Even for those like me who admire Barack Obama, the constitutional record is disturbingly mixed. Obama leaves the Constitution weaker than at the beginning of his terms.

He points first to the 2011 Libya intervention. It involved neither a congressional authorization of the use of force, nor compliance with the 1973 War Powers Act, which requires at least congressional notification of troop commitments and affirmative permission after 60 days. Every president since the WPA’s enactment has claimed that it’s an unconstitutional limit on inherent executive authority over military power. Obama instead claimed that hundreds of missile strikes and dozens of air missions didn’t trigger the WPA because they only constituted “kinetic military action” rather than war. I never knew that.

The National Security Agency’s vigorous program of domestic surveillance caused Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to lie to Congress. And then journalist James Rosen said:

What happened to me was that the Attorney General, Eric Holder, under Barack Obama as president secretly designated me a criminal co-conspirator and a flight risk and thereby had a federal judge give the government permission to rifle through all my gmails.

They could read the emails, and then also to get all the phone records associated with about 20 phones that I used at that time in my reporting. All of those phone lines were 202 or 703, which are the area codes associated with Washington and the Pentagon, northern Virginia area. One of those 20 phone lines was 718 and that referred to my parent’s house on Staten Island at that time.

The GOATs are pretty comfy this type of behavior. I’m not. Are you? Candidate Obama said this on the 2008 campaign trail:

The biggest problems that we’re facing right now have to do with George Bush trying to bring more and more power into the executive branch and not go through Congress at all. And that’s what I intend to reverse when I’m president.

When Obama lost the congressional majority, after he signed the unconstitutional legislation of Obamacare and Dodd-Frank in 2010, he began using his pen and phone. Obama continued to take out his frustrations with the checks and balances that inhibited his ability to “fundamentally transform” the country.

In Obama’s first term, the administration launched a “We Can’t Wait” initiative, with senior aide Dan Pfeiffer explaining that:

When Congress won’t act, this president will.

Obama beginning his second-term said this about his economic plans:

I will not allow gridlock, or inaction, or willful indifference to get in our way.

I searched but could not find a “gridlock clause” in our Constitution. Maybe I missed something. Was a 28^th Amendment ratified that stated:

The president’s power increases when Congress doesn’t support him.

The Muckster will keep an eye open and an ear to the ground to keep our readers informed. I am here to lead you into a bright future with 20/20: A Clear Vision for Our future.  My new book tells the story of our Constitution and why we must learn what our rights are and why we need to keep them. You are my inspiration. Be a part of the narrative.