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Obama's John Yoo Moment-- Cherry Picking Lawyers to Break a Major Law

Rob Kall

Bush and Cheney searched around until they found an attorney who would vet torture.

Now we have the news that Obama did the same thing to start an illegal war in Libya. He rejected the legal advice of the DOJ's office of legal counsel and Pentagon attorneys and cherry picked lawyers who would tell him what he wanted to hear. Pentagon General Counsel Jeh C. Johnson and acting head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel Caroline D. Krass advised Obama against invading Libya without congressional permission.

Instead, president Obama, following in the footsteps of Bush and Cheney, when they depended upon the legal counsel of John Yoo, went to White House counsel Robert Bauer and State Department legal adviser Harold H. Koh, the NY Times reported.

Now, there is a bi-partisan effort in the house to confront Obama's alleged violation of the War Powers act.

Obama continues to walk in the footsteps of Bush. It was bad for Bush to justify torture by finding an integrity-challenged attorney to cover his ass. Now, we have Obama starting a war with the help of lawyers who say it's okay. Obama again embraces and extends a precedent set by Bush. What's worse, torture or starting a war without the authorization of the "people's" congress.

Yoo testifiying before congress

Ironically, John Yoo criticized Republicans, who have traditionally opposed the war powers act and supported allowing Presidents to take the nation to war, Politico reported. Yoo said, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed,

By accusing President Barack Obama of violating the War Powers Resolution, House Republicans are abandoning their party's longstanding position that the Constitution allows the executive to use force abroad, subject to Congress's control over funding. Sadly, they've fallen victim to the siren song of short-term political gain ..

The thin veils are dropping away. The smoke is clearing. The chimera of democracy is eroding.

There is a bi-partisan effort to challenge Obama. Too bad the Republicans aren't impeaching him for his violation of the war powers act. lawyers can't just say it's okay and that makes it okay. I say impeach Obama. Force a primary or get him off the ballot altogether. My choice for the Democratic candidate-- Elizabeth Warren.

Author's Bio:

Rob Kall is executive editor, publisher and site architect of OpEdNews.com, Host of the Rob Kall Bottom Up Radio Show (WNJC 1360 AM), President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com

With his experience as architect and founder of a technorati top 100 blog, he is also a new media / social media consultant and trainer for corporations, non-profits, entrepreneurs and authors.

Rob is a frequent Speaker on the bottom up revolution, politics, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates, and optimizing tapping the power of new media. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.

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A few declarations.

-While I'm registered as a Democrat, I consider myself to be a dynamic critic of the Democratic party, just as, well, not quite as much, but almost as much as I am a critic of republicans.

-My articles express my personal opinion, not the opinion of this website.

Recent press coverage in the Wall Street Journal: Party's Left Pushes for a Seat at the Table

http://www.opednews.com/populum/print_friendly.php?p=Obama-s-John-Yoo-Moment--by-Rob-Kall-110619-829.html&c=a

June 19, 2011

Four Winds 10 - News