Herman Cain, the Republican presidential hopeful who came in fifth in Iowa, said that “it would be a great thing” to impeach President Obama, and that Obama’s decision to not defend the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal court was “an impeachable offense.” Cain delivered these comments on a conference call to bloggers Tuesday night in response to a question by an unnamed blogger as to why the GOP doesn’t just impeach Obama.
Cain’s answer, via Politico:
“That’s a great question and it is a great — it would be a great thing to do but because the Senate is controlled by Democrats we would never be able to get the Senate first to take up that action, because they simply don’t care what the American public thinks. They would protect him and they wouldn’t even bring it up,” Cain said, citing the administration’s position on the Defense of Marriage Act as an impeachable offense.
More from his answer: “So the main stumbling block in terms of getting him impeached on a whole list of things such as trying to pass a health care mandate which is unconstitutional, ordering the Department of Justice to not enforce the Defense of Marriage Act — that’s an impeachable offense right there. The president is supposed to uphold the laws of this nation … and to tell the Department of Justice not to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act is a breach of his oath. … There are a number of things where a case could be made in order to impeach him, but because Republicans do not control the United States Senate, they would never allow it to get off the ground.”
Just in case anyone thinks there’s any truth or fact in Cain’s comments, yes, the Senate is controlled by Democrats, and the House is controlled by Republicans. That’s about it. The House of Representatives, not the Senate, is the sole body that can impeach a president, not the Senate. The Senate, were the House to impeach President Obama, would have to try the case.
So, stupid comment number one.
Stupid comment number two: “to tell the Department of Justice not to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act is a breach of his oath.”
False.
DOMA is not in the Constitution. It is merely a law, and an unconstitutional one at that, having been found to be by a federal court judge in two cases already, not to mention by the U.S. Bankruptcy court, in a decision co-signed by twenty judges.
Previous presidents have done the same thing thirteen times. None have ever faced impeachment, nor even a mention of it.
The presidential oath, Mr. Cain, not that you’ll ever need to recite it, states,
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Any questions?
(image)
(hat tip to Truth Wins Out and Towleroad)
Â
Â