Posted on 06/08/2014 8:09:52 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Let’s get Holder and MSNBC in on this and make it unanimous.
Not really. The CIC has the authority to direct what the military can do as in policy, but to tell the military how to do it is outside of his scope with the exception of collateral damage. The treatment of captives is governed by the UCMJ and Geneva Conventions. The monkey in the wrench to all of this is that those in captivity since 9/11 are not protected by the GC because they were not in uniform. This is why there is the argument to handle their cases in civil court. By right, we could have shot them all and been within the authority of the GC.
Not so much in the election. Dead or alive, Democrats manage to vote.
Umm yeah and the Reagan Administration broke an unconstitutional law that began the Iran-Contra scandal. So now that we have a precedent Congress knows exactly what to do. Shall we proceed accordingly Mr. Mukasey?
“If so, it will be yet another nail in the Obama Administration coffin.”
So what now? Impeach, have President Biden until the 2016 election and probably for two terms thereafter? What is your humble suggestion? BO can’t be reelcted anyway.
The Senate in 2014. The House, the Senate and the Presidency in 2016. I will take all the nails we can gather.
Obama broke a law that he himself signed.
Do you know what that means, dude ?
His signature is worthless.
His word is useless.
And the4 entire world knows this now.
His only successful ? negotiations in the future will be with terrorists.
No one else can trust him.
“Could it not be equally Constitutionally valid that Congress, in exercising its Constitutional oversight responsibilities, requires sufficient notification to perform that Constitutional function?”
That’s a fair question. The president’s military power as commander in chief is clearly not absolute. Congress, for example, provides the funds.
Let’s say Congress buys the president a tank division. Does Congress have any say on how those tanks are subsequently used, and if so, how much say do they have? For example, they can withhold funds, but do they have a constitutional right to tell the president how those tanks must be operationally used?
There’s a gray area there, because you are literally talking about the dividing line in the constitutional balance of powers. Congress has largely abdicated its power to declare war, but once hostilities have started (i.e. a war is declared), the president has broad powers under the constitution to execute that war.
Either way, I don’t understand how a president can sign something into law and then argue that he’s not going to follow it as he deems it unconstitutional. That’s grounds for impeachment if you ask me (even though we know that’s virtually impossible in Obama’s case).
Well, the weakest thing to do is to claim the President is disregarding the Constitution and then not impeaching him for it. The House has the sole power of impeachment. If they don’t exercise that power here, it is because they don’t really believe that the Constitution is being violated or because they see themselves as moral cowards and unworthy of their positions as Congressmen.
353FMG: “No one dares to take the appropriate legal response.”
Until such time that Senator Reid and the Democrats in the senate show a willingness to impeach, there’s no way Obama can be impeached. It’s not like members of Congress don’t talk to each other. They know what’s legislatively possible, and impeachment proceedings would be a useless gesture, much like the House’s votes to eliminate Obamacare. It won’t go any further, and the risk of antagonizing Democrat voters prior to the election is high. The best way to stop President Obama at this point is to win elections.
“The military has congressional authority to discipline itself and that includes those in captivity.”
Any authority or privileges utilized by any branch of the U.S. federal government is derived from the people and the States. The U.S. Constitution outlines a delegation of limited authority to the U.S. federal government from the God-given rights of the people and the States.
The UCMJ is controlled by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA is not effective until the President signs it into law or the Congress overrides a the President’s veto.
The people have unlimited, God-given rights (Ninth Amendment) and powers (Tenth Amendment). Congress has limited Constitutional authority derived from the people
I agree the Guantanamo captives are correctly classified as unlawful combatants under the laws of war. That means they have very few rights and certainly no right to a civil trial.
Read my post #32 to 353FMG. On principle, I suppose the House could schedule a weekly vote to impeach President Obama. That’s about how often he does something impeachable, but those impeachment votes won’t go anywhere. I’m not saying it’s bad to take a stand on principle, but the cost of taking such a stand could be very high and actually work against said principle in practice.
“Well, the weakest thing to do is to claim the President is disregarding the Constitution and then not impeaching him for it.”
The people have a right to a redress of grievances for violations of the U.S. Constitution in the The District Court (The First Amendment). The court interprets and the U.S. Constitution and not the Congress.
You cannot have the court order the President removed from office. But you can seek a declaration the President has violated the U.S. Constitution and an injunction against doing it again in the future. (And have the President pay your attorney’s fee and court costs.)
The List?
If the GOP House is afraid to impeach the President, that's fine. But, in that case, they should quit claiming that the President is violating the Constitution because that implies an obligation to impeach in order to protect the Constitution. A Congressman should try to avoid looking like a coward if he/she can, don't you think?
Treason - aid and comfort to the enemy.
The 30 day Congressional notification NDAA H.R. 1960 Statute - taxpayer dollars were spent to remove these prisoners from Guantanamo Bay.
Then there is giving material assistance (human assets) to a non-state terrorist organization.
And fourth the U.S. Policy and Response to Terrorists which says that the US “will make no concessions to terrorists. It will not pay ransoms, release prisoners, change its policies or agree to other acts that might encourage additional terrorism.”
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