Americans get serious about impeachment

By Bob Unruh

Editor’s note: This is another in a series of “WND/WENZEL POLLS” conducted exclusively for WND by the public-opinion research and media consulting company Wenzel Strategies.

Not only have voters begun to connect the dots between the faltering economy and global insecurity to President Obama’s administration in significant numbers, they also have begun to join him in calling for “change.”

Only this is the impeachment type of change, not the type Obama has so often preached.

The poll shows those advocating impeachment nearly equal to those against it. For example, regarding Obama’s campaign for amnesty to illegals, 44 percent say he should be impeached for that, while only 48 percent say he should not. And 46 percent say they think Obama should be impeached for launching the war to remove Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, while 49 percent say no.

“Taken by itself, any of these questions about President Obama could be ignored, but it becomes much more questionable when all of these … administration actions are taken as a whole,” said Fritz Wenzel, whose public opinion and media consulting company Wenzel Strategies conducted the poll.

The scientific survey was done by telephone March 7-12 and contains a margin of error of 2.92 percent.

“Obama appears to have found a way to split the nation directly down the middle on each issue, but, as his plummeting poll numbers may now indicate, the American public may well be catching up with the cumulative effect of this administration’s handling of the Constitution and the federal government,” Wenzel said.

Sign the petition urging Congress to impeach Obama.

He noted that Obama’s job approval is in freefall.

“American voters apparently are finally, after more than four years, beginning to connect the sluggish economy, the precarious state of international affairs and Barack Obama,” Wenzel said. “After an inauguration bounce, his job approval has now returned to near the lowest level he has ever seen, with 42 percent giving him positive marks for his overall performance.”

Wenzel said: “Some of this has to do in particular with his ham-handed management of the recent sequester budget battle with Congress – and the aftermath which has shown he and his administration spokesmen deceived the country. Even some media outlets have started grilling administration officials over inconsistencies and other problems. The tide seems to have turned against the Obama administration, as not even a majority of Democrats give him positive marks for his handling of his job.”

Get the bumper sticker that says it all, “Honk for Impeachment.”

Only 1 in 4 respondents gives Obama an excellent report card. Sixteen percent rate his performance as “good” and another 10 percent say “fair.” But 47 percent, including 1 in 6 of the Democrats, say he’s at “poor.”

Wenzel said one of the longest lingering problems from the first term of the Obama administration is the so-called “Fast and Furious” gun-running scheme by the ATF.

“Americans are clearly looking for a scapegoat for this debacle, which resulted in about 100 gunshot deaths, and 65 percent said they agree Attorney General Eric Holder should be impeached for his handling of this scandal. This number is so high that it is hard to see how Democrats on Capitol Hill can run defense for the administration on this one. Those who do are at serious political risk,” said Wenzel.

Get “Taking America Back,” Joseph Farah’s manifesto for sovereignty, self-reliance and moral renewal

“This figure is particularly interesting given that Americans seem to want to give the administration a reasonable amount of leeway in its handling of national affairs. A slim majority of 51 percent said they think the administration should have the freedom to withhold some information from Congress about how it is conducting its affairs. However, that number is a little deceiving, as just 19 percent said the administration itself should have the discretion to decide just what should be withheld and what should be disclosed. Another 23 percent said they think Congress should decide, and 25 percent said they think the federal courts should make that decision. Even among Democrats, just 33 percent said they think the Obama administration should have the power to decide what information should be withheld from the oversight of Congress,” Wenzel said.

His analysis of the Obama administration’s performance continued:

“Asked whether they approved of the Obama administration’s drone killings of three Americans who were reputed to be connected with terrorist operations but none of which had been convicted of a crime, 60 percent disagreed with those killings,” he said.

“This has got to be a big piece of the growing disenchantment with Obama, as 46 percent said they ‘strongly disagreed’ with those drone killings. Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster recently brought this issue into the national spotlight, and it is clear Americans were paying attention.”

He explained: “Even after respondents were informed that these citizens were terrorists, 41 percent still said they don’t believe Obama had the right to execute them without a court ruling of guilt. The American public clearly wants the U.S. judicial system to weigh in on such cases – 49 percent said they would have preferred that these terrorists be captured and tried in court.”

Continuing to the next subject, Wenzel said, “Six in 10 respondents said they do not agree with Obama’s decision to make up his own mind about what is and what is not a congressional recess appointment. A federal court recently struck down several appointments to top administration jobs. These appointees continue to make federal policy despite not winning congressional approval. The public agrees with the federal court system that this is wrong. A similar percentage of respondents – 61 percent – said these officials should be removed from office.”

Wenzel explained: “This reflects a core American value of fair play and playing by the rules, and the Obama administration’s refusal to respect the Constitution and these rules. This speaks to a very important factor at play here – the American people tend to grant a president a certain amount of trust, but, once lost, it is very difficult to win that back. If Americans revoke their trust of Obama, he will find himself in very deep trouble.

“So far, he is safe, but only marginally so, as 51 percent said he should not be impeached for this breach of the Constitution, but 43 percent said they think he should face impeachment over this issue.”

The dozens of “czars” that Obama has appointed without any congressional oversight or approval is also an issue.

“Here, 51 percent said they believe Obama should face impeachment over this issue,” Wenzel said.

On Obama’s fight with Arizona over enforcing immigration laws: “Forty-four percent said he should be impeached for that action and 48 percent said he should not be impeached for it.”

On the war against Gadhafi: Forty-six percent endorse impeachment as punishment; 49 percent said no.

On impeachment for how the Defense of Marriage Act was handled: Forty percent say impeach and 52 percent said no.

There has been a flood of calls for impeachment lately. Rock legend and gun-rights defender Ted Nugent said there’s “no question” Obama should be impeached, and he’s calling CNN anchor Piers Morgan an “effective idiot” in the battle over the Second Amendment.

Referring to Obama, Nugent says: “There’s no question that this guy’s violations qualify for impeachment. There’s no question.”

He blasted “the criminality of this government, the unprecedented abuse of power, corruption, fraud and deceit by the Chicago gangster-scammer-ACORN-in-chief.”

“It’s so diabolical,” he said.

Nugent made his comments in a recent interview with radio host Alex Jones.

[jwplayer m53SbOnr]

And radio giant Rush Limbaugh said on his own program that the Obama administration’s release of hundreds and potentially thousands of illegal-alien criminals from U.S. detention centers in connection with possible budget cuts is “an impeachable offense.”

“In what used to be considered (if we can remember this far back) normal, sane times, this is an impeachable offense,” Limbaugh said. “This is action being taken against the country. … It is sheer madness to be doing this. It is petulant, it is childish.”

Even Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin called for the impeachment of Obama over his policy of permitting drone strikes on American citizens overseas who are members of terrorist organizations.

On WABC Radio’s “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio,” Benjamin affirmed she believes the drone warfare is an impeachable offense.

You asked for it! Sign the petition urging Congress to impeach President Barack Obama.

Others who have broached the subject include Reps. Trent Franks, R-Ariz.; Walter Jones, R-N.C.; Trey Radel, R-Fla.; Steve Stockman; former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas; former Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio; Fox News’ Mike Huckabee; former assistant U.S. attorney Andrew McCarthy; left-leaning investigative reporter Dave Lindorff; talk-radio host Mark Levin; former House Speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich; author and columnist Pat Buchanan and others.

See Denis Kucinich advocate for impeachment over Libya:
[jwplayer w0FBcOcZ]

See Texas congressman lobby for impeachment over gun control:
[jwplayer ME7ROrf6]

See Andrew Napolitano talk about impeachment over the budget:
[jwplayer wer6DPHb]

WND also compiled a special report on the various offenses Obama is blamed for committing and reported what experts on the Constitution believe should be happening.

See detailed results of survey questions:

Overall, how would you rate the job performance of President Barack Obama – would you say he is doing an excellent job, a good job, only a fair job, or a poor job?

The Obama administration has invoked executive privilege to block the U.S. Congress from receiving Justice Department documents regarding the loss of 2,000 firearms, most of them flowing freely over the Mexican border. The deaths of as many as 100 people, including a U.S. border agent, have been linked directly to those weapons. The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for refusing to respond to questions on the subject, but a U.S. attorney declined to prosecute him. Do you agree or disagree that Eric Holder should be impeached because of his management of this operation, known by the code name Fast and Furious?

The United States Congress is empowered by the U.S. Constitution with oversight of the executive branch of the U.S. government. Some information, including that from intelligence briefings, is conveyed to Congress in secret and remains secret from the public. Other information is made public. Generally speaking, do you agree or disagree that the executive branch of the U.S. government should be allowed to withhold some documents or information about its operations from those in Congress who have oversight responsibilities?

If a presidential administration was to keep information about its operations from Congress, who should decide what information should be withheld?

The Obama administration has used missile strikes fired from unmanned drones to kill at least three United States citizens, none of which had renounced their citizenship or been convicted of a crime in any U.S. court. The administration received no permission to conduct these killings from Congress or from any federal judge or court. Regardless of whom these people were who were killed, do you agree or disagree that the Obama administration had the right to kill its own citizens in this manner?

These citizens were all said to have links to terrorist activities, despite not being adjudicated by the courts. Knowing this, do you agree or disagree that the Obama administration had the right to kill these American citizens?

Had the Obama administration pursued and won criminal convictions against these people, even if in absentia, would you agree that following that legal process would then give the Obama administration the right to kill these American citizens, or would you have preferred these people be captured and subjected to the traditional U.S. court system of punishment?

Do you agree or disagree that President Obama committed an impeachable offense by ordering these U.S. citizens be killed?

The U.S. Constitution provides for the president to fill vacancies in his administration when the U.S. Senate is in recess, but when the Senate is in session, they must confirm his nominees. But while the Senate was in session in January 2012, President Obama made what he called recess appointments and these people took office and began to take action on federal business. A federal court later ruled that these appointments violated the Constitution, but these officials continue in their positions. Do you agree or disagree that President Obama should have made these appointments?

Do you agree or disagree that these officials should remain in office making decisions after a federal court has ruled their appointments unconstitutional?

Do you agree or disagree that President Obama should be impeached for making these appointments in violation oo the Constitution?

The Obama administration in 2010 filed a lawsuit against the state of Arizona to stop it from enforcing federal law regarding illegal immigrants, while at about the same time it declined to enforce similar federal statutes in so-called sanctuary cities, which had purposely ignored such federal laws against illegal immigrants. Do you agree or disagree that President Obama should be impeached for his handling of these situations?

In June 2012, President Obama issued an executive order preventing the deportation of many illegal immigrants who were brought to this country as children, though Congress had not passed such a law allowing for such treatment of these illegal immigrants. Do you agree or disagree that President Obama should be impeached for his handling of this situation?

In March 2011, the U.S. launched combat operations in Libya to overthrow Moammar Gadhafi, despite the fact that President Obama never sought or received congressional authorization for those operations, as required by the U.S. Constitution. At the time, Libya posed no threat to the United States. Do you agree or disagree that President Obama should be impeached for his handling of this situation?

President Obama announced in 2011 that his administration believed the Defense of Marriage Act to be unconstitutional and that they would not defend it. The law, known as DOMA and signed into law in 1996 by President Clinton, guarantees that states won’t be forced to recognize same-sex marriages conducted in other states. Do you agree or disagree that President Obama should be impeached for his handling of this situation?</a.

Get the bumper sticker that says it all, “Honk for Impeachment.

 

 

Bob Unruh

Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially. Read more of Bob Unruh's articles here.


Leave a Comment