The Patriot Post® · No Guts, No Glory

Barack Obama has crossed the Rubicon big time. His arrogance has led him to what should be his meeting with the Senate in their chamber rather than in the Theater of Pompey. Not to pull down his tunic and stab him multiple times but rather to most civilly advise him that the House of Representatives has impeached him on several charges and multiple specifications to those charges.

In recent days, shortly after the Ides of March, numerous Republicans and some Democrats have either accused Obama of impeachable offenses or simply suggested that he may have committed impeachable offenses.

Obama has justified his action regarding Libya by saying that, “As Commander-in-Chief, I have that authority.” As a self-proclaimed Constitutional Scholar, Obama has left himself wide open. He knew the law; he violated it.

He cannot be excused for two reasons; 1) He purportedly knew the law and violated it, and 2) Ignorance of the law is not a viable defense.

The President has certain enumerated powers and may not unilaterally assume others.

All the talk this week, shortly after Jan 20, 2009, is about new U.S. President Barack Obama. So, as he starts work in the Oval Office, we thought it might be a good time to review his job description – as it appears in the U.S. Constitution.

Of course, presidential power has evolved plenty since 1787, and today presidents have powers and privileges not specifically mentioned in the Constitution – for it gives the president fewer than a dozen key jobs. Know what they are?

Enumerated Powers

Being “commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States.” Suspicious of standing armies, the framers made sure that the military had a civilian head. To further check and balance, they gave Congress the power “to declare war,” “raise and support armies,” “provide and maintain a navy,” and “make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.” Of course, that hasn’t stopped presidents from sending troops into battle without congressional declarations of war.

The right to “require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.” Compared to commanding the troops, “requiring opinions” may sound like handing out homework.

The “power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.” Presidential pardons are final. Neither Congress nor the courts can review them.

The “power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the senators present concur.” In practice, presidents and their executive branch officers negotiate and sign treaties without much senatorial “advice,” but those treaties aren’t binding on the United States unless the Senate ratifies them. Presidents sometimes avoid ratification problems by signing “executive agreements” with foreign governments rather than treaties per se.

The power to “nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,…appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court,” and “other officers of the United States.”

The “power to fill up vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.” When the Senate isn’t in session, the president can appoint people to important jobs even without its advice and consent.

Enumerated Responsibilities

Along with those six enumerated powers, Article II of the U.S. Constitution enumerates three key responsibilities. According to the framers, the president must:

“From time to time give to the Congress information on the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” The president is not charged with formally proposing legislation. That’s Congress’s job. But, from recommending measures based on “the state of the union” to signing bills into law, the president is supposed to play a key role in the legislative process.

“Receive ambassadors and other public ministers.” This means lots of state dinners and photo ops – black tie often required. What’s more important, though, is that it means the president is the nation’s head diplomatic honcho. He is the head of state.

“Take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” This one is crucial. It charges the president with the fundamental mission of the executive branch – to execute the laws. Along with being commander in chief, this may be the broadest, most expansive presidential responsibility or power listed in the Constitution.

Most of the foregoing is from: http://knowledgenews.net/moxie/todaysknowledge/presidential-powers-tk.shtml

A careful reading of the previous material, leads one to come solid conclusions.

The most recent act not permitted by the Constitution was Obama’s authorization to send American forces into a war situation, attacking a country who had not first attacked The United States. He, in effect, declared war on the sovereign nation of Libya and American Forces fired on Libyan forces. An Impeachable offense.

Arizona, a sovereign State of the Fifty United States, passed legislation known as SB1070, but best known as the Arizona anti-illegal Immigration Law. This legislation was to go into effect on July 29, 2010. Obama and the Department of Justice filed an injunction in an effort to halt implementation of the law and also induced other sovereign entities to file objections to Arizona’s law. Both Obama and Holder lied about the contents of SB 1070, a law which virtually duplicated American immigration laws.

There are several instances relative to this fiasco. First, the Governor of Arizona a sovereign entity has not only the right but the obligation to defend against invasion. That is clearly stated in Article I, Section 10, paragraph 3 as follows, “No state shall…engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.” >Obama, as President must extend his first loyalties to the several states before reaching out to foreign entities. That he did NOT do. Rather, he castigated Governor Brewer for her insensitivities toward illegal aliens. Under the provisions of Article IV, Section 4, as president and in his faithful execution of the law he is required to “guarantee to every state…and shall protect each of them against Invasion…” He overtly and knowingly breeched the trust placed upon him by virtue of his office. Impeachable? Absolutely! It certainly falls under the category of High Crimes and Misdemeanors, if not TREASON!

Obama had not the decency to stay in his office to follow-up on the action he directed. He immediately departed for the sunny shores of Rio and spent another fortune vacationing while our troops went into harm’s way.

Impeachment is never to be taken lightly, it is serious. However, there certainly are and have been times when someone must step up and do that which is necessary. Now is one of those times. Calling John Boehner, Mr. Boehner, please answer the call. Time for your Judiciary Committee to get to work.

Contact: [email protected]