Ok, so I'm confused - What laws has Obama broken??

[Tripper11]

And I don't mean to be an idiot here, or facetious but I am constantly hearing rebubs of all stripes bitching and moaning about Obama and how he is shredding the Constitution, breaking laws left right and centre, no respect for the rule of law etc.

So in all honesty, what laws has he broken?

AND, when they say these things on Faux, other RW media, and even on some MSM shows, why doesn't anyone ask these accusers for specifics, cite their claims?

[shraby]

1. The law he has broken is serving as President while being a Democrat.

[csziggy]

3. "The law he has broken is serving as President while being a Democrat." And black. n/t

[notrightatall]

5. That's two laws broken.

[BlueCaliDem]

11. With most Republican voters, being a Democrat is synonymous with being black. eom

[freshwest]

37. And a godless communist, baby killing feminazi and homersexual. Oh, and a furriner and a Muslin.

It's hard to keep track of the slander from Day One, but they've been pretty consistent with their spiel.

[sheshe2]

55. I think you just covered most of it freshwest. nt

[misterhighwasted]

8. The half white guy in the Oval Office.

All the blather is born of political & racial hatred.
He has done NOTHING illegal.
Not a thing.

[LiberalElite]

56. the half white part puzzles me -

I would expect they'd give Obama points for that. They treat him like he's ALL black.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. The main one is being President while black.

[notrightatall]

4. Ya know he's black, right?

[Tripper11]

9. I heard it mentioned!

It's sad though, that these assholes are called out properly in their steaming streaming racist commentaries and held to task.

Cite the law! Cite the time! Cite it, back that shit up!!!

[still_one]

6. Being black

[upaloopa]

7. Because it is right wing bull shit.

I don't think it is good to take them seriously. I was thinking yesterday how everything that comes from the right is untruthful, dishonest and a lie.
The problem is the low information voter believes the lies.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

10. Hmmm

Covering up the war crimes of the prior administration, and refusing to prosecute those war criminals? Possibly skipping due process when assassinating US citizens via drone strikes? Possible violations of the 4th amendment by the intel community under his watch?

Certainly nothing the Republicans actually want to talk about.

[Bandit]

19. You have probably hit upon the one thing he has done (or not done) that could be illegal

We signed a Treaty at Geneva called the Geneva Accords that states we MUST prosecute for torture.. It is not at all ambiguous. We are Required to do so and yet we have not... A Treaty is the "Supreme Law of the Land"..

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

20. Yeah, but as I also said, it's something Republicans don't want to touch with a 10' pole.

Because most of it traces right back to a Republican President, his cabinet and staff, and military and intelligence actions taken under same, no doubt with the approval of many of those same Republicans. And even if it didn't, those are all things of which they would approve.

[Cal Carpenter]

21. Don't think the Democrats really want to talk about that stuff either

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

22. Certainly not those who were in the loop.

And were on intel committees during those years.

[VanillaRhapsody]

54. I called it...

I said Obama starts getting beaten bt the Far Left in 3...2
.1...


Never the carrot only the stick......not even for the teensiest moment...

[elleng]

12. None. They are ignorant.

(putting it nicely)

[Lady Freedom Returns]

13. None! Read for yourself!

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

[HereSince1628]

14. A black guy is acting like a white guy named Ronald Reagan...

Really, the only way they can explain it is that the laws of God and nature -must- have been broken

[ret5hd]

15. The Jim Crow ones.

[noiretextatique]

47. good one!

you hit the nail on the head

[Vattel]

16. Well, for example, he unconsitutionally put the US into a state of war in Libya

and in Syria.

[Maedhros]

26. That's the elephant in the room.

See also: failing to prosecute torturers.

[RiverLover]

62. Thank you. We should all be upset about this..

"At the same time, even supportive members of Congress are challenging the administration's legal justification for intervention based on a 2001 authorization to fight al-Qaida and another a year later to invade Iraq.

The Islamic State group didn't exist at the time of either vote, emerging only recently from the al-Qaida movement. They've primarily fought each other since.

After his party's drubbing in midterm elections, Obama said he'd work with Congress during the current lame-duck session on a new authorization for the U.S. intervention in Iraq and Syria."

http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2014/11/19/aide-obama-open-to-limits-in-war-authorization

[arcane1]

17. They don't invite people on their shows if they're going to ask questions like that.

They decide what narrative they want, and only book people who promote it.

[Cha]

23. Winner! Corporate Mediawhore "news" pushing GOPropaganda since at least 1999 that I'm

aware of.

[leftofcool]

18. He's a Democrat/Kenyan/Socialist/Comunist/Half Black/Half White/Usurperer

Oh wait, I left off gay loving, cigarette smoking, health nut. Any birther talking points missing?

[brooklynite]

24. Here's a serious answer...

Republican's argue that existing law makes it illegal to enter the Country without permission. Policy in enforcement of that law is to deport people in the Country illegally. The President is understood to be responsible to implement laws that the Congress passes. By explicitly directing CBP staff NOT to enforce the laws on the books, they claim he's violating the law.

[unblock]

29. that's a serious answer only in the sense that that's what republicans claim their position is.

the reality is that the president is tasked with enforcing a vast number of federal laws and regulations, and congress does not provide nearly enough resources to the president to strictly enforce anywhere near all of them.

as executive-in-chief, the president has the power and duty to direct and prioritize his limited resources toward the enforcement of the laws that in the manner he see best serving the nation. conversely, congress then has the power to enact more specific legislation specifying more funds for enforcement of certain laws, etc.


furthermore, the president also has the unilateral power to pardon, so it's ridiculous to say it's illegal for him not to enforce laws. the president could pardon everyone accused or found guilty of murder under federal law, for instance. it would be completely legal for the president to refuse to enforce every last criminal law on the federal books. no president would do that, of course, but it's very clearly well within his constitutional powers to do so.

[brooklynite]

34. Those are legalistic arguments...

...and in fact the President is NOT claiming inadequate resources, nor is he utilizing his Pardoning power.

[unblock]

58. so the "serious" argument against obama is that he's using the wrong rhetoric?

saying he's not going to enforce a law because it's wrong is illegal? that's crazy.

there are all sorts of crazy laws on the books, in fact, there's a whole website dedicated to them: http://www.dumblaws.com/

tell me that the governor of iowa is committing an illegal act by directing the police not to enforce the prohibition against kisses that last more than 5 minutes.

obama may not be saying "i don't have the resources to enforce immigration laws", but by taking the action he's taking, he is, in fact, freeing up enforcement resources to allow greater enforcement of laws he believes to be more in the nation's interest. he doesn't have to use those words, simple analysis lets us conclude that.

[treestar]

63. that's prosecutorial discretion, which the Republicans are fine with

When it's them. Didn't Bush leave some OSHA laws alone? It happens all the time.

[DryHump]

25. Truth is the victim here

if right wing idiots had any curiosity about what may be true about our President, they would know he is not lawless or evil. They'd find, in fact, the man practices Christianity, as much as one can expect in a political milieu. Repubs are blinded - ignorance, fear, untruth.

[JHB]

27. See, THAT's what's confusing you: rationality...

You make the mistake of believing that poo-flinging requires actual poo.

[malaise]

28. They all know better

This is their replacement for the birther bullshit.

[Warpy]

30. No, and talking to them about it means a ride on the crazy train

as they bluster about high crimes and treason and when you ask which high crimes and how treason was committed they pull out the "If you don't know, you need to find out!!" and stomp off in a fury.

It's almost as much fun as asking them what their superior family values were during Clinton's presidency.

[struggle4progress]

31. I suspect they're thinking he's uppity

[freshwest]

38. Which was long a capital offense in some regions...

[meow2u3]

32. First of all, he's being President while black

Second of all, he's a black President running afoul of the whims of white Republicans.

[Rex]

33. The good old boys unwritten law - SAPWBB

It drives the GOP crazy.

[Prophet 451]

41. SAPWBB?

Probably me being dense but I couldn't work out what that stands for. Could you elaborate?

[Rex]

45. Serving As President While Being Black.

Seems that bothers some people, but I'm sure it has nothing to do with SAPWBB. No doubt it is Obama's policies that bother them so much. Yup.

[Prophet 451]

46. Ah, thank you n/t

[Rex]

48. Very welcome.

[Independent_Liberal]

35. They talk like they're lawyers. If they're so certain laws were broken, please cite them!

Please! Do tell us what he's doing that no previous president has done. That's right, they can't! Just a charade to see who can be the biggest loudmouth for the RW talking points.

[ctaylors6]

36. also not so much illegal as not within his authority

I've seen words and phrases like illegal and unlawful and outside of his constitutional authority used interchangeably and that make this confusing. Illegal sounds like committing a crime, whereas "not within his constitutional authority" is probably more what people are talking about here.

Article I, Section 8 of the Constitutional gives Congress exclusive authority to "establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization" and Article II, Section 3 says that it's the president's duty "to take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."

So if whatever he does is a matter of fulfilling his duty to faithfully execute the laws Congress has passed, then he's within his power. If he's in essence creating new laws, that might be considered not within his authority unless the Constitution gives him that authority along with giving it to Congress.

When Congress passes a law, the executive branch may create regulations to execute the law. For example, there's the IRS statutes enacted by Congress and then usually longer regulations promulgated by the IRS that pertain to the IRS code. The regulations can be subject to challenge as to whether they were within the authority of the corresponding legislation passed by Congress. The executive order is another tool in the executive branch's arsenal and must also be consistent with Constitutional authority.

Added on edit: I don't know what he's going to say tonight, so I'm not concluding anything. Was just trying to explain for OP what issues are.

[WillyT]

39. This May Answer Your Question:

DULink: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5839964

[Prophet 451]

40. Of the crimes the GOP accuse him of? None

There is perhaps a case to answer with regard to not prosecuting war crimes and/or military actions involving Libya.

But essentially, the GOP assume a Democratic president is illegitimate by definition. See Brock's Blinded By The Right for an explanation of the mindset. And his ethnicity, while not the sole reason for their hatred, certainly adds fire to their animosity.

[GusBob]

42. presidenting with black skin

Oh and tan suit

[freshwest]

43. Guilty of being BLACK in the WHITE House. Thus he's a burglar and that's illegal!

Besides, he has refused to follow the law according to the Koch Brothers. That is impeachment level stuff, as they consider the White House to be theirs.

[BumRushDaShow]

44. Presidentin' while black. nt

[noiretextatique]

49. he broke the law of a whites-only white house

he also broke the law of being smart while black.

[HereSince1628]

61. It's called the WHITE house, and everyone knows why...

or not.

It's WHITE because Canadians set fire to it and it desperately needed a paint job.

Which is obviously why we are so worried about immigrants entering from our -SOUTHERN- border...what???

[Scootaloo]

50. Mostly the "one drop rule"

Everything else just cascades from there.

[randys1]

51. He broke the law of having a brain and a heart

[rurallib]

52. Said laws will be passed on January 3rd, 2015

[arely staircase]

53. uppity black president who is "waving a red flag in front of a bull" doesn't know his place law nt

[Cha]

60. LOL.. "Bull"! is right!

[sendero]

57. The Republicans are making shit up...

... and no doubt getting a lot of idiots to agree. But the fact is nothing Obama is doing is without precedent and I'm pretty sure he is not intimidated by their idiotic rhetoric.

[Gothmog]

59. President Obama's actions are legal