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Responsibilities of the President:

U.S. Constitution
Article 2 – The Executive Branch
Section 3 – State of the Union, Convening Congress

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

[My emphasis]

The use of the verb, shall, makes this a required function, not an option. The President is required to enforce the laws of the nation, all of the laws, not just the laws he/she personally approves of, and there is no wartime exception.

The man has no problem using the perquisites of the President, but doesn’t seem inclined to fulfill the duties of the office. He frequently refers to himself as the Commander-in-Chief, but fails to understand the responsibility that position entails.

It might surprise some how angry I am about the NSA spying. My anger is based on having served as a member of the National Security Agency and understanding the position of those who are currently serving. Most people will never see, or be aware of the memorial to those who have died while serving in the National Security Agency. Their names are not publicized and their missions are classified. They worked and died in the shadows, but I knew some of them as people with families. Those now working as members of the National Security Agency have been placed in a terrible position by the man who supposed to be their leader.

If you are a Master Sergeant with 18 years of service you are faced with obeying an unlawful order or losing your retirement two years away. You can be charged with disobeying a direct order if you refuse to participate. You can be charged with illegal wiretapping if you do participate. The operation is classified, so you can’t seek assistance from the Staff Judge Advocate [military lawyer], or anyone else. You are not protected by the “whistleblower statute”, because you work for an intelligence agency. You can’t resign, because your family doesn’t have “friends” in the power structure to “fix it” for you. Your leader has screwed you over because of his hubris, his arrogance. He doesn’t understand “duty”, and has no conception of “honor”, and couldn’t care less about your life, family, or future.

That’s why I’m more angry than those who only upset about the illegal spying on Americans. I’m angry for those who are spied upon and those who are forced to do the spying. That’s why this embodiment of scum should be impeached, indicted, and sent to prison.

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The Sun has decided to stop loafing and return to work, but only slowly as sunset creeps towards 5:00PM local again.The lows have been just above freezing at night which leads to a spirit of unity and cooperation among the feral cats as they huddle for warmth, many crowding around the lights I put on concrete slabs for warmth.

For all who celebrate this day the warmest of wishes – on many levels.

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