# Obama should be impeached **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 5, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547 "2011-03-05T01:10:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/121 "2011-03-07T17:05:15Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I have never voted for a Republican in my life, but I cannot imagine Romney or Huckabee allowing this to happen. This is disgusting. Obama disgusts me.. Why not? Obama is about as liberal as you’re gonna get for a POTUS on torture: do it, but pretend not to like it. You can build a similar case for impeaching Obama for all his crimes, both domestic and foreign, as Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Carter, etc. but it doesn’t make any sense to act like it could ever happen. It’d be like a street gang getting rid of their boss for killing rivals, dealing drugs, and owning illegal firearms. If a POTUS is impeached it’s for petty things, not for following the stated goals of the system. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/122 "2011-03-07T17:24:29Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Of course he shouldn’t be impeached, you can’t impeach Presidents solely for incompetence. He’ll be voted out soon enough anyway. Wanna bet? ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/123 "2011-03-07T20:16:58Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I think **Martin Hyde** has pretty thoroughly answered your question, but just to be clear: No, I don’t think Manning is “getting unusually harsh treatment”. Is there a non-punitive reason that Manning is not being allowed to exercise _even in his own cell_? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/124 "2011-03-07T20:36:13Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > [Bradley Manning's Abuse: Army's Dishonor, Obama's Shame | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barton-kunstler-phd/bradley-mannings-abuse-ar_b_831179.html) > Manning is being badly mistreated, but what is Obama’s part in it. Should Bush have been impeached for Abu Grebe? Obama has not stopped it and it is being done as an executive branch activity. He either condones it, turns a blind eye to it or is too weak to stop it. None of these is an excuse for failing to stop not just this instance, but this sort of thing in general. Bush presumably stopped Abu Ghraib once it became known. He certainly set the tone for torture at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and other places and in my opinion was subject to reasonable impeachment and is still subject to being tried as a war criminal. As for Abu Ghraib taken in isolation, perhaps not, but I would be comfortable if he had been impeached over it. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/125 "2011-03-08T01:46:32Z")
The meat of this argument has been adequately handled by others, but I do have a trifling point to raise: > [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Even if one were not to grant Manning a presumption of innocence, this isn’t something to be done to anyone convicted of anything. **Herman Goering was treated better after his conviction…** Sure, _and look what happened_. It’s awfully puzzling that \*this \*is the example the OP chose to use given that the stated reason for Manning’s treatment was fear that he might harm himself. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/126 "2011-03-08T04:25:16Z")
He didn’t hang himself with his undies, he used poison that a corrupt/duped guard smuggled in for him. There is no reason to spend each and every day assaulting this man’s psyche except. That some of his jailers and their apologists get satisfaction from imposing this humiliation isn’t a valid reason. We’ve become a terribly cruel people. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/127 "2011-03-08T05:24:13Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Wanna bet? By voting for Romney in 2012 would you be “impeaching” Obama in 2013? Think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/128 "2011-03-08T05:32:44Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > By voting for Romney in 2012 would you be “impeaching” Obama in 2013? No. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/129 "2011-03-08T05:39:48Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > By voting for Romney in 2012 would you be “impeaching” Obama in 2013? Think about it. Bush demonstrated clearly what spoiled rich kids can do. Romney is another one that has had the world handed to him and he has no concept of what the rest of us live like. I am sure he thinks taxes for the rich should be slashed. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/130 "2011-03-08T06:15:24Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Can that letter include a request for articles of impeachment? Do I have your freakin’ permission to do that? Can I include my thoughts on a message board somewhere? > > One thing this thread has taught me is that the usual double standards based on Republican/Democratic leanings around here are gone. The righties are all right with Obama Guantanamo, Obama stress positions, Obama wars in Iraq,\*\* irradiation at airports,\*\* etc. I don’t think it is creeping fascism, it is fascism. Whether it is Bush or Obama. I don’t have guns for the government to take away, but I have fear of what happens when someone is wrongly arrested. I’ve worked on enough civil false arrest cases to know that half of the 80 year old men who are falsely arrested and taken to jail supposedly attack corrections officers half their age and much bigger than them. It’s routine and people put up with it. We are an ugly people. On that point you’re clearly wrong. The outrage against intrusive airport security is very much a right-wing issue, although it wasn’t before 2008. In fairness to the right wing, airport security has become more onerous and invasive since then. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/131 "2011-03-08T12:58:21Z")
> [@Schmedrick](#): > > The outrage against intrusive airport security is very much a right-wing issue, although it wasn’t before 2008. Cite? And **gonzomax** , I would still like to see a cite that Manning is being mistreated. A credible cite, if you know what that means. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/132 "2011-03-08T14:50:51Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Cite? For the first part of that sentence or the second? ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/133 "2011-03-08T16:00:41Z")
[Bradley Manning to be stripped of his clothes every night, and made to stand naked at attention in front of his cell.](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/world/05manning.html?_r=2) [Bradley Manning sits alone for 23 hours a day. Every 5 minutes a guard asks him if he is okay, to which he must respond. He is allowed 1 hour a day for exercise; if he attempts to exercise in his cell, the guards will stop him. He is not permitted to sleep during the day; if he attempts to sleep the guards make him stand. If he’s sleeping and the guards cannot see him clearly, they will wake him. He’s not permitted a pillow or sheets.](http://www.armycourtmartialdefense.info/2010/12/typical-day-for-pfc-bradley-manning.html) [The government wants to convince Manning to implicate Julian Assange in a conspiracy to acquire the classified documents that were leaked in order to prosecute Assange.](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/freed-on-bail-ndash-but-us-steps-up-efforts-to-charge-assange-with-conspiracy-2162639.html) Of course, none of this matters to any of you glibtards, since you “sleep naked all the time, heh!” Not that a single day of this treatment would reduce you disingenuous cowards to a blubbering heap or anything. And I don’t suppose it would do any good to point out that Manning hasn’t been convicted of any crime, but since we all know he’s guilty the government may as well start punishing him now, since the Constitution doesn’t apply when the government is really, really mad at someone. While we’re at it, could we maybe get another thread filled with cheap partisan gotchas over people not condemning Obama vigorously enough for continuing the policies of the Bush administration? Those are always super convincing. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/134 "2011-03-08T16:05:00Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > none of this matters to any of you glibtards Knock it off. This isn’t the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/135 "2011-03-08T16:14:24Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > [Bradley Manning to be stripped of his clothes every night, and made to stand naked at attention in front of his cell.](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/world/05manning.html?_r=2) Meh. > [@](#): > > [Bradley Manning sits alone for 23 hours a day. Every 5 minutes a guard asks him if he is okay, to which he must respond. He is allowed 1 hour a day for exercise; if he attempts to exercise in his cell, the guards will stop him. He is not permitted to sleep during the day; if he attempts to sleep the guards make him stand. If he’s sleeping and the guards cannot see him clearly, they will wake him. He’s not permitted a pillow or sheets.](http://www.armycourtmartialdefense.info/2010/12/typical-day-for-pfc-bradley-manning.html) I prefer news cites, not cites from advocates. > [@](#): > > [The government wants to convince Manning to implicate Julian Assange in a conspiracy to acquire the classified documents that were leaked in order to prosecute Assange.](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/freed-on-bail-ndash-but-us-steps-up-efforts-to-charge-assange-with-conspiracy-2162639.html) Speculation. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/136 "2011-03-08T18:30:50Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Bush demonstrated clearly what spoiled rich kids can do. Romney is another one that has had the world handed to him and he has no concept of what the rest of us live like. I am sure he thinks taxes for the rich should be slashed. Romney isn’t Bush. I don’t care at all for Republicans and have never voted for one (I did vote for Anderson as an Independent in 80 and he was previously a Republican). Romney seems like a typical opportunistic politician, yet at this point he appears to me to be no worse than Obama. The health care reform bill is based on what he did in Massachusetts and it is really closer to being accurately called Romneycare than Obamacare since he pushed for it and Obama would have taken any reform. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/137 "2011-03-09T04:49:55Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > [Bradley Manning to be stripped of his clothes every night, and made to stand naked at attention in front of his cell.](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/world/05manning.html?_r=2) > > [Bradley Manning sits alone for 23 hours a day. Every 5 minutes a guard asks him if he is okay, to which he must respond. He is allowed 1 hour a day for exercise; if he attempts to exercise in his cell, the guards will stop him. He is not permitted to sleep during the day; if he attempts to sleep the guards make him stand. If he’s sleeping and the guards cannot see him clearly, they will wake him. He’s not permitted a pillow or sheets.](http://www.armycourtmartialdefense.info/2010/12/typical-day-for-pfc-bradley-manning.html) > > [The government wants to convince Manning to implicate Julian Assange in a conspiracy to acquire the classified documents that were leaked in order to prosecute Assange.](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/freed-on-bail-ndash-but-us-steps-up-efforts-to-charge-assange-with-conspiracy-2162639.html) > > Of course, none of this matters to any of you glibtards, since you “sleep naked all the time, heh!” Not that a single day of this treatment would reduce you disingenuous cowards to a blubbering heap or anything. And I don’t suppose it would do any good to point out that Manning hasn’t been convicted of any crime, but since we all know he’s guilty the government may as well start punishing him now, since the Constitution doesn’t apply when the government is really, really mad at someone. > > While we’re at it, could we maybe get another thread filled with cheap partisan gotchas over people not condemning Obama vigorously enough for continuing the policies of the Bush administration? Those are always super convincing. You do realize that we’ve already addressed the points made in all of those cites? Your reposting them served no purpose at all given you did nothing to make any furtherance in the argument and essentially are reiterating stuff said that has already been addressed. ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/138 "2011-03-09T04:57:11Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > And the lefties on the SDMB will seize on any opportunity to change the subject and go back to the only form of discussion they are comfortable with, which is attacking Republicans. > > Regards, > Shodan Really? You raise the issues, I address them and _I_ am the onegoing off topic??? > [@](#): > > Not as far as I can tell - the left is more or less OK with Obama Gitmo, Obama war in Iraq, Obama war in Afghanistan, Obama deficit, Obama lobbyists in government, Obama etc. Sometimes there’s some rather tepid criticism but it never amounts to much. And the lefties on the SDMB will seize on any opportunity to change the subject and go back to the only form of discussion they are comfortable with, which is attacking Republicans. You attack lefties and then criticize me for saying that righties do the same thing? That’s just sad. All you have left is typing blindly from the playbook and then attempt to persuade the “refs” that I committed a foul when I reply to your talking points and you have no answer. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547/139 "2011-03-12T23:40:06Z")
[Obama Defends Detention Conditions for Soldier Accused in WikiLeaks Case](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/us/12manning.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-should-be-impeached/573547.md?page=6)