The Daily Caller reported Thursday that Democratic Congressman Hank Johnson compared Obama’s planned executive amnesty to the Emancipation Proclamation. Little did we know that far from a one-off, over-the-top gaffe, the comparison would become a talking point. (RELATED: Dem Rep Compares Obama’s Executive Amnesty To Emancipation Proclamation)
No less than three other Democrats (and one talking head) made the comparison in the last 24 hours. Most also threw in Truman’s desegregation of the Armed Services.
Take one, courtesy of Texas Democratic Congressman Al Green in a press conference:
“If Lincoln can sign the Emancipation Proclamation, if Truman can sign an order desegregating the military, I believe that President Obama can sign DACA, expanding opportunities for persons who are living in the shadows…There are many who are going to be angry. I don’t think God is going to be angry.”
Take two, courtesy of South Carolina Democratic Congressman James Clyburn on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports”:
“I think it would put him in big company. Lincoln used the executive order to do Emancipation Proclamation. Truman used it to desegregate the Armed Services. And I could go down through history and see where presidents have used their executive authority to do some mighty big things that have had very positive impacts on the country. So I am calling on the president to take his place among that group that I just enunciated, because I think it is very important that he do so.”
Take three, courtesy of Illinois Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez, as reported by Bloomberg:
“President Lincoln first issued the Emancipation Proclamation, but the slaves were not fully freed, right, until we passed the Thirteenth Amendment. That’s kind of how I see this process. The president will act, but the job won’t be fully done until the Congress of the United States acts.”
Take four, courtesy of CNN legal analyst Paul Callan, speaking on “Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield”:
“The president, under the Constitution, has an obligation to faithfully execute the laws of the United States. Presidents traditionally have looked at that phrase and used it to take existing laws and say, this has to be filled out a little bit and they issue an executive order saying that it’s part of an existing law and it has to be done for the government to work properly. Lincoln did it with the Emancipation Proclamation, believe it or not, and Truman…”