not like the way corporations do business then stop using their products and remove working capitol by dumping the stock. No .gov regulations or force. Besides we are upset about them getting away with crime that the .gov can't or will not stop. government laws are not working for the honest. We must do it ourselves.
Indeed, we must do it ourselves. We must first get democratic control over who represents us. Then we must insist that corporations can't monopolize whole industries and leave us no options in our purchasing decisions.
Given that force is inevetitable under the rule of law, the only choices remaining are anarchy or the just application of reasonable laws with the consent of the governed.
Remember, rampant unrestrained incorporation is the leading cause of monopoly, which is another (and crueller) form of "force". Economic force. This amendment stipulates that any incorporated entity will only operate with the consent of the consumer.
In other words, you can still be a money-grubbing asshole, but you can't incorporate OPM to do it. And you're liable for fraud and abuse. Other than that..................................
democratic like the trilllllions of bucks they took from the people and gave to the banks
So: If this is true, then let us establish a Social Contract on this site:
"Given that Obama is "WWWWWWorse! than Nixon and Bush (Pick One or Both) and ESPECIALLY Nixon, and that such retrograde behavior required that each and every one of us to man the Ramparts to defend the Republic, LET US STOP WITH THE "THEY ALL DID IT, SO... we'll just bitch about everything and let Obama get a free ride."
If it's THIS BAD, we have a clear and present danger. Nixon is dead and the Bush's play golf. THEY'RE GONE. Obama is the one who's carrying the responsibility NOW.
To insist that "They all did it" now means that YOU are not going to defend this nation against an EVIL that is worse than NIXON EVER WAS!
So, get off your fat ass and STFU about "They all did it". Start demanding the end of this American Fascism. NOW!
You too GW...
CW
Civil disobedience before loading the rifle and taking to the streets.
Detach from the system, take your money out of banks and into PM's, deal in cash, milk what you can to bleed the system and collapse it.
Erode the foundation and tunnel under rather than throwing yourself against the ramparts of the castle.
We should have the perserverance of the armies of old. I read Herodotus and Caesar and it amazed me how methodical armies would be, systematically attacking their enemy's walls by digging ditches and laying logs and dirt, day after day for weeks or months. In the case of Troy, fighting outside the city walls for 10 long years. We should do the same, patiently building and fighting, while starving the inhabitants of the big government citadel until their defenses finally give in. Happened in the USSR, it can happen here.
Precisely.
I thought that was obama's job
Cuts both ways.
Forward!
Democrats and Republicans of the 1970's would not have dreamed of doing things that the Bush's and Obama have done.
"Partriot" act, no-knock warrants (or kick your door in with no warrant whatsoever), bailing out the banks and corporations, subjugating bondholder rights, "vaporizing" customer funds, combat units deployed domestically, x-raying and groping passengers, drones, etc.
With each decade the populace is more and more propagandized and somnolent, and dependent on the teat of mother government.
Forward U.S.S.A.!
Sieg Heil!
"Inflict strain upon the structure, collapsing below my pressure"
Edgecrusher - Fear Factory
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Nr7NOPk7eaI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DNr...
The difference between Nixon and Obama. Nixon committed a crime, the law zeroed into it, and he was effectively impeached for it. Obama has committed hundreds of crimes, the law can't zero in, and he is effectively granted more power.
As you just pointed out, it's not the difference between Nixon and Obama, it's the difference between blatant and destructive crimes and a judiciary and criminal justice system that is now totally corrupt
Most people just don't care. I guess they think they would be a crook too if given the opportunity.
Obama compares to other Marxist and should not anyway shape or form be compared to Republicans. They are not in the same league. Even Nixon knew to resign. Don't expect that sort of self evaluation or incrimination from Obama.
Nixon not only knew how to resign (for the good of the country), but he also knew how to lose with dignity - again, for the good of the country. Nixon could have easily contested the 1960 election results - there was cheating in Illinois (what a surprise!), Texas (home of Lyndon Johnson, who had raised electoral cheating to a high art) and elsewhere as Joe Kennedy bought the election for his boy. Nixon, unlike Gore, chose not to contest the election because of the harm it would do to the nation.
Oh, for the days of a pro-American President who is merely paranoid, but actually had some scruples!
"Oh, for the days of a pro-American President who is merely paranoid, but actually had some scruples!"
True, we've exchanged a paranoid with a hemorrhoid.
I'm sure Obama has many Marxist sympathies but at the end of the day hardcore Marxism/Leninism is about ruthless dogma.
Obama's motivating ethos is more of a mishmash of rainbow and unicorn fantasy and the contemporary leftist romanticization of government.
Let's see he wants all of your guns if he could get them. He or his administration is wire tapping the press. I classify that as initimidation. You better not be writing anything I don't agree with or I'll expose the sordid details in your life. He or his administration has used the IRS to again gain classified details to use it in a political sense to win elections or intimidate his opposition. I can go on but I'd like to ask this question. What is romantic about this?
Apparently, the workers' paradise is just around the next bend.