Richard Nixon took a more expansive view of his powers than any other president.  "When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal," he told David Frost in that famous 1977 interview. More expansive, that is, until now.  Barack Obama has a distinctly Nixonian view of the law.  If it gets in his way, he ignores it. The War Powers Act, which Congress passed in 1973 over President Nixon's veto, says if Congress doesn't approve the mission within 90 days after troops have been committed to "hostilities," they must be withdrawn. The 90 days on Libya ran out last Sunday (6/19).  The top lawyers at Justice and Defense told Mr. Obama the War Powers Act applies to Libya, but he ignored them.  This is not the first time this administration has flouted the law.  There are many other examples.

This TTP Intel Bulletin comes at the personal request of Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). Dana is asking as many TTPers as are able to call their Congressman immediately and request they vote NO on HR 1249, the "America Invents Act." The reason for the urgency is that the bill may be voted on tomorrow (6/22). HR 1249's ostensible purpose is to "harmonize" US patent law with patent laws in other places in the world - like China.  Yes, that's crazy.  Who would want American inventors to be ripped off by Chicoms and their phony laws?

Four Border Patrol officers patrolling near Rio Rico, Arizona last December 14 spotted five men they thought were illegal immigrants.  The suspects opened fire when the lawmen identified themselves.  Officer Brian Terry, 40, was killed. The illegals dropped their weapons and fled when the Border Patrolmen returned fire.  Two of those weapons were AK-47 assault rifles purchased by a certain Jaime Avila at a gun store in Glendale, Arizona Jan. 16, 2010. Agents for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) deliberately permitted the sale, and 2,000 others, as part of of its Project Gunwalker, also codenamed Operation Fast and Furious.  The question now is, how many ATF and high Obama officials will end up in jail over this?

Emails from Sarah Palin's time as Alaska governor "show a double-fisted Blackberry user fully comfortable with handling nearly every aspect of state government," wrote the McClatchy Newspapers. The emails paint "a picture of her as an idealistic, conscientious, humorous and humane woman slightly bemused by the world of politics, said the London Telegraph." "She comes across as practical and not doctrinaire," wrote Molly Ball in Politico.  "She was hands-on and adverse to partisan politics." This was not what journalists expected to write.  "If critics were hoping to see Palin revealed as a hypocrite, they're out of luck," said Ms. Ball.  "Her private statements are in line with her public ones."  Instead of a disaster, the Palin emails are a triumph.  She's now politically stronger than ever.

The House of Representatives passed a resolution June 3 chiding President Barack Hussein Obama for failing to comply with the requirements of the War Powers Act with regard to the U.S. military intervention in Libya. If Congress doesn't explicitly approve the military action within 90 days, the War Powers Act says the troops committed to it must be withdrawn.  The 90 days runs out this weekend. The House resolution gave the president until Friday (6/17) to comply with the law.  He hasn't yet.  Who'll win this shoot-out?

From the founding of the American republic, members of the political class have been caught lying about sex and, no doubt, sex scandals will continue, men (and women) being who they are. There often are demands that those involved resign - and sometimes they do because they are shamed or pushed. Most often, the real damage caused by lies about sex extend no further than to those directly involved, to their families and, at times, to their co-workers and colleagues. Far more damaging are the financial, policy and legislative whoppers told by members of the administration and Congress that adversely affect almost every American. Corporate executives and directors are often forced to resign after making untrue statements about the businesses they oversee and are sometimes subject to both civil and criminal penalties, including jail. Many public officials who engage in far more damaging untruths are rarely forced to resign, let alone face civil and criminal penalties. Is it not time the double standard ended?

Jack Wheeler has been tied up in Saudi Arabia and is now on his way to Bulgaria, so he asked me at pretty much the last minute to throw the Half Full Report together. I hope that's not too evident. It's been an eventful week for Jack to be away.  Lots of stuff has been happening. Let's begin with the Weiner roast. House Democratic leaders began an orchestrated effort on Wednesday to force Representative Anthony D. Weiner of New York to resign his seat, saying his sexually explicit Internet messages and subsequent lies about them were making him, and the party, the subject of ridicule, the New York Times reported. But Weiner is unwilling to go quietly into that good night.  He's resisting because his wife wants him to stay in Congress, CNN reported Thursday (6/09). Ah, yes, the Weiner wife. Huma Abedin is a Moslem of South Asian descent (her father was Indian, her mother Pakistani) who is a senior aide to Hillary Clinton.  (She wasn't at her husband's side this week in part because she's in Africa on a trip with Hillary.)  Huma grew up in Saudi Arabia and speaks Arabic. There have from time to time been rumors that Ms. Abedin's relationship with Ms. Clinton has been more than professional.  Jack Wheeler is among those who think Hillary swings both ways, as he wrote in The Washington Times in 2004.