As Bridget noted in real time, President Obama did not like getting some pushback on his amnesty policy today. In fact, he came within an inch of losing his cool.
The sound bite coming out of that exchange is that the president said he isn’t asking for any arguments. That simply is not true, or given our representative republic, should not be true.
The president announced a major policy change that impacts not just the 800,000 illegal aliens who benefit, but also the entire country. By circumventing Congress, it impacts our rule of law. By announcing it in a way that suggests its political origins, it impacts the presidential race.
If the president expected no arguments, then he is deluded. If he will brook no arguments, then he is unfit for the office. He is not a king, and we are not his subjects. We have a duty to push back if we believe that his actions are wrong or illegal, both of which may apply to today’s seismic policy shift.
But the fact is, President Obama damn well knew that he was provoking an argument, and he expects that argument to get heated in ways that will help him keep his job. He also expects to win it.
He will not.
Update: The president asked for, and is getting, an argument: Rep. Steve King says he is preparing to sue to stop Obama.
– waited upon the decision of the Supremes on the Arizona case before it?
Why should Teh Won listed to something like the Rule of Law? He’s Bloviated into a Higher Plane Of Existence and such things restrict his ego
Impeachment. Accessory before and after the fact to violations of laws forbidding illegal immigration.
“This is not amnesty” (yes, it is), this is not immunity (Opens the doorway for it), this is not a path to citizenship (bulldreck), it is not a permanent fix (It’s a fix for me to get more votes)”
Fixed that for El Presidente
Barack Obama lied!
He said now was not the time for questions. He implied that there would be a time for questions.
Then when his statement was done he walked away.
What a liar!
The press corp are not stenographers! They are reporters and finally they are doing their job! Thank God for that reporter and the other that yelled out a question as the liar-in-chief was leaving!
Once again Barack Obama was hoping to set the narrative, regain the offensive and change the subject off the economy when now that one clip will be played over and over for the news cycle.
The economy will still be the subject and made worst by this major policy shift to use the Presidency to help re-elect himself by executive fiat. There is only one word for it.
Liar!
Unfortunately, it seems that the vast majority of those in the press corps are merely stenographers. This is clearly demonstrated in the responses of the MSM to this event. They are not upset that Obama would not take questions. They are upset that someone dared to ask one.
That’s why the reporter shouted out the question. He knew that Obama would bail as soon as he finished reading off the teleprompter.
“They are reporters and finally they are doing their job!”
Was Juan Williams there?
What are the odds that Obama’s poll numbers will go down as a result of this amnesty move?
Isn’t one of the reasons that people immigrate to the United States to escape a tyrannical government that ignores the will of the people, the rule of law and it’s Constitution?
Excellent point, 2AM!
The French phrase for what Obama is complaining of is lèse-majesté. Unfortunately for Obama, the United States still isn’t quite a monarchy. . . .
Isn’t another one “Let them eat cake”? Also, an Amerian one is “Who GAF what the American people want or think”
Will these individuals be eligible for special minority-only assistance programs at universities and colleges that are not available to the wider student populace (i.e., “white”)–tutoring, awards, fellowshs, grants, etc.?
CA’s “Dream Act” enacted by the the Legislature and signed by The Moonbeam, does give them preferential treatment in admission to State Universities, and funding for that schooling.
As goes California, so goes the Nation!
California we be berry, berry broke.
What do you mean will be? It’s broke. It’s broken. No fix in sight.
“we be” is present tense.
It is after all always the present.
Undocumented students should pay 20 times the tuition at California schools.
That would be one way to fund the services provided to illegal aliens.
“Undocumented” students shouldn’t even BE HERE in the first place. Read Thomas Chittums’ book Civil War II and see that he predicted in the early 90s that the term ILLEGAL ALIEN would be replaced by “undocumented worker” and that those would be buzz words leading to the initial phases of Civil War II. The man was/is a prophet as everything in the book is coming to pass at an accelerated pace.
Along those lines, I would also presume that any individual so covered by this man’s fiat will also be eligible for “disadvantaged” business classification for any business they start, and thus will have, in comparison to the native-born white, an inherent and permanent advantage in dealings with the government, yes?
It is impossible to not sound “racist” when saying these things, but they are in fact simple questions accurately reflecting the new reality, and are thus legitimate questions. Far from being sent to the “back of the line” as often said in amnesty discussions, these illegals so favored by this illegal decree will go to the front of the line—-because that is the racist society we live in today. They will have a host of friends reafy to help, the plain vanilla white kid will be treated as the red-headed step-child.
Never, never, interrupt the King!
He’s really not fit for office.
That’s what I was thinking in November 2008, already, when I held my nose and cast a vote for McCain — something that, until then, I never thought I’d ever do.
Call for Impeachment
It seems to me that failing to “ensure that the Laws of the United States are faithfully enforced” is an impeachable offense. I seem to have missed the debate in Congress about changing the immigration laws; or is Obama just ignoring the Constitution – again?
That would be accessory before the fact and accessory after the fact.
He isn’t robbing the bank, but he is casing the joint, and driving the get-away car.
Remember when Eric Holder announced the Justice Dept would no longer defend DOMA because he and the President didn’t think it was Constitutional? Remember when President Obama announced that, as religious organizations didn’t want to pay for people’s sterilizations etc., the insurance companies would all just offer those services for free? Apparently he thinks he can just decree things and they will come to pass. And as he just decrees that someone is going to be assassinated by a drone every few days, he really can.
President Bush was heckled during an NAACP speech in 2006. At least the DC Reporter was asking a real question, not heckling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJHzjIDAIVw
Someone please remind POTUS, the Dream Act had bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition in the last Lame Duck Session.
dream act has gone down 55-41, short of 60…Rs who voted yes- Murkowski Lugar and forced retiree Bob Bennett. Ds who voted no – Tester Baucus Hagan Nelson Pryor
http://michellemalkin.com/2010/12/17/operation-buck-up-redux-stop-the-dream-act-sessions-last-action-alert/
Also, Recall Hatch was a sponsor initially but realized he might lose his seat so he backed off.
Talk about etch-a-sketch! lulz
Obama sure sounds uppity, doesn’t he?
Someone needs to tell Obama that he is NOT a King.
And that this is going to blow up in his face. With about half of the already registered middle class Hispanic and African American voters switching parties or staying home well before November.
People PLEASE! stop using the term African Americans, they are AFRICANS they always have BEEN AFRICANS and they will always BE AFRICANS!
I lived in Port Isabel, Tx for over 5 years and have lived in Mexico for over 16 years and I can tell you for certain that those of Mexican heritage that are US citizens don’t want the non-legals in the US because illegals dilute the services and welfare available to them and bloat the schools to unteachable conditions. The mind-set of mexicans in mexico is generally one of hatred to any foreigners and especially blacks. Mexican law is doled out on the “who can pay the most to the judge” basis. There is no trial by jury. There is no habeus corpus. You are guilty until you prove your innocence. The country is run on the basis of the “Padrino principle”, your godfather takes care of you. These things are the culture and legal system the illegals want to bring to the US.
and this what the President wants us to accept
And that, friends…..truly is “The Death of the Cool”. Or maybe “Barack and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Campaign.”
Here’s hoping the Princess gets more and more annoyed with the peons as time goes on. We might get some actual reporting on him yet if he keeps getting snippy with the hired help.
“We might get some actual reporting on him yet if he keeps getting snippy with the hired help.” As funny as it is true.
the wh is now, more than ever, desperate for votes they took for granted.
their calculus is that they rally the base, while giving the opposition a chance to hang themselves(see Sandra Fluke). In their perception, this does nothing to diminish their support among conservatives, as it is an accepted loss.
Their calculus fails, in that they are unwittingly alienating the ‘middle’, as best exemplified by union homes, in this case.
Wisconsin was a harbinger…
There is a limit to these antics. Advocating job protection for 800k illegals will shed the support of far more than 800k union workers. The policy is weighted, heavily towards the southwest/California area. Since california is in the bag, they 800k potential voters will shrink, by more than half. Include NY, and the number might produce 100k, outside of the two states.
obama will be sporting a reelect number well below 45%, within a week.
The last 4 American-born construction workers can’t be happy about this.
And that would seem to be no joke. i would absolutely *love* to go into the industry on the operations management side, esp. the bigger projects where I think I’d be a great fit, but I have no intention of being complicit with what I presume is widespread and prevalent lawbreaking.
“It’s not illegal if the President does it.”
– R. Nixon
By the time Nixon said that, he had already left office in disgrace.
– Obama would retreat to a Rose Garden Strategy in which he controlled the proceeding.
Gathering intelligence is one of the Executive functions of the President.
On the other hand, diverting government assets to the task of burgularizing a political office to remove a ‘black book’ that had the names and phone numbers of known prostitutes that were provided to visitors from out of town, one of which was John Dean’s wife…. that would be illegal.
I think this was one item an a list of October surprises that was sprung early because his reset speech was such an enormous flop. The reaction from press and pundits to his speech was overwhelmingly negative, so by firing this bullet early he has quelled the discussion on his once highly touted now significantly diminished oratorical skills.
Try to imagine what will happen to anyone questioning anything, should Obama be relected. It is frightening to contemplate!
Wow! You see the sneer on that face, and we’ve seen the finger pointing before, but never frozen in time like that. There’s real hostility there!
A person who decides which laws will be enforced or not has assumed unlimited power for himself. He is a dictator. Period.
If Romney doesn’t take the strongest possible stance against such a gross violation of the law of the land, he doesn’t deserve to be president either.
The Romney campaign should replay this video on television over and over and over. And if the gentle people in the press corps had any cojones they would take this as a cue to begin shouting questions at the big pri… I mean Potus at every opportunity. If he wants to lose his cool, bring it. Oh please, please bring it! The last thing the big uuuh… Potus needs right now is to lose his adoring press.
I’m waiting for the next vote-getting treat to come down from on high. Perhaps a forgiveness of student loans? A forgiveness of underwater mortgages? In all Obama does there is a regular Joe American getting the shaft, paying for their financially imprudent neighbor to have his vote bought.
The larger problem in our constitutional government is one created by our government, largely during the New Deal. The Founders set up a republic consisting of the legislative, the executive, and the judicial branches. Lawmaking was done by the legislature. Laws were interpreted by the judiciary within the context of real disputes brought to it through the courts. The executive was supposed to enforce the laws.
As part of “progressive” policies of the twentieth century, Congress “delegated” the three types of powers to each new agency created. Thus, say, the EPA draws up a set of regulations (laws). After a period during which citizens can offer comments and suggested changes, the regulations become law. If you violate them, the EPA and its bureaucrats prosecute you within EPA courts. EPA administrative judges then decide your fate in EPA courts. The same system occurs in the other agencies.
This system is rather like the Mickey Mouse in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”. The Sorcerer leaves Mickey in charge. Mickey conjures up a broom to haul water. The unintended consequence is that the broom brings too much water. Mickey then tries to destroy the broom with an ax. Two brooms, and later an army of brooms, bring more water, until the deluge. Finally, the sorcerer returns and resolves the mess.
This system of delegation of powers—the combined powers of legislative, executive, and judiciary—has created a massive government. It also allows the President to issue orders within each agency’s purview.
Thus, we have arrived at tyranny in the hands of a community organizer from Chicago.
We, the People, must, like the sorcerer, return and resolve the mess. We must do it in November. We must also insist that the massive administrative state be dismantled. Starve the beast; do not engorge it.
We’re back to the worst of Obama: that hectoring, posturing, finger-pointing educated fool refusing to believe that anyone could disagree with him.
He can’t take the heat. Time to get out of the kitchen.
Here is Obama’s campaign in under 140 characters, with #CharactersToSpare — If you can’t win votes with your record, win votes with awesome bribes!
Impeachment now!
Impeachment now? Because Obama newly announced immigration policy violates the rule of law? Because he is an “accessory before and after the fact to violations of laws forbidding illegal immigration?”.
I think not.
On several levels, Obama may indeed be the worst President we’ve ever had and frankly I do think him to be so.
However, “rule of law” includes first and foremost the Constitution of the Unied States and like every president before him, Obama has the legal power to override the justice system, release anyone he chooses from imprisonment or from paying a fine, and return that person to a state of innocence as though he had never committed a crime.
In the United States, the pardon power for federal crimes is granted to the President of the United States under Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution.
Let me say that again: By the United States Constitution. Specifically, it is stated that
“The President … shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.”
The Supreme Court — in accordance with its own Constitutionally granted powers (like it or not) has interpreted this language to include the power to grant pardons, conditional pardons, commutations of sentence, conditional commutations of sentence, remissions of fines and forfeitures, respites and, yes, amnesties.
Moreover, the power to do this is plenary. That is, it is complete and it is his alone. The president isn’t required to explain or justify his actions to you, to me, to Congress nor, for that matter, to anyone else .The power to pardon is solely at the discretion of the president, and cannot be reviewed or overturned by any of the other branches of government.
In this sense, yeah, it is — and always has been — rather like the power of a king, as its basis is almost certainly in the royal Prerogative of English Kings.
All of which means, speaking of “Kings”, the good representative Steve King’s vow to “sue and win” a case against this policy is almost surely a fool’s errand. Pushing the President, assuming he has not granted amnesty here, may well simply encourage him to do so, and beyond that point there is no appeal. Once done, it would be be permanent as to those “pardoned,” and beyond the power of a future President to rescind.
One possible strategy for opponents might be to acknowledge that the mere presence of a minor child in-country is not actually a “crime,” as such, but only a civil misdemeanor and thus not subject to the pardon power.
But I don’t suppose the hysterics on this matter would very much like that approach.
Unfortunately, Obama has, with this action, probably increased his margins within the Hispanic community (not a racial group, by the way) and for the near term put any gains there out of reach for the Republicans.
That’s sad, because this admittedly cynical political ploy by Obama would have been denied him . . . had Republicans supported immigration reform four years ago.