“The painful fact is that Barack Obama is the president that Nixon always wanted to be,” – Jonathan Turley, constitutional law expert
While perusing the daily newspaper this morning, my attention was drawn to the This Day in History column featuring President Richard Nixon’s Aug. 8, 1974 resignation.
Forty-one years ago, President Nixon resigned the presidency. (ahharsfnewws.com)
Over the years I have often considered Nixon’s transgressions to be foolish and clumsy to say the least, but it led to his impeachment and key members of his administration went to jail.
Hardly a day goes by, however, that I don’t see the actions of President Obama equally or more egregious than those of Nixon. But when you look back to the 1970s, reporters Woodward and Bernstein had the backing of their powerful newspaper, The Washington Post, to uncover the deeds of Nixon and his men.
You can ask, where the Woodward’s and Bernstein’s are today, but you soon come to your senses and realize that Nixon openly scorned the media and President Obama owns the media. Today, The Washington Post might tweak the Obama administration by giving the president or Hillary Clinton four Pinocchio’s.
In Article 1 of Nixon’s impeachment, the means by which he made misleading statements, withheld information, endeavoring to interfere with investigations, misusing government agencies, and counseling witnesses to give false or misleading statements was covered.
Obama’s Justice Department secretly obtained months of telephone records of Associated Press reporters and editors and falsely charged Fox’s James Rosen as an “aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator” in a spy ring.
Journalists Sharyl Attkisson and Kirsten Powers have written books describing the White House stonewalling of information being sought. And The New York Times recently testified about the “culture of unresponsiveness” in the Obama administration as Freedom of Information requests are unacceptably delayed.
Such requests are supposed to be responded to in 20 business days, but reportedly just one percent meet that timeframe, while most requests take months and even years. And many are heavily redacted when finally provided.
In Article 2, Nixon was also charged with the misuse of the IRS, FBI, DOJ and CIA and personally violating or disregarding the rights of citizens, failing to adhere to laws when it came to charges against subordinates, and disregard of the rule-of-law.
Scandals at the IRS over conservative targeting, Hillary Clinton and the State Department over Benghazi, and the Justice Department over Associated Press wiretaps are not taken seriously. (thehollywoodgossip.com)
I don’t believe I need to remind you of the culture of corruption that exists in the Obama administration with the involvement of the DOJ in Fast and Furious, the Benghazi attack, and the IRS targeting of conservatives.
“The painful fact is that Barack Obama is the president that Nixon always wanted to be,” wrote Jonathan Turley, a Democrat and top constitutional law expert.
“Four decades ago, Nixon was halted in his determined effort to create an ‘imperial presidency’ with unilateral powers and privileges. Obama wields those very same powers openly and without serious opposition. The success of Obama in acquiring the long-denied powers of Nixon is one his most remarkable, if ignoble accomplishments.”
