Hey, Senator, you may have forgotten this but there are three CO-EQUAL branches of government; two of them are SUPPOSED to be able to limit the actions of the President.
Or have you forgotten that?
3 comments:
DJMoore
said...
Here's the sort of thing I want to see:
JOINT RESOLUTION Declaring that a state of war exists between the Imperial Government of Japan and the Government and the people of the United States and making provisions to prosecute the same.
Whereas the Imperial Government of Japan has committed unprovoked acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States of America:
Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between the United States and the Imperial Government of Japan which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial Government of Japan; and, to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States.
Roosevelt signed this the day after Pearl Harbor. Bush should have signed the equivalent by September 18. (I'd give him a little bit of slack since it hadn't sunk in that this could even happen, or who exactly was responsible.)
Key features: "unprovoked acts of war against...the people of the USA."
"A state of war exists between the US and [the enemy]." (with the enemy clearly named; in our case, something like "Muslim jihadists".)
"The President is authorized and directed..."
"...to employ the entire military forces and resources against [the enemy]."
"bring the conflict to a successful conclusion" (i.e., victory, dammit.)
"all the resources of the country are pledged"
If we are not willing to go balls to the wall like this, then the President should say, "Fuck off you raghead savages, feel free to kill each other off. Oh, and the oil fields we built for you? They're ours now. And here's live bathroom and bedroom video of your fornicating leaders. Hi there, you ignorant sheiks and caliphs! We own you shit stains!" and withdraw all of our support from participating governments.
Exactly. I think McCain kind of sort of had that in mind when he made that statement but he misses the mark.
What is unconstitutional is the entire concept of an "authorization for armed action" short of a declaration of war.
The Constitution provides that the congress has the power to declare war (upon request from the president). After war has been declared, it is up to the Commander in Chief to determine how it is to be waged.
We haven't had a constitutionally sound war since WWII.
McCain is right in the sense that if war is declared, Congress should defer to the Commander In Chief to run the war.
The problem is that a joint resolution authorizing the use of force is NOT a declaration of war.
3 comments:
Here's the sort of thing I want to see:
JOINT RESOLUTION Declaring that a state of war exists between the Imperial Government of Japan and the Government and the people of the United States and making provisions to prosecute the same.
Whereas the Imperial Government of Japan has committed unprovoked acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States of America:
Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between the United States and the Imperial Government of Japan which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial Government of Japan; and, to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States.
Roosevelt signed this the day after Pearl Harbor. Bush should have signed the equivalent by September 18. (I'd give him a little bit of slack since it hadn't sunk in that this could even happen, or who exactly was responsible.)
Key features:
"unprovoked acts of war against...the people of the USA."
"A state of war exists between the US and [the enemy]." (with the enemy clearly named; in our case, something like "Muslim jihadists".)
"The President is authorized and directed..."
"...to employ the entire military forces and resources against [the enemy]."
"bring the conflict to a successful conclusion" (i.e., victory, dammit.)
"all the resources of the country are pledged"
If we are not willing to go balls to the wall like this, then the President should say, "Fuck off you raghead savages, feel free to kill each other off. Oh, and the oil fields we built for you? They're ours now. And here's live bathroom and bedroom video of your fornicating leaders. Hi there, you ignorant sheiks and caliphs! We own you shit stains!" and withdraw all of our support from participating governments.
Exactly. I think McCain kind of sort of had that in mind when he made that statement but he misses the mark.
What is unconstitutional is the entire concept of an "authorization for armed action" short of a declaration of war.
The Constitution provides that the congress has the power to declare war (upon request from the president). After war has been declared, it is up to the Commander in Chief to determine how it is to be waged.
We haven't had a constitutionally sound war since WWII.
McCain is right in the sense that if war is declared, Congress should defer to the Commander In Chief to run the war.
The problem is that a joint resolution authorizing the use of force is NOT a declaration of war.
To answer your question, yes, McCain is daft. Crazier than a shithouse rat. He exemplifies the term RINO.
But, the people of Arizona continue to elect him.
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