Obama's "Red Lines" Are Not Much To Worry About If History Is Any Indicator

Josh Earnest: Obama will speak up if Trump admin. crosses ‘red lines’

Jon Street 2 hours

Former White House press secretary Josh Earnest says former President Barack Obama will speak up if President Donald Trump's administration crosses the "red lines." (Image source: YouTube screen cap)

118Follow

• SHARE
• TWEET

MSNBC political analyst and former White House press secretary Josh Earnest says former President Barack Obama will speak up if President Donald Trump’s administration begins crossing the “red lines.”

During an appearance Monday on MSNBC, host Chris Jansing made reference to Obama’s first public remarks since leaving office at an appearance Monday at the University of Chicago. During the event, Obama discussed with high school and college students how to encourage more young people to get involved in civic engagement.

Obama never mentioned his successor by name in those comments. It was widely anticipated that Obama would not step into the politics of the day, since the event was about getting youth more involved in civic engagement. However, as Jansing noted, many had hoped the former president would take a jab at Trump.

“What do you think would motivate him to get back involved in the public debate in a way he’s not willing to do right now?” Jansing asked.

Earnest responded by saying that Obama “doesn’t have much interest” in weighing in on Trump’s policies.

“After the last eight years, the president doesn’t relish the prospect of getting back into the day-to-day fights that characterize governing the United States of America in the 21st century,” Earnest said. “He spent the last eight years doing it. It’s somebody else’s turn to do that now.”

But there is one thing, according to Earnest, that could cause Obama to speak up.

“I think what would motivate President Obama is if we saw the federal government start to cross some clear red lines in terms of long-observed norms and values that, frankly, I think that we’ve started to take for granted,” he said.

The former Obama spokesman cited the federal government using the information submitted by DREAMers to deport them as one possible “red line.” DREAMers are unauthorized immigrants who qualify for Obama’s deferred action initiative and meet the general requirements of the DREAM Act.

Thousands of DREAMers provided personal information to the federal government during the Obama administration in the hopes of being granted some legal status. But with Trump now in the White House, it’s not clear whether the information DREAMers provided might not now be used against them.

“That would represent a broken promise to those DREAMers. We made a promise to them that that information we collected from them would not be used for enforcement purposes,” Earnest said. “It also would be a pretty stark departure from the values of this country that signal that people who want an opportunity to succeed here and want to follow the law and make a substantial positive contribution to their community should be given a chance.”

Can Obama And His Friends Keep Their Lie Alive On Trumpgate?

  

Obama's Wiretap Story Falling Apart

• 03/06/2017 
• Source: American Action News 
• by: Remington Strelivo

17 5 0  39

image: https://aanews-structure-psyclone.netdna-ssl.com/client_assets/aanews/media/picture/575e/cb49/6970/2d66/a69b/

3c00/300x200__89932842_obamahil.jpg?1465908642

After Donald Trump’s bombshell tweet this weekend, accusing the Obama 

Administration of bugging Trump Tower, former Obama officials have been 

quick to downplay the story. But now, their story seems to be unraveling.

So far, three Obama Administration have refused to outright deny that Trump

 was wiretapped—instead answering allegations with ultra-specific, legally-

sanitized language.

Kevin Lewis, Obama’s spokesman, released a statement over the weekend

 saying that "neither President Obama nor any White House official ever

 ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen.” But he refused to confirm or 

deny whether the Department of Justice—which reports to the President, 

and would be responsible for conducting wiretaps—did.

Similarly, Obama’s former press secretary, Josh Earnest, refused to deny 

that Trump was wiretapped.

In an interview with ABC News’ Martha Raddatz, Earnest repeated Lewis’s 

statement: that the White House had not ordered a wiretap on Trump, 

“categorically” denying that "the White House was at all involved in 

directing or interfering or influencing an FBI investigation of any sort.”

But Raddatz continued to push, telling Earnest: “That’s not what I’m asking.

 What I’m asking is, can you deny that the Obama Justice Department did
not seek and obtain a FISA court-ordered wiretap of the Trump campaign?”

Apparently unwilling to lie on national TV, Earnest was backed into a corner—

admitting to Raddatz: "Here’s the simple answer to that question, is, 

Martha, I don’t know."

The Obama Administration’s deflection and half-truths didn’t go unnoticed.

 Even Obama’s former speechwriter, Jon Favreau, pointed out to the media

 on Twitter: "I'd be careful about reporting that Obama said there was no 

wiretapping. Statement just said that neither he nor the [White House] 

ordered it.”

Jim Hanson, a national security expert on Fox News, said the evidence

 that wiretapping did occur was overwhelming—due to the Obama

 Administration’s legal maneuvering before the election.

“[The Obama Administration] asked for that warrant [to bug Trump Tower] 

and were denied, went back again [and] got the warrant, found out nothing

 was happening and went ahead and continued monitoring it,” he said.

"They did get a FISA warrant, so [Trump] doesn’t have to prove that they

 wiretapped him. They did wiretap him.”

Read more at http://americanactionnews.com/articles/obama-s-wiretap-story-falling-apart#uhz97ItiETxLLv05.99

Obama And His Minions Just Can't Get Over Democratic Loss.

White House Taunts Donald Trump: Obama Won Popular Vote and Electoral College

5

ZACH GIBSON/AFP/Getty Images

by CHARLIE SPIERING4 Jan 20172468

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest tells reporters that when President Barack Obama won the presidency, he won the popular vote and the electoral college in both 2012 and 2008.

Earnest made his comments during the White House press briefing in response to questions about the President Obama’s assertion that he could have beaten Donald Trump if he had run for a third term.

He noted the Obama was elected and re-elected with “with strong majorities — not just of the electoral college, but actually a majority of the voting population.”

Despite their political differences, Earnest said that Obama was committed to a smooth transition of power.

“Now, the President-elect didn’t get more votes, but he did win the election,” he said. “And since day one, this administration has been focused on ensuring a smooth and effective transition.”

He added that Obama was the only president since Dwight Eisenhower to win over 51 percent of the popular vote in both his first election and re-election, suggesting he was a better candidate than most modern presidents in history.

Earnest acknowledged, however, that Obama failed to deliver victories for some of the other Democrats he campaigned for, including Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton.

“I think there are a lot of theories as to why that is, but that’s undeniably true,” he said.

When reporters asked if Obama wanted to debate Trump, Earnest replied, “No.”

Is Obama Trying To Incite Our Military Against Trump

Obama Reminds Troops They Have the Right to 'Protest Against Authority' and 'Criticize Our President'

By Susan Jones | December 7, 2016 | 6:29 AM EST

President Barack Obama turns to leave after speaking to and greeting service members at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

(CNSNews.com) - In a speech at MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday, President Obama focused on his eight-year effort to protect the homeland, fight terrorism, and strengthen U.S. allies. He said he wanted to "talk about the foundation that we will leave for the next administration."

On the way to Florida, Obama's spokesman Josh Earnest said told reporters, "This is a speech that President Obama was prepared to give before the election." But at times, it didn't sound like it.

At one point, Obama reminded the troops "that each of us has...the universal right to speak your minds and to protest against authority; to live in a society that's open and free; that can criticize our president without retribution."

He also told the troops that the nation depends on them "to carry forward what is best in us, that commitment to a common creed, the confidence that right makes might, not the other way around."

Obama told the troops that just as he inherited the war on terror, "violent extremism" will be around for many years.

"So rather than offer false promises that we can eliminate terrorism by dropping more bombs or deploying more and more troops or fencing ourselves off from the rest of the world, we have to take a long view of the terrorist threat. And we have to pursue a smart strategy that can be sustained. In the time remaining, let me just suggest what I think should guide this approach."

Obama made seven points:

-- While terrorists can kill innocent people, they are not an existential threat to the nation;
-- Put as few U.S. troops as possible in harm's way overseas;
-- Uphold American values and adhere to the rule of law while fighting terrorism;
-- Fight terrorists in a way that does not alienate local populations and create more terrorists;
-- Be transparent and accountable to allow for "a more informed public debate" and provide "a potential check on unfettered executive power."
-- Use diplomacy;
-- Uphold the civil liberties that define us.

On the topic of diplomacy, Obama warned: "Terrorists would love to see us walk away from the type of work that builds international coalitions and ends conflicts and stops the spread of deadly weapons. It would make life easier for them; it would be a tragic mistake for us." It sounded like a warning to Donald Trump.

Obama also warned against stigmatizing "good, patriotic Muslims." "If we act like this is a war between the United States and Islam, we're not just going to lose more Americans to terrorist attacks, but we'll also lose sight of the very principles we claim to defend."

At the end of his speech, in remarks clearly aimed at his successor, Obama said he wanted to remind troops "what it is that you're fighting for."

"The United States of America is not a country that imposes religious tests as a price for freedom. We're a country that was founded so that people could practice their faiths as they choose.

"The United States of America is not a place where some citizens have to withstand greater scrutiny or carry a special ID card or prove that they're not an enemy from within. We're a country that has bled and struggled and sacrificed against that kind of discrimination and arbitrary rule here in our own country and around the world.

"We're a nation that believes freedom can never be taken for granted. And that each of us has a responsibility to sustain it; the universal right to speak your minds and to protest against authority; to live in a society that's open and free; that can criticize our president without retribution."

Obama said the United States "stands for the rule of law" and even "strengthened the laws of war."

"When the Nazis were defeated, we put them on trial. Some couldn't understand that. It had never happened before," he said.

Obama also noted that the U.S. won world wars without grabbing the resources or territory of those we defeated. "We helped them rebuild," he said.

"Our greatest generation fought and bled and died to build an international order of laws and institutions that could preserve the peace and extend prosperity and promote cooperation among nations. And for all of its imperfections, we depend on that international order to protect our own freedom.

"In other words, we are a nation that at our best has been defined by hope and not fear; a country that went through the crucible of the Civil War to offer a new birth of freedom; that stormed the beaches of Normandy, climbed the hills at Iwo Jima; that saw ordinary people mobilize to extend the meaning of civil rights.

"That's who we are. That's what makes us stronger than any act of terror. Remember that history," Obama told the troops. "Remember what that flag stands for. For we depend on you, the heirs to that legacy, our men and women in uniform, and the citizens who support you, to carry forward what is best in us, that commitment to a common creed, the confidence that right makes might, not the other way around."

Low Level Representative Sent To Castro Funeral

Obama to Send Aide to Fidel Castro’s Funeral

By GARDINER HARRISNOV. 29, 2016

Continue reading the main storyShare This Page

• Share
• Tweet
• Email
• More
• Save

Photo

Benjamin J. Rhodes, center, a deputy national security adviser to President Obama, in Buenos Aires in March. He will attend the funeral for Fidel Castro in Cuba. CreditStephen Crowley/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Obama will not send a formal delegation to Cuba to attend the funeral of the former Cuban strongman Fidel Castro, but instead will dispatch a top White House aide.

Benjamin J. Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, will attend the funeral, as will Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the top American diplomat in Cuba, to represent the United States, said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary.

The administration decided that the relationship between the two countries remained “quite complicated,” Mr. Earnest said. “There are many aspects of the U.S.-Cuba relationship that were characterized by a lot of conflict and turmoil, not just during the Castro regime.”

Mr. Earnest said the administration continued to have significant concerns about the Cuban government, including its poor protection of basic human rights.

“So, we believe that this was an appropriate way for the United States to show our commitment to an ongoing future-oriented relationship with the Cuban people,” Mr. Earnest said.

Although he is not a diplomat, Mr. Rhodes was the central White House interlocutor during negotiations with the Cuban government over the recent opening of relations between the two countries, and he was scheduled to be in Cuba this week for more meetings anyway, Mr. Earnest said.

The Times’s Coverage of Fidel Castro

Articles include an exclusive Times interview with the young guerrilla leader in 1957 and coverage of the revolution, the Bay of Pigs invasion and the 1962 missile crisis.

President-elect Donald J. Trump warned Monday that the push to build ties with Cuba after decades of animosity could be quickly wiped away, despite growing business and commercial ties between the countries.

Journalism that matters.
More essential than ever.

“If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate deal,” he said on Twitter.

Mr. Trump’s message threatened to endone of Mr. Obama’s signature foreign policy initiatives, an effort to overturn decades of enmity. Mr. Obama has relaxed restrictions on commerce, trade and financial transactions with Cuba, but he has not been able to overturn an embargo put in place by Congress.

Mr. Obama has sought to strike a difficult balance between ending the countries’ animosity and acknowledging the island government’s faults. He has seen the decades of American efforts to undermine and even overthrow Cuba’s government as being not only unsuccessful but also harmful to the United States’ image in the region.

By reducing the temperature of the language against Cuba, Mr. Obama believes that the world is more likely to focus more on Cuba’s own difficulties on economic change and human rights, Mr. Earnest said.

But Republicans were sharply critical on Saturday, the day after Mr. Castro’s death, of a White House statement that noted that it was an occasion for Americans to “extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people” while doing little to castigate the former leader’s record of brutality.

A few hours after the White House released its statement, a statement from Mr. Trump’s transition team called Mr. Castro a “brutal dictator” who had oppressed his own people for decades and left a legacy of “firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.”

If You Think Obama Administration Is Not Open Now, Wait Until He Gets Re-Elected Of If We Are Wrong And Hillary Gets Elected

OBAMA SETS INFAMOUS RECORD FOR LACK OF TRANSPARENCY

'I really question the integrity of their search'

Published: 13 hours ago

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2015/09/dernstwnd_avatar.jpg

 DOUGLAS ERNST

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2013/06/130609obamashh.jpg

President Obama

An annual report by the Associated Press shows the Obama administration’s claim to be the most transparent ever to be a categorically untrue.

A review of all Freedom of Information Act requests to 100 federal agencies during fiscal 2015 revealed a record for the number of times the White House couldn’t find a single page requested by journalists and citizens.

Government researchers “completed” 129,825 requests – one in six cases – by telling individuals or organizations they came up empty-handed, AP reported Friday. Approximately 77 percent of all requests were closed out after censored or blank files were released, a jump of 12 percent since Obama first took office.

“It’s incredibly unfortunate when someone waits months, or perhaps years, to get a response to their request – only to be told that the agency can’t find anything,” Adam Marshall, an attorney with the Washington-based Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told the news service.

AP said the Obama administration had a peculiar habit of finding documents after organizations filed expensive federal lawsuits. When Gawker sued the State Department over documents related to former Secretary of Hillary Clinton’s aide Philippe Reines, for example, the Obama administration suddenly found 90,000 documents; it had initially found zero.

“I want to avoid FOIA,” Reines said in one email, which his lawyer later claimed was a joke.

The federal government is supposed to undertake a good-faith effort in finding documents, but there is no way for journalists or citizens to know if that actually happened.

“It seems like they’re doing the minimal amount of work they need to do,” said Jason Leopold, an investigative reporter at Vice News and a leading expert on the records law, AP reported. “I just don’t believe them. I really question the integrity of their search.”

The White House defends its efforts by saying it completed a record 769,903 requests last fiscal year, a 19 percent increase over 2014. AP was quick to note, however, that government employees also increased the number of times they could not find anything by 35 percent.

Some of the other findings from the report include:

• The FBI failed to find records in 39 percent of cases, or 5,168 times.
• The Environmental Protection Agency regional office that oversees New York and New Jersey failed to find records 58 percent of the time.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection were unsuccessful in finding results in 34 percent of cases.
• That government counted 250,024 times when it could not find records, a person refused to pay for documents or the government determined the request to be unreasonable or improper.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest tried to deflect attention away form Obama and onto Congress.

“Congress writes the rules and they write themselves out of being accountable,” Earnest told reporters, AP reported. “[Reporters should] continue the pressure that [they] have applied to Congress to encourage them to subject themselves to the same kinds of transparency rules that they insist other government agencies follow.”

Click here for reuse options!

Copyright 2016 WND

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/03/obama-sets-infamous-record-for-lack-of-transparency/#KgE0uuAJQKyiqIXE.99