Obama's Oath of Office is Meaningless: He's Violated the Constitution Numerous Times
Yesterday, the president of the United States was inaugurated for a second term. The inauguration, costing taxpayers a cool $170 million, was mostly pomp and circumstance until President Obama took the Oath of Office.
Then, it once again turned into a liar’s den.
“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Obama, much like Clinton, Bush Sr., and G.W. Bush, has treated the Constitution as if it were a list of suggestions, rather than concrete rules for holding the office of president. Between countless drone attacks, eviscerating the Bill of Rights, and signing a law turning America into a battlefield, this President has acted as if the Constitution were only to be followed at his convenience.
Here are just a few of the ways Barack Obama has trampled the Constitution, destroyed our inalienable rights, and violated his Oath of Office:
1. Signing the annual National Defense Authorization Act…twice
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a law passed every year by Congress, and it typically just authorizes funding for the the Armed Forces. However, the 2012 NDAA radically changed that. It authorized, at the request of the president, the indefinite military detention, without charge or trial, of any person on U.S. soil…including American citizens. President Obama signed it into law on New Year’s Eve, 2011, with a signing statement claiming he would never use that power. Then on January 4,2013, leaving the indefinite detention sections of the 2012 NDAA intact, he signed the NDAA again. This time, with no such disclaimer.
2. Assassinating American citizens
Anwar Al-Awlaki was an American citizen living in Yemen, who the president decided was aiding Al-Qaeda and should be eliminated. On September 30, 2011, a drone strike killed Al-Awlaki, and two weeks later, another drone strike killed his 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman Al-Awlaki. The president of the United States acted as judge, jury, and executioner of American citizens to whom the U.S. government denied their Constitutional right to a trial, a lawyer, or a day in court.
3. Authorizing Drone use on U.S. soil
Barack Obama signed the 2012 Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act (FAARA), which authorized 30,000 drones to begin flying over U.S. soil by 2020. These drones can “accidentally” spy on American citizens, thus violating the Fourth amendment right to be free from “unreasonable searches and seizures.”
4. Extending the Patriot Act
President Obama swore he would repeal the dangerously named USA PATRIOT Act before his election, which allowed for the limitless, and warrantless, wiretapping of anyone considered a suspected terrorist. The wiretapping provisions of this act, which were used in 1,618 drug cases and only 15 terrorism cases, and violated the Fourth amendment entirely, were due to expire on May 27, 2011. President Obama signed an extension just in time…the American people almost got some rights back. Whew, that was close.
5. Keeping Guantanamo Bay open
One of the key tenets of President Obama’s first election campaign was closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Once he got into office, he claimed closing the facility was "more difficult than I think a lot of people realize." More difficult, indeed. It is now January 22, 2013, and the president has officially made it impossible for Guantanamo Bay to close under current law.
Under President Obama’s watchful eye, America was turned into a battlefield. We still have the warrantless wiretapping authorized under President Bush, along with the same Guantanamo Bay, and we will soon see surveillance drones operating in the skies above, just like Iraq and Afghanistan. How long before those surveillance drones become Predator drones. These changes violate over 14 provisions of our U.S. Constitution.
In order to faithfully execute his office, our President must preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. So far, the only thing this President has been able to faithfully execute is our inalienable rights…one by one.
