In an opinion piece for Fox News, Roger Stone, Libertarian author of Nixon's Secrets, declared Obama a more egregious violator of the Constitution than the first and only U.S. president to be forced to resign.
No man, Nixon’s critics assured us, was above the law. For his transgressions, Richard Nixon was forced from office, evading prosecution only because of a presidential pardon.
Yet by any reasonable measure, Nixon’s sins seem venal compared to those of President Barack Obama.
Stone provides a side by side comparison of Nixon’s Constitutional transgressions and Obama’s, and each time determines the current Commander-in-Chief's "far worse."
On spying and impeding investigations:
Obama has used the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to guarantee any surveillance the government wants without probable cause. Nixon spied on a virtual hand-full. Barack Obama’s NSA wire-taps the entire nation and monitors the e-mails of thousands. [...]
The White House tapes show Nixon attempting to use the CIA to impede the FBI investigation into the Watergate break-in. This pales in comparison to the CIA spying on members of the US Senate charged with investigating the Agency's illegal activities.
On using the IRS to harass political enemies:
Nixon talked about using the IRS to harass his opponents but there is no evidence that he successfully did so, yet illegal use of the IRS was among the Articles of Impeachment voted by the House of Representatives. Obama’s IRS has actually used the IRS to harass conservative groups. Can you imagine the liberal outcry if IRS officials under Nixon referred to liberals as “a—holes’ and “crazies”?
On declaring war without Congressional approval:
Nixon’s impeachment included the charge that he evaded Congress’ sole authority to declare war by bombing Cambodia. Yet in Libya Obama said that only he had the inherent authority to decide what is a “war” and that no congressional approval was necessary. He proceeded to bomb Libya, destroy its military and spend more than a billion dollars in borrowed money in support of one side, who was not aligned with the United States, in a civil war.
On “missing” evidence:
Nixon was excoriated for the missing 18 and a half minutes in his White House tapes although his long-time Secretary Rose Mary Woods claimed to have erased them by mistake. In the torture scandal, CIA officials admitted to destroying tapes that they knew could be used against them in criminal cases at the same time Obama’s IRS says hundreds of thousands of documents regarding abuse against Tea Party and Conservative groups are “missing,” without repercussion.
Stone concludes that Obama’s “iconic status on the left” has protected him as he “shreds the Constitution in ways Richard Nixon would have marveled at.” Despite crimes “far more serious and reaching” than any enacted by Nixon, Stone argues, hypocritical Democrats continue to scoff at any mention of the impeachment to the great detriment of the country.
No man, Nixon’s critics assured us, was above the law. For his transgressions, Richard Nixon was forced from office, evading prosecution only because of a presidential pardon.
Yet by any reasonable measure, Nixon’s sins seem venal compared to those of President Barack Obama.
Stone provides a side by side comparison of Nixon’s Constitutional transgressions and Obama’s, and each time determines the current Commander-in-Chief's "far worse."
On spying and impeding investigations:
Obama has used the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to guarantee any surveillance the government wants without probable cause. Nixon spied on a virtual hand-full. Barack Obama’s NSA wire-taps the entire nation and monitors the e-mails of thousands. [...]
The White House tapes show Nixon attempting to use the CIA to impede the FBI investigation into the Watergate break-in. This pales in comparison to the CIA spying on members of the US Senate charged with investigating the Agency's illegal activities.
On using the IRS to harass political enemies:
Nixon talked about using the IRS to harass his opponents but there is no evidence that he successfully did so, yet illegal use of the IRS was among the Articles of Impeachment voted by the House of Representatives. Obama’s IRS has actually used the IRS to harass conservative groups. Can you imagine the liberal outcry if IRS officials under Nixon referred to liberals as “a—holes’ and “crazies”?
On declaring war without Congressional approval:
Nixon’s impeachment included the charge that he evaded Congress’ sole authority to declare war by bombing Cambodia. Yet in Libya Obama said that only he had the inherent authority to decide what is a “war” and that no congressional approval was necessary. He proceeded to bomb Libya, destroy its military and spend more than a billion dollars in borrowed money in support of one side, who was not aligned with the United States, in a civil war.
On “missing” evidence:
Nixon was excoriated for the missing 18 and a half minutes in his White House tapes although his long-time Secretary Rose Mary Woods claimed to have erased them by mistake. In the torture scandal, CIA officials admitted to destroying tapes that they knew could be used against them in criminal cases at the same time Obama’s IRS says hundreds of thousands of documents regarding abuse against Tea Party and Conservative groups are “missing,” without repercussion.
Stone concludes that Obama’s “iconic status on the left” has protected him as he “shreds the Constitution in ways Richard Nixon would have marveled at.” Despite crimes “far more serious and reaching” than any enacted by Nixon, Stone argues, hypocritical Democrats continue to scoff at any mention of the impeachment to the great detriment of the country.
