Short-Term Memory Loss?: Senator Obama Knows His Constitution

Sam Rolley 

There has been a great deal of Internet chatter in recent months about the massive difference between Senator Barack Obama and President Barack Obama. In light of the National Security Agency Spying revelations and what appears to be a looming military engagement in Syria, a 2007 Boston Globe interview with Senator Obama is a paramount example of how the President has changed— or, perhaps, of how he lied his way into the White House.

Here are a few key Obama statements from the interview:

§  The Supreme Court has never held that the president has such powers. As president, I will follow existing law, and when it comes to U.S. citizens and residents, I will only authorize surveillance for national security purposes consistent with FISA and other federal statutes.

§  The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.

§  As Commander-in-Chief, the President does have a duty to protect and defend the United States. In instances of self-defense, the President would be within his constitutional authority to act before advising Congress or seeking its consent.

§  Warrantless surveillance of American citizens, in defiance of FISA, is unlawful and unconstitutional.

§  I believe the [Bush] Administration’s use of executive authority to over-classify information is a bad idea. We need to restore the balance between the necessarily secret and the necessity of openness in our democracy – which is why I have called for a National Declassification Center.

§  Any President takes an oath to, “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The American people need to know where we stand on these issues before they entrust us with this responsibility – particularly at a time when our laws, our traditions, and our Constitution have been repeatedly challenged by this [the Bush] Administration.

Read the full interview here.

Little did Obama voters know that what the President really meant to say during his initial campaign was: “I hope no one notices how I change after I sucker them into voting me into office with empty promises about upholding the Constitution.”

H/T: Weasel Zippers 

Sam Rolley, PersonalLiberty Digest, Aug. 27, 2013