The word "unprecedented" has too frequently gotten this president in trouble. Remember this in 2009? politi.co/6hbuLg
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J.P. Freire (@JPFreire) April 04, 2012Again! WH: It would be 'unprecedented' for SCOTUS to overturn Obamacare bit.ly/HfljFI—
Joel Gehrke (@Joelmentum) April 04, 2012
Related via the Examiner:
President Obama’s spokesman reiterated that a Supreme Court ruling against Obamacare would be “unprecedented,” but even when explaining why that claim should stand, he fumbled Supreme Court history.
“It would be unprecedented in the modern era of the Supreme Court, since the New Deal era, for the Supreme Court to overturn legislation passed by Congress designed to regulate and deal with a matter of national economic importance like our health care system,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said today. “It has under the Commerce Clause deferred to Congress’s authority in matters of national economic importance.” Carney also said that Obama does not regret making the comment.
But Carney’s history is incorrect. “Jay, that’s not true,” CBS’s Norah O’Donnell countered. “There are two instances in the past 80 years where the president — where the Supreme Court has overturned [laws passed on the basis of the Commerce Clause]: US vs Lopez and US vs Morrison.”
RT @Brendan_Buck: RT @StevenTDennis: @NorahODonnell giving Carney a whupping on Obama's "unprecedented" statement from Monday—
(@DonSeymour) April 04, 2012
It is UNPRECEDENTED for me to drink this coffee at 3:38 Wednesday, April 4, 2012. cc @Joelmentum—
Kathryn Ciano (@KatCiano) April 04, 2012
‘Unprecedented’? Lochner vs New York proves Obama's lack of knowledge of the Constitution pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/04… #teaparty—
Locus Standai (@lex_et_libra) April 04, 2012
!!!! RT @StevenTDennis: Norah O'Donnell giving Carney a whupping on Obama's "unprecedented" statement from Monday—
Yay Native (@yaynative) April 04, 2012
What's #unprecedented is Obama's continued arrogance, power grabbing, and disdain for American liberty, constitution, and individual freedom—
Steven Slikkers (@StevenSlikkers) April 04, 2012
‘Unprecedented’? That Word Does Not Mean What Obama Thinks It Means: Here’s President Obama’s SCOTUS attack walk… bit.ly/HZe6oS—
Bryan Preston (@texasbryanp) April 04, 2012
U.S. Govt comprises three equal branches, each with check & balance authority to thwart invasive tyranny. #Obama #Unprecedented #HocusPocus—
C. J. Fontenot (@CJFontenot1) April 04, 2012
.@Factcheckdotorg declares President Obama's "unprecedented" claim "absurdly wrong" ow.ly/a5bFU #tcot #ObamaCare #2futures #SCOTUS—
Cantor Press (@CantorPress) April 04, 2012
Good to know RT @jbendery: Was that Obama walking back his "unprecedented" comments in remarks to press on Tuesday? Carney: No.—
Brendan Buck (@Brendan_Buck) April 04, 2012
Obama: "Supreme Court overturning Obamacare would be unprecedented" .. wait, it's been done 1,300 times goo.gl/gwsvy #independents—
Precious Liberty (@preciousliberty) April 04, 2012
Shorter @PressSec: "By saying 'unprecedented', Obama clearly did not mean 'unprecedented', and he stands by it…" #tcot—
Wes (@FTWes) April 04, 2012
Thomas Sowell on Obama's "unprecedented"/SCOTUS comments: "In short, he is simply lying." tinyurl.com/d8ap77k Bravo!—
Erika Johnsen (@erikajohnsen) April 04, 2012
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The Obama White House is addicted to the “unprecedented.”
Perhaps it was a sign when President Barack Obama sat down in January to record his first weekly address and announced: “We begin this year and this administration in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that calls for unprecedented action.”
What has followed is declaration after declaration of “unprecedented” milestones. Some of them are legitimate firsts, like the president’s online town hall at the White House in May.
But others the president wins merely on a technicality, and several clearly already have precedents.
The White House’s announcement of its unprecedented — “a first by an American president visiting China” — town hall meeting with students in Beijing, for instance, drew a collective eye roll in certain circles back home, namely among former aides to President George W. Bush, who had already been grumbling about Obama’s carefree application of “unprecedented.”
