WE NEED A FULL COURT PRESS AGAINST THIS NIGHTMARE PRESIDENCY

What aggravates me most about my fellow conservatives is how few are willing to let a constitutional crisis get in the way of promoting their hobby horses, or taking potshots at other conservatives with whom they have petty grievances.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-OH, announced plans last Wednesday (6/25) to sue the president, on behalf of the House of Representatives, for "failing to faithfully execute the laws."

"On one matter after another during his presidency, President Obama has circumvented the Congress through executive action, creating his own laws and excusing himself from executing statutes he is sworn to enforce – at times even boasting about his willingness to do it, as if daring the America people to stop him," the Speaker said in a letter to Republican Members.

There is no legislative remedy for the president’s lawlessness, he said.

But "when there is a failure on the part of the president to faithfully execute the law, the House has the authority to challenge this failure in the Judicial Branch by filing suit in Federal Court," Rep. Boehner said.

The idea for the suit originated with David Rivkin, a Washington lawyer, and Elizabeth Price Foley, who teaches constitutional law at Florida International University. Conservative columnist George Will likes it. The Speaker has a strong case, says Jonathan Turley, a liberal who teaches constitutional law at George Washington University.

Yet the Boehner suit is "feckless" and "frivolous," says Andrew McCarthy, who prosecuted the ringleader of the first World Trade Center bombing. Impeachment is the only solution, he said.

Mr. McCarthy, you see, is promoting a book, "Faithless Execution: Building the Political Case for Obama’s Impeachment."

"Boehner’s idea is mainly a cover," said attorney and radio talk show host Ben Shapiro. "I don’t think the lawsuit is going to go anywhere."

The solution, Mr. Shapiro said, is to prosecute the president and his aides under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. He’s also promoting a book, "The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against the Obama Administration."

Some conservatives dumped on Mr. Boehner’s idea simply because they enjoy dumping on the Speaker, the Rodney Dangerfield of Republican politics.

The historic reluctance of the federal courts to intervene in disputes between the Executive and Legislative branches is the chief reason Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Shapiro cite for saying the Boehner lawsuit won’t work. But never before have we had so scofflaw a president, who’s treaded on the Constitutional prerogatives of the Judiciary as well as the Congress.

The Supreme Court has ruled, 9-0, 13 times now to slap down overreaches by this administration. The two 9-0 rulings last week indicate the Supreme Court is willing "to enforce the Constitution’s separation of powers," Prof. Foley said.

However high the odds may be against the Boehner lawsuit, it is more likely to succeed than the courses of action proposed by Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Shapiro.

Impeachment, which is comparable to indictment, requires only a majority vote in the House. But it takes a two thirds vote in the Senate – which Democrats control, 55-45 – to convict. For Mr. Obama to be removed from office, roughly half the Democrat senators must either be defeated, or turn against him.

If Democrats really get hammered in the midterms, it’s possible (but not likely) this could happen next year. It’s impossible now.

For Mr. Shapiro’s solution to work, the RICO statute must be amended to give private citizens standing to initiate RICO suits. The House can and should pass a bill to do this, but as long as Democrats control it, the Senate won’t.

Mr. Obama could be prosecuted under the Anti-Deficiency Act for the times he’s spent money without authorization from Congress, Jack Wheeler thinks. A state governor could initiate a criminal proceeding, he notes.

Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Shapiro make clear in their books why it’s so dangerous to have a president who acts like a king, an emperor, a fascist dictator. To preserve our liberty and restore the rule of law, he must be reined in.

So why not do all of the above?  The more we try, the greater the odds one will succeed.  We need a full court press against the nightmare presidency of Zero.

Jack Kelly is a former Marine and Green Beret and a former deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration. He is national security writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

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