Rogue President

                It appears the President of the United States has gone rogue.  Barack Obama seems to think that he is above the law and that laws – and the Constitution – do not apply to him.  Why else would he continue to take actions against the laws of our land?

                Mr. Obama did not comply with the law requiring presidents to notify Congress thirty days prior to exchanging prisoners at Guantanamo.  Politico reported that the Justice Department and the Pentagon signed off on the deal; they approved skipping the legally required notification.  Senate Armed Service Committee ranking member Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) declared:  “In executing this transfer, the President … clearly violated laws which require him to notify Congress thirty days before any transfer of terrorists from Guantanamo Bay and to explain how the threat posed by such terrorists has been substantially mitigated….  Our joy at Sergeant Bergdahl’s release is tempered by the fact that President Obama chose to ignore the law, not to mention sound policy, to achieve it.”

                The Politico article concluded, “But while the Bergdahl swap demonstrated a willingness on Obama’s part to buck Congress on detainee-related issues, it remains unclear whether the president is prepared to do so when the trade-offs don’t involve the release of a long-held American soldier but the more amorphous benefits some expect from closing or simply shrinking the population at Guantanamo.”

                George F. Will, conservative columnist at The Washington Post quoted Politico accusing Mr. Obama of committing an “assertive” act and “defied Congress” in order to start the process of closing Guantanamo.  It sent “a clear message” that “Obama is now willing to wield his executive powers to get the job done.”

                Apparently, Mr. Obama believes that whatever the president chooses to do is legal.  Mr. Will continued, “This explanation should be accorded open-minded, but not empty-minded, consideration.  It should be considered in light of the fact that as the Veterans Affairs debacle continued, Obama went to Afghanistan to hug some troops, then completed the terrorists-for-Bergdahl transaction.  And in light of the fact that Obama waged a seven-month military intervention in Libya’s civil war without complying with the law (the War Powers Resolution) that requires presidents to terminate within 60 to 90 days a military action not authorized or subsequently approved by Congress….

                “Now, now.  `Assertive’ presidents can’t be expected to `go rogue’ without ruffling feathers.  And omelets cannot be made without break eggs.  Etc.

                “This episode will be examined by congressional committees, if they can pierce the administration’s coming cover-up, which has been foreshadowed by the response to congressional attempts to scrutinize the politicization of the Internal Revenue Service.  If the military stalls on turning over files to Congress pertaining to the five years of Bergdahl’s absence, we will at least know that there is no national institution remaining to be corrupted.”

                Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) issued a warning to Mr. Obama that Republican lawmakers would call for his impeachment if he released more prisoners.  “It’s going to be impossible for them to flow prisoners out of Gitmo now without a huge backlash….  There will be people on our side calling for his impeachment if he did that.”

                This is not the first time that Mr. Obama has “defied” Congress and taken executive action to accomplish what he wanted to do.  The list is too long to even begin.  Mr. Obama has been going “rogue” for several years.  I keep wondering when Congress will take action against him.  Our nation is in a tough situation; we are “between a rock and hard place.”  We have a president who refuses to follow our “Supreme Law” – the Constitution of the United States – or to work with Congress.  In my mind, he qualifies for impeachment for many different reasons.  I question whether the U.S. House of Representatives has the will to vote on impeachment.  It does not really matter though because the U.S. Senate under the leadership of Harry Reid would never vote for conviction.  Our only hope to get Barack Obama out of office is to elect enough Republican – preferably conservative Republicans – in both the House and the Senate.  We have to have both Houses in order to free ourselves from this man who is “fundamentally changing” our nation.  I personally do not like the changes he is making!  I believe that he has to go.  VOTE CONSERVATIVE!