Obama's Historic Firsts - UPDATE

i re-blogged some vitriolic anti-Obama name-calling, with a disclaimer that i had not researched many of the claims... fear not, gentle reader... i have done some due-diligence and looked up the validity of many of the more outrageous claims.

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UPDATE

• President Obama was NOT the first to violate the War Powers Act... President Clinton was... 1999 in the bombing of Kosovo.
• while the "Fast and Furious" affair is simply inexcusable, let us not forget the Iran-Contra affair... what started as arms-for-hostages turned into simple gun-running and terrorist arming.
• Obama was not the first president to be held in contempt by a federal judge... Clinton is the one to hold that dubious honor... Nixon came very close, having a federal judge declare that he could be held in contempt should he not turn over the Watergate tapes.
• i don't think anyone can say there haven't been many former Presidents which have "defied a court order"... some were worse than others... but we really shouldn't encourage this behavior... then again, we can't hold one to a different standard than another.
• there's the claim of being the first President to "hold anyone suspected of being associated with terrorism indefinitely, without any form of due process"... we all do remember G.W. Bush, right?
• Obama declared DOMA to be unconstitutional... sounds like an overreach of the Constitution, right?... not so fast... seek out Myers v. US... the Supreme Court has decided that the President must use some judgement in enforcement of laws... the court is the final judge (no pun), but the President must enforce the Constitution first and laws, second.
• Obama suing a state is not a first... Irony Alert!... while Obama sued AZ, WI, OH, IN, etc. over the states enforcement of the federal immigration laws, it was G.W. Bush who first sued Illinois... get this: they were sued because they REFUSED to enforce federal immigration laws!!!... the irony is on SO many levels!