Dr. Boyce & Dr. Wilmer Leon: Holden, Obama Invoke Executive Privilege – Is the Administration Under Unfair Attack?
In this video, Dr. Boyce Watkins and Dr. Wilmer Leon discuss the recent decision by the Obama Administration to use Executive Privilege to stop challenges by Republicans in response to “Operation Fast and Furious.” Dr. Leon, a Political Scientist at Howard University who has taught a class on the presidency, breaks down what all this means for Obama and Holder. The implications are going to be huge in an election season.
The video is below:
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I am sick of the racial profiling. We need jobs not c**p. The money that has been wasted on thes fake trials could make many jobs for people that need them. And stop being house n……
Pray and vote.
Mr. Issa along with the congressional majority are not governing at all. I hope America can see this.
Eric Holder is an effective AG. He is a victim of “political racism”. The Obama Administration has been free of scandal so far, and AG Holder is serious about holding the Gov. of Fl. responsible for attempting to purge thousand of voters from their ability to vote in Nov. Thus, need there be any other way of stopping two black men with power? ? Well, in a nation full of racial white racist that feel a bit emasculated this is their way of “controlling” the best of the best. Sad to say it, But what else could The President do?
Get real. In Florida they’re purging voter rolls of dead people and non-citizens. What’s the problem with that? Dead people shouldn’t be voting. Why does it ALWAYS have to be about race? Race has nothing to do with Holder obstructing justice.
What justice? You, Kerri, are the one who must get real!
Executive priviledge has been exercised by every president since George Washington and is valid under limited circumstances. Since court decisions in the case of Nixon’s presidency, executive priviledge can not be being evoke to cover up wrong doing by the president or the preident’s adminstration. When used executive priviledge must be applied to specific documents that must be detailed by the executive branch. Holder has been caught by contradicting statements and has not been forthright in explaining what he knew and when he knew it. This is regular politics and is nothing new. I followed this same issue with Nixon and Clinton during their administrations and “racism” is not a defense. This time I have to disagree with both of you. Please stop dragging out the RACISM banner as a defense for President Obama. It’s a crutch and makes him appear weaker each time it is used. Where was this racism when Obama won 2008 primaries in places such as Iowa? Guilt ridden liberal white folks voted for Obama over Hiliary. It certainly wasn’t blacks.
Obama & Holder should give up the documents if they aren’t trying to cover up Operation Fast and Furious. All of these POLITIAL THUGS need to stop being so destructive in our country. As for Barack Obama, he will never do anything for our black communities and do not deserve our votes. GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!!
You mean “God bless White America”? You want “your” country back? Well, Curry, if God is going to keep blessing America, He’ll do it for ALL of us, since He is no respector of persons and looks at the heart instead of looking stupidly at one’s physical features.
To folk like you and George Zimmerman, every Black is a political thug, unless s/he agrees with you.
And you are right about one thing: PRESIDENT Barack Obama will never do anything specifically for Black folk. Obama is middle America’s champion. And if Black folk are in or want to join the middle America, then the President is the one for the job. Obama won’t be giving any hand perks to Blacks that he isn’t giving out to all Americans most of whom are not Black.
Please take notice! Blacks don’t give a rat’s a*s anymore about what stupid White folk think! But if you White racists want “your” country to continue to be great, vote for the Obama-Biden ticket in November, because all of us together will have to make it so!
Dr. Leon, since Congress has the constitutional power to subpoena witnesses and hold them in contempt of Congress and the Supreme Court agrees that the Chief Executive has the power to use “executive privilege” how is this an attack on American democracy?
I agree that it is an attack on the fumbling/bumbling Obama Administration which has launched its on attacks on the US Constitution: (a) indefinite detention of American citizens; (b) assassinations of American citizens (high tech lynching); (c) support for strip searches, etc. If you want to defend them in this case more power to you.
As regards “executive privilege” Wiki reports: The Supreme Court addressed ‘executive privilege’ in United States v. Nixon, the 1974 case involving the demand by Watergate special prosecutor Archibald c*x that President Richard Nixon produce the audiotapes of conversations he and his colleagues had in the Oval Office of the White House in connection with criminal charges being brought against members of the Nixon Administration. Nixon invoked the privilege and refused to produce any records.
The Supreme Court did not reject the claim of privilege out of hand; it noted, in fact, “the valid need for protection of communications between high Government officials and those who advise and assist them in the performance of their manifold duties” and that “[h]uman experience teaches that those who expect public dissemination of their remarks may well temper candor with a concern for appearances and for their own interests to the detriment of the decision making process.” This is very similar to the logic that the Court had used in establishing an “executive immunity” defense for high office-holders charged with violating citizens’ constitutional rights in the course of performing their duties. The Supreme Court stated: “To read the Article II powers of the President as providing an absolute privilege as against a subpoena essential to enforcement of criminal statutes on no more than a generalized claim of the public interest in confidentiality of nonmilitary and non-diplomatic discussions would upset the constitutional balance of ‘a workable government’ and gravely impair the role of the courts under Article III.” Because Nixon had asserted only a generalized need for confidentiality, the Court held that the larger public interest in obtaining the truth in the context of a criminal prosecution took precedence.
Based on the Nixon ruling several questions must be answered by the POTUS, the most critical one being in the context of “the valid need for protection of communications between high Government officials and those who advise and assist them in the performance of their manifold duties.” What communications between high Government officials and those who advise them is the POTUS protecting and is this a “generalized need for confidentiality,” or does the “larger public interest in obtaining the truth take precedence?”
The President is on record stating: “Well, first of all I did not authorize it. Eric Holder, the Attorney General, did not authorize it. He’s been very clear that our policy is to catch gun runners and put them into jail. So what he’s done is he’s assigned an I.G., an inspector general, to investigate what exactly happened…”
We assume the POTUS is telling the truth, but some official did authorize the allocation of funds to cover the costs of this DOJ operation.
Some background info can be found here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2011/09/28/fast-and-furious-just-might-be-president-obamas-watergate/
For those of you black Americans out there saying we shouldn’t vote for Pres. Obama because he hasn’t done ENOUGH for us, are you seriously saying your dumb a***s want to put Romney in office, a man so out of touch with the real world and out of touch with minorities especially black americans, you really want this idiot in office? your crying about what Obama hasn’t done so you want someone who certainly won’t do anything with us in mind? shut the h**l up, where were you all when other presidents did nothing for black americans??? Shut up you fickle fools. We are the epitome of crabs in a barrel, and white america counts on that.
Amen! Amen! Amen! Aaaaamen! The Tea Party Mitt Romney camp is counting on us Black folk to be as dumb as we can be! And that’s pretty d**n dumb if we do not vote in November for President Obama!
Obama has always been a champion for the middle class – not folk who are poor and plan to stay that way unless somebody gives them something. What the h**l do we want Obama to do for Blacks anyway? He’s trying his best to keep the doors of opportunity open for everybody. There ain’t no special back door entrance just for Blacks, even with our “Black” President.
Failure to vote in November is a vote by default for the one whom we do not want to be elected.
(Wish Harriet Tubman could help us out here, Kmad!)
Well spoken Kmad.I am sick and tired of these so called blacks stating that Pres Obama has not done enough for blacks,get real.If Romney gets in u will really see what its feels like to be left behind.Nuff said respect due.
@Grant, i do not know if you are black, white, or some other nationality, because I really don’t give a dame, but stop telling black people we don’t know racism when we see it. One of the
devils greatess tricks is convincing the world that he doesn’t
exist, same thing is true of racism. It thrives because people who
claim they are not racist seems to want to give it a warm bed
and glass of milk, then claim well “I am not racist” . Then stop
making every concievable excuse for this infirmity.