Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Unconstitutional Nobel

Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution, the emolument clause, clearly stipulates: "And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State."

The award of the peace prize to a sitting president is not unprecedented. But Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson received the honor for their past actions: Roosevelt's efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War, and Wilson's work in establishing the League of Nations. Obama's award is different. It is intended to affect future action.


Sort of interesting article, and oh if only it would affect the future action of our President Messiah to move toward peace and away from war.


I have seen the issue of the constitutionality of Obama accepting the award raised elsewhere, but I really can't generate much concern about it, seeing how just about everything our Federal overlords do is unconstitutional anyway.


I have the same feeling about Obama giving the prize money to charity and getting the tax deduction, rather than have it go to the government under the apparent requirement that such money "legally" belongs to the US Treasury (I don't concede that the state has the right to own anything), as if nearly all politicians aren't crooks to their very core.

As for the last paragraph of the article, the irony of spouting pro-Israel propaganda while feigning alarm at attempts by foreign governments to meddle in American politics is apparently lost on this guy.



h/t to Bill Gnade

2 comments:

  1. Um, the Nobel Peace Prize committee doesn't count as a foreign sovereign. It's a private organization. Even though the Peace Prize itself is chosen by members of the Norwegian Parliament, it's by no means a government award.

    Therefore, any questions of the Constitutionality of the Nobel Peace Prize acceptance should be filed with the Birther garbage.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, I was gonna put a question mark after the title of the post, but forgot. What the hell, it's not an issue that could possibly get me riled anyway.

    ReplyDelete

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