(Image: Melissa Golden)

BY BLAKE HANSON

Ron Paul’s known for his Libertarian headline-snagging ways...But take a look at these -- reports the GOP Presidential candidate is calling for President Obama’s impeachment. The headlines flooded the papers after Ron Paul offered his thoughts on the killing of American-born al Qaeda operative Anwar al-Awlaki.

But does Ron Paul actually want to impeach the president? The media might be jumping to conclusions. C-SPAN has the video...

“And they were asking me if it was an impeachable offense and it is, I mean, just ignoring the Fifth Amendment and assassinating an American citizen without due process.”

That’s what the media heard and ran with. Here’s his response to being asked if he’ll actually draw up the articles of impeachment.

“Well, I’d have to do it with every President I’ve ever seen, because they haven’t followed the Constitution and it’s a practical matter.”

So yes, TECHNICALLY he called the president’s approval of al-Awlaki’s killing an impeachable offense -- but he wasn’t necessarily calling for Obama’s impeachment. Still - at least one Republican is jumping to the defense of President Obama. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich offers this analysis on CNN.

GINGRICH: “He wasn’t in American courts, he wasn’t in Chicago or New York. He was running around Yemen, plotting the killing of Americans. If you do that, you are an enemy combatant. If you are an enemy combatant you are subject to military action with cause killing you.”

Finally - a commentator with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer agrees with Gingrich but thinks this incident still raises valid questions.

“...al-Awlaki was an operative in a group at war with the U.S. and, therefore, a fair target – a reasonable argument with plenty of legal backing... Nevertheless, it is good to raise questions. Technology has given our government the capacity for targeted killings and, in a war where the enemy is not a country, but a shadowy confederation of lawless zealots, extralegal remedies are a tempting option.”