If you’ve been marginally aware of how difficult Presidents Bush 43 and Obama have found it to get our NATO allies to assist in Afghanistan over the past half-dozen years or so, then this news would come as little surprise: For the second time in three years, Britain has found itself with too small a […]
I’ve used that label to describe The New York Times editorial page for the better part of a decade. The filibuster is either a great evil or an honorable tool depending on who it is being wielded against. And then we get this: Thankfully, some Senate Republicans also seem to understand the importance of the […]
In which I agree with Democrat Lynn Woolsey: The Obama Administration’s argument is one that shows contempt for the Constitution and for the executive’s co-equal branch of government, the United States Congress. To say that our aggressive bombing of Libya does not rise to the level of ‘hostilities’ flies in the face of common sense […]
Maybe the vice president is rubbing off on President Obama. First, there’s a severe case of jet-lag—three years worth. Yes, he got the year wrong. Heck, he’s in the wrong decade. And then we have him botching the toast to the queen at the state dinner. And Bush 43 was the oaf? The worst he […]
Last Friday marked the 60th day after President Obama committed U.S. military forces in action against Libya. Sixty days is an important number because the War Powers Act requires the President to get congressional authorization within 60 days of committing U.S. forces to military action. There’s some dispute over whether or not the War Powers […]
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat makes an excellent point: Imagine, for a moment, that these were George W. Bush’s policies at work. A quest for regime change in Libya, conducted without even a pro forma request for Congressional approval. A campaign of remote-controlled airstrikes, in which collateral damage is inevitable, carried out inside a […]
As things look now, it appears that President Barack Obama’s Libyan escapade will turn out to be an unmitigated disaster. The most troubling bit of news was that we have apparently banked on the Libyan opposition’s ground forces to remove strongman Moammar Qadaffi from power with the help of allied air support. Then CNN let […]
Candidate Obama, responding to a question from the Boston Globe: In what circumstances, if any, would the president have constitutional authority to bomb Iran without seeking a use-of-force authorization from Congress? (Specifically, what about the strategic bombing of suspected nuclear sites -- a situation that does not involve stopping an IMMINENT threat?) The President does […]
Yesterday, President Obama announced that the U.S. military would support a no-fly zone over Libya with materiel and personnel. From the president’s remarks: Now, here is why this matters to us. Left unchecked, we have every reason to believe that Qaddafi would commit atrocities against his people. Many thousands could die. A humanitarian crisis would […]
Last week the Washington Post had an interesting article last week on the history behind the 20th Amendment. That amendment was designed end so-called lame duck sessions. Legislators and legislatures at the time believed that moving the date for installing a new Congress to early January would mean that defeated incumbents wouldn’t be doing any […]