Imperial Presidency

Syria Resolution Intentionally Vague, Obama Can Put Boots On The Ground

"JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: It's a tremendous amount of wiggle room for a couple of reasons. As a practical matter, as your previous guest Aaron just said, when you send missiles into a country, you need boots on the ground to guide the missiles where they're going to land. So Secretary Kerry may very well shrewdly have been mincing words. The government considers military troops out of uniform, out of uniform, or CIA in their nonuniform garb not to be 'boots on the ground.'" Continue reading →

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The US Government: A Collection of War Criminals and Liars

"The obama regime spies on the entire world and lies about it. The obama regime is fully engaged in killing people in seven countries, a murderous rampage that not even Hitler attempted. Whether the criminal obama regime can purchase the collaboration of Congress and the European puppet states in a transparent war crime will soon be decided. The decision will determine the fate of the world. Are the American people and the rest of the world just going to stand there, sucking their thumbs, while a new Nazi State rises in Washington? Congress must vote down the war and make it clear to obama that if he defies the constitutional power of Congress he will be impeached." Continue reading →

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Paul Craig Roberts: How to Stop Obama’s Military Aggression Against Syria

"In the event that Congress fails to understand the real stakes and votes to support a criminal action, the second thing that can be done to stop the attack is for most other countries in the world–China, India, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Canada, Iran, South Africa, the European and South American countries–to add their clear unequivocal statements to those of the UN General Secretary and President Putin that an American attack on Syria that is not authorized by the UN Security Council is a war crime. Expression by the governments of the world of this truthful statement would make it clear to Washington that it is isolated from the world community." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: How to Stop Obama’s Military Aggression Against Syria

Obama on Verge of Historic Rebuke Over Syria

"Pundits on both sides of the aisle say losing the high-stakes bid for congressional authorization would make Obama an instant lame-duck, and might well endanger his entire second-term agenda. On Thursday afternoon, as the whip counts were being tallied, the realization dawned in the nation’s capital that President Obama is perilously close to what would be an historic, humiliating international rebuke. To date, no major military power or international organization has supported Obama’s stated intention to launch a cruise-missile barrage at Assad, the so-called 'shot across the bow.'" Continue reading →

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If Congress says no, can Obama strike Syria?

"Initiating airstrikes in Syria would undermine rather than uphold the credibility of the UN Charter, which generally permits the use of non-defensive force only with Security Council authorization. That has not been granted. The charter’s purpose is in fact to prevent individual states from engaging in the sort of international policing the US is proposing to undertake in Syria. Ultimately, it isn’t clear where the administration could turn for legal justification in the event of a no vote in Congress. Even without a strong legal foundation, if the administration decides to proceed with airstrikes, there isn’t much Congress could do to stop it." Continue reading →

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House Republican Claims Reagan Stood Up To Chemical Weapons Use

"Ronald Reagan did exactly the opposite. For the majority of the 1980s, Iraq under Saddam Hussein was locked in combat with the Islamic Republic of Iran in a war that killed more than 1,000,000 people on both sides. The United States explicitly backed the secular Hussein over the Ayatollah Khomeini’s government in Tehran, still smarting from the embassy hostage crisis that had only ended when Reagan took office. That backing not only included the shipment of tons of weapons to support Baghdad, but also looking the other way when Iraq unleashed its chemical weapons stockpiles — including sarin and mustard gas — against Iranian civilians and soldiers alike." Continue reading →

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Jim Bovard: We can’t trust White House Syria claims

"Can we expect the U.S. government to be honest about an alleged atrocity which the president is invoking to sanctify his foreign policy? History is not reassuring on that score. Whitewashing the Katyn Forest massacre helped blindfold both American policymakers and the American public regarding the brutality of the Soviet Union. It took 69 years for the U.S. government to disclose that it had deceived the American people regarding one of World War II's landmark atrocities. If it takes as long to find out what the U.S. government knew regarding recent alleged Syrian attacks, we will not have the full story until 2082." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJim Bovard: We can’t trust White House Syria claims

Administration Gives States Conditional Okay on Marijuana Legalization

"Attorney General Eric Holder told the governors of Colorado and Washington Thursday that the Justice Department would not -- at least for now -- block their states from implementing regimes to tax, regulate, and sell marijuana. The memo listed a number of activities that could draw federal prosecutorial attention or result in a Justice Department reassessment, including sales to minors, profits going to criminal actors, diversion to pot prohibition states, marijuana sales as a cover for other drug sales, violence and the use of firearms, drugged driving and other 'adverse public health consequences,' and growing marijuana on public lands. That leaves some wiggle room for federal prosecutors." Continue reading →

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What the Justice Department Pot Memo Means

"How soon is 'relatively soon?' The answer is 296 days. That’s how long it took for the Obama Justice Department to respond to the passage of last November’s historic statewide ballot measures in Colorado and Washington authorizing the commercial production and retail sale of cannabis to those over the age of 21. Cannabis law reformers welcomed the Justice Department’s directive, though some also expressed skepticism. Their caution is understandable. In a 2009 memo (the Ogden memorandum), the administration pledged not to intervene in medical cannabis states. But federal officials reversed course in 2011. Yet there are indications that things may be different now." Continue reading →

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Judge Napolitano: Can America bomb and kill for bragging rights?

"President Obama’s request for express congressional authorization for a limited aerial invasion of Syria raises profound legal and constitutional questions. For starters, there is simply no legal basis in international law to support an American invasion of Syria. Yet, notwithstanding that, federal law permits the president to commit U.S. military forces anywhere he wants for up to 90 days, without express authorization from Congress. So, why did Obama ask for the authorization he surely knows he already has?" Continue reading →

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