Jonathan Turley Says Barack Obama is the President That Richard Nixon Always Wanted To Be … Constitutional Tipping Point

THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENT …

Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley went on the Hannity Show and said the unthinkable, or should we say the unmentionable when it comes to Barack Obama, he compared him to Richard Nixon. Jonathan Turley, who mostly supports the policies of Obama, stated that we are at a tipping point constitutionally. Turley went on to call the Obama presidency an “imperial presidency, an uber presidency” and one “where the president can act unilaterally.” Folks, this is coming from a liberal.  Then came the money line … “Barack Obama is really the president Richard Nixon always wanted to be.”

People don’t seem to understand that the separation of powers is not about the power of these branches, it’s there to protect individual liberty, it’s there to protect us from the concentration of power. That’s what is occurring here. You know, I’ve said it before, Barack Obama is really the president Richard Nixon always wanted to be. You know, he’s been allowed to act unilaterally in a way that we’ve fought for decades.

VIDEO – Real Clear Politics: click on pic to watch

Transcript from RCP:

SEAN HANNITY: We do have co-equal branches of government, separation of powers. You teach this regularly. You agree with the president politically. For you to say we are at a tipping point constitutionally — now, I agree with you. What does that mean considering our constitution is our rule of law and they are ignoring it?

JONATHAN TURLEY: Well, unfortunately our system is changing, and it’s changing without a debate. Or even a discussion about what we’re going to do in the future when we have a three branch system, a tripartite system but one branch is so dominant. What’s emerging is an imperial presidency, an uber presidency as I’ve called it, where the president can act unilaterally. This is only the latest example of that.

What’s troubling is that we have a system that has been stable precisely because these are limited and shared powers. This president has indicated that he’s just not willing to comply with some of those aspects. He told Congress he would go it alone and in our system you’re not allowed to go it alone.

SEAN HANNITY: If I broke the law, why do I think they would be the first people to hand kickoff me, perp walk me and send me off to jail. This is just my belief system. Paranoia or truth?

JONATHAN TURLEY: Well, I think that the biggest problem we have is that the system itself, if we have a dominant branch, simply begins to shut down in terms of the safeguards. People don’t seem to understand that the separation of powers is not about the power of these branches, it’s there to protect individual liberty, it’s there to protect us from the concentration of power. That’s what is occurring here. You know, I’ve said it before, Barack Obama is really the president Richard Nixon always wanted to be. You know, he’s been allowed to act unilaterally in a way that we’ve fought for decades.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (CA-D) Disappointed Lawmakers Not Given 30-Day Notice by Law by Obama Administration on Sgt. Bergdahl – Taliban 5 Swap

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: OOPS, SORRY, WE FORGOT…

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (CA-D) said yesterday of the  Obama administration that she was “very disappointing that there was not a level of trust sufficient” in failing to notify lawmakers 30 days’ notice about a deal to release five Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. She stated that National Deputy Security Adviser Tony Blinken called her Monday night “apologizing” for failing to notify lawmakers sooner. DIFI  referred to Blinken’s apology as an oversight. HAH! Oversight? How does the Obama administration go from Jay Carney stating explicitly in 2013 that Congress will be told in advance by law to no communication what-so-ever with the ranking Senate chair?

The Democrat Divide

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein took at shot at the Obama administration on Tuesday for failing to give lawmakers 30 days’ notice about a deal to release five Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only POW from America’s war in Afghanistan.

“It’s very disappointing that there was not a level of trust sufficient to justify alerting us,” Feinstein told reporters in the Capitol.

A defense bill that President Obama signed into law in December 2013 requires that Congress be notified 30 days ahead of releasing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay.

Feinstein said that National Deputy Security Adviser Tony Blinken called her Monday night “apologizing” for failing to notify lawmakers sooner.

“He apologized for it and said it was an oversight,” Feinstein said. When asked whether he used the word “oversight,” Feinstein clarified: “In so many words, I can’t say. That was my impression.”

While the California Democrat says “the president certainly has an executive authority that he can use,” she also wants to know whether Bergdahl was a deserter, and she wants to know the terms of the deal with the Qatari government, which has pledged to keep the Taliban prisoners for a year. There will be a briefing Tuesday for Intel Committee members, and a closed Senate Armed Services Committee hearing next Tuesday about the swap.

Although, this is a Democrats reaction of moral and legal outrage toward the Obama administration and their actions … Are Democrats finally figuring out that Obama does not trust them either or care to include them in his imperial government?   Hot Air points out that despite the arguments offered by the White House that they needed Bergdahl back no matter how he’d been captured, Feinstein suggested that his status mattered in the equation. The American public reaction to this ill-advised prisoner swap will only serve to cause Democrats to further run away from Obama in the upcoming midterm elections.

CNN Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin States President Barack Obama “Clearly Broke the Law” in Releasing Taliban Detainees from GITMO without giving Congress 30 Days Notice … Jonathan Turley Too

Two Liberal Lawyers say Barack Obama clearly broke the law …

CNN’s legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin stated yesterday on ‘The Situation Room’ with Wolf Blitzer that President Barack Obama “clearly broke the law” by failing to provide notice to Congress at least 30 days before trading five Taliban members from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley also said on CNN that the White House broke the law by releasing five high-ranking Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay without congressional notification.

“They did,” the professor replied matter-of-factly. “I don’t think that the White House is seriously arguing that they’re not violating federal law. And to make matters worse, this is a long series of violations of federal law that the president’s been accused of. … This is going to add to that pile. I don’t think there’s much debate that they’re in violation of the law.”

But as those Hillary Clinton likes to say, “what difference does it make?”

Mediaite:

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin declared on Monday that President Barack Obama “broke the law” when his administration failed to give Congress notice of at least 30 days before releasing five ranking Taliban members from Guantanamo Bay. Toobin said that a presidential signing statement did not absolve Obama from culpability for failing to abide by the law mandating congressional notification.

“I think he clearly broke the law,” Toobin said. “The law says 30-days’ notice. He didn’t give 30-days’ notice.” Toobin added that Obama’s opinion expressed in a signing statement “is not law.”

“The law is on the books, and he didn’t follow it,” Toobin added.

Why should this come as a surprise to anyone that Barack Obama is willfully and purposely breaking the law? He defends the laws he likes and ignores the ones he doesn’t. This is what an Imperialist president looks like.

Sen. John McCain Questions Swap “Highest High-Risk” Terrorists as White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice Defends United States Negotiating with Terrorists over Exchange of GITMO 5 for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl

A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT THAT THE US WILL RUE THE DAY …

White House national security adviser Susan Rice went on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ with Candy Crowley to defend the Obama administration’s decision to exchange five GITMO “high risk” Taliban detainees for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Rice also spun the fact that the Obama administration broke the law in not notifying Congress 30 days prior that there was a negotiation in process. But of course, what difference does it make with this administration, all they do is break the law, thumb their nose at separations of power and The US Constitution. Let alone negotiating with terrorists. How and why would something like this be deemed so sensitive that Congress was not notified? ” Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said on ABC’s ‘This Week,’ “What does this tell the terrorists? That if you capture a U.S. soldier, you can trade that soldier for five terrorists Cruz called the prisoner swap “very disturbing.” 

White House national security adviser Susan Rice defended the Obama administration’s decision to exchange Guantanamo detainees for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, amid criticism that the United States negotiated with terrorists in the process.

She also said the “acute urgency” of Bergdahl’s health condition justified President Obama’s not notifying Congress beforehand that Bergdahl was being swapped for five Taliban detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

“What we did was ensure that, as always, the United States doesn’t leave a man or a woman on the battlefield,” Rice said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Susan Rice went on to parrot President Obama in saying, “What we did was ensure that, as always, the United States doesn’t leave a man or a woman on the battlefield.” However, there appears to be just one little problem with that statement … Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was not left on the battlefield, by all accounts he left his

From The Daily Caller: CNN’s Candy Crowley Grills Susan Rice: ‘Point Blank, Did The US Negotiate With Terrorists?’

Once again the Obama administration is playing games with words. Newsflash to Susan Rice by the associative property, if a=b and b=c then a=c, you negotiated with terrorists.

CNN host Candy Crowley pressed White House national security adviser Susan Rice on the Taliban prisoner swap conducted Saturday, asking “point blank, did the US negotiate with terrorists” in violation of its long-held policy?

Crowley spoke with Rice on Sunday about the exchange of five high-ranking Taliban detainees — two of which are accused of the mass murder of religious minorities in Afghanistan — for Army Sgt. Bowe Berghdahl, whom many claim was captured after deserting his post and walking into the Afghan wilderness in 2009.

Berghdahl was captured by the Haqqani network, a close ally of the Taliban and an acknowledged terrorist organization according to the State Department.

“Point blank, did the US negotiate with terrorists for his release?” Crowley asked.

“Candy, what we did was ensure that, as always, the United States doesn’t leave a man or woman on the battlefield,” Rice replied. “It’s very important for folks to understand, if we got into a situation where we said because of who has captured an American soldier on the battlefield, we will leave that person behind.”

John McCain went on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’ and questioned the swap of “highest high-risk people” for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. McCain called the GITMO detainees, “These are the hardest of the hard core” and added that he was disturbed the Taliban named the prisoners they wanted in exchange for Bergdahl’s freedom.

Current and former U.S. officials welcomed the return of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan, but voiced concern about the release of five members of the Taliban who had been held at the Guantanamo Bay as part of a negotiated prisoner swap.

“These are the hardest of the hard core. These are the highest high-risk people, and others that we have released have gone back into the fight,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in an interview on “Face the Nation,” adding that he was disturbed the Taliban named the prisoners they wanted in exchange for Bergdahl’s freedom.

Thanks Barack Obama: Taliban & Taliban’s Supreme Leader Mullah Omar Celebrate Release of Gitmo Detainees for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl

Thanks Barack Obama … Isn’t this special, Taliban’s Supreme Leader Mullah Omar is celebrating the release of the GITMO 5 in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

The Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, hailed the release of the GITMO 5. Why shouldn’t Omar be elated, the 5 terror suspects freed by Obama administration over the weekend were labeled ‘high risk’ in 2008 Pentagon report. Are you serious, Obama exchanged 5 high risk Taliban terrorists for what appears by all accounts to be a deserter? Is it bad enough that the Obama administration just negotiated with terrorists, but compounded matters with selecting a potential deserter as their test case. UNREAL.

“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the entire Afghan Muslim nation, all the mujahideen and to the families and relatives of the prisoners for this big victory regarding the release of five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo prison,” he said in a statement quoted by the AFP news agency.

It will be one year and one minute before these five Taliban terrorists are back on the terrorist battle field against the United States. Could Obama have done anything better to inspire the Taliban to continue the fight against America.

From the Islamic Eremite of Afghanistan:

Barack Obama and his misguided administration just created five Taliban rock stars.

We heartily congratulate the whole nation, Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate, particularly the kith and kin of the released ones that five heads of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan namely Mulla Muhammad Fazal Akhund, Mulla Noorulla Noori, Mulla Khairulla Khairkhwa, Mulla Abdul Haq Waseeq and Moulavi Muhammad Nabi who had been incarcerated for the last thirteen years in ‘Guantanamo Jail’ are released due to the benevolence of Allah Almighty and the sacrifices of the heroic and courageous Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate.

These five heads were released in the result of an indirect negotiation between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the United States mediated by Qatari government. They will remain with their families inside Qatar and will lead a normal life.

To get the preceding five heads released, it is worth mentioning that the Islamic Emirate handed over the American soldier to the US who was captive with us approximately for the last five years.

These five heads of the Islamic Emirate were handed over on Saturday at 07:00 pm Afghanistan standard time to the delegation of Qatar who has been waiting there in ‘Guantanamo Bay’ for the previous three days. This delegation, including five heads of the Islamic Emirate, left Guantanamo at 10:00 pm and will arrive in Qatar today Sunday. They will be received and welcomed by the Political Bureau of the Islamic Emirate inside Qatar and members of the leading council of the Islamic Emirate. Similarly, the American prisoner ‘Bergdahl’ was handed over in the suburbs of ‘Khost’ province to the other side on Saturday at 07:00 pm Afghanistan standard time.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has been taking all possible measures since long to get all the Afghan prisoners released whether they are incarcerated inside the country or outside and to let them enjoy a free and peaceful life.

In the future too, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is determined to get all the Mujahidin prisoners released as soon as possible. In this regard, we expect all the legal and human rights societies particularly the United Nations to share and accelerate their efforts with Afghan people and the Islamic Emirate on the basis of human sympathy so that all the incarcerated people are freed and their basic legal and human rights are safeguarded and they could lead an independent and peaceful life of their own accord.

EXIT QUESTION: How soon will the next kidnapping or abduction take place in the Middle East now that Obama has shown that he is willing to negotiate with terrorists in hostage swaps?