Imperial Presidency

U.S. Acknowledges Killing 4 Americans in Drone Strikes

"The Obama administration on Wednesday formally acknowledged that the U.S. had killed four American citizens in drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan. In a letter to Congressional leaders, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. disclosed that the administration had deliberately killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric who was killed in a drone strike in September 2011 in Yemen. The letter also said that the United States had killed three other Americans: Samir Khan, who was killed in the same strike; Mr. Awlaki’s son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, who was also killed in Yemen; and Jude Mohammed, who was killed in a strike in Pakistan." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Acknowledges Killing 4 Americans in Drone Strikes

AP: Sources Aren’t Talking To Us Out Of Fear Of US Government Spying

"Speaking on CBS's Face the Nation, Pruitt, AP's president and chief executive officer, said the government's seizure of the phone records was 'unconstitutional' and was already clearly harming the press's ability to do its job. 'We are already seeing some impact. Already officials that would normally talk to us and people we talk to in the normal course of newsgathering are already saying to us that they are a little reluctant to talk to us. They fear that they will be monitored by the government. We are already seeing that. It's not hypothetical,' said Pruitt." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAP: Sources Aren’t Talking To Us Out Of Fear Of US Government Spying

Ron Paul: The IRS’s Job Is To Violate Our Liberties

"'What do you expect when you target the President?' This is what an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent allegedly said to the head of a conservative organization that was being audited after calling for the impeachment of then-President Clinton. Recent revelations that IRS agents gave 'special scrutiny' to organizations opposed to the current administration's policies suggest that many in the IRS still believe harassing the president's opponents is part of their job. As troubling as these recent reports are, it would be a grave mistake to think that IRS harassment of opponents of the incumbent president is a modern, or a partisan, phenomenon." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: The IRS’s Job Is To Violate Our Liberties

Michael Scheuer: As scandals deepen, Obama and Republicans will intervene in Syria

"Obama’s diversionary campaign — obscure impeachable offenses by launching an unnecessary war — will be abetted by Senators McCain, Graham, Lieberman, and dozens of other U.S. Senators and Congressman intent on war with Syria. Obama will use these useful idiots to convince the American people of three bipartisan lies: that (a) genuine U.S. interests are at risk in Syria; (b) Americans 'owe' the Syrian people U.S. dollars and blood to stop their suffering in a war they started; and that (c) Americans 'must' expend their dollars and kids to staunch the anarchy spreading in the Levant in order to protect our 'loyal and indispensable ally Israel.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMichael Scheuer: As scandals deepen, Obama and Republicans will intervene in Syria

AP chief to Obama: Spying on reporters is ‘an unconstitutional act’

"The Obama administration‘s decision to seize phone records from the Associated Press was 'unconstitutional' and sends a message that 'if you talk to the press, we are going to go after you', the news agency’s boss Gary Pruitt said Sunday. AP revealed last week that the Justice Department had obtained two months’ worth of phone records of calls made by reporters and editors without informing the organisation in advance. The move was an apparent effort by US officials to identify the source of a story about the CIA foiling an alleged terrorist plot by an al Qaida terrorist affiliate in Yemen." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAP chief to Obama: Spying on reporters is ‘an unconstitutional act’

Top Constitutional Experts: Obama Is Worse than Nixon

"Daniel Ellsberg notes that Obama’s claimed power to indefinitely detain people without charges or access to a lawyer or the courts is a power that even King George didn’t claim. Former judge and adjunct professor of constitutional law Andrew Napolitano points out that Obama’s claim that he can indefinitely detain prisoners even after they are acquitted of their crimes is a power that even Hitler and Stalin didn’t claim. Indeed, Obama has turned America into the most spied upon nation in world history, and has rolled back liberties to the time of the enactment of the Magna Carta in 1215." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTop Constitutional Experts: Obama Is Worse than Nixon

Obama rejects calls for independent probe of IRS scandal

"President Obama brushed off calls for a special independent investigator into the IRS scandal that has engulfed his administration during a press conference this afternoon, saying the internal audit and criminal investigation headed by Attorney General Eric Holder are 'sufficient.' The press conference comes after Obama scrambled last night to fend off growing concerns about his administration following the news that the IRS targeted conservative groups. He also has been battling other controversies, including questions about the deadly attacks in Benghazi and the Department of Justice secretly obtaining Associated Press phone records." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama rejects calls for independent probe of IRS scandal

Obama accepts resignation of IRS acting chief over ‘inexcusable’ tea party scandal

"Barack Obama fired the most senior tax official in the US on Wednesday in an effort to bring a speedy end to a scandal over the targeting for special scrutiny of Tea Party organisations and other conservative groups. The president said that the acting commissioner, Steven Miller, was asked to resign and that Miller had done so. Miller’s sacking followed an independent report by the Treasury’s inspector general, which found that the conduct in the IRS office in Cincinnati had been 'inappropriate'. Officials had picked out groups with the words Tea Party or Patriots in their titles and subjected their requests for tax-exempt status to extra scrutiny." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama accepts resignation of IRS acting chief over ‘inexcusable’ tea party scandal

Let’s Thank President Obama for Reminding Americans that They Should Distrust the IRS

"Last week, while writing about the latest IRS scandal, I noted that the IRS has a long record of abusive actions. It has thieving employees. It has incompetent employees. It has thuggish employees. It has brainless employees. And it has victimizing employees. So I wasn’t surprised to learn that it also has politically biased employees. But some Americans probably are shocked. Why am I thanking Obama? For the simple reason that this scandal means that more Americans now understand that the IRS is a venal agency." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLet’s Thank President Obama for Reminding Americans that They Should Distrust the IRS