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Obama's history-defying decision to seek congressional approval for war in Syria.

And the president, a former part-time constitutional law professor, may have also belatedly recalled the wording of Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution that grants Congress the sole power “to declare war.”

But whatever Obama’s underlying motivations and however the Syrian vote plays out on Capitol Hill, the president’s decision to go to Congress represents an historic turning point. It may well be the most important presidential act on the Constitution and war-making powers since Harry Truman decided to sidestep Congress and not seek their backing to launch the Korean war.

HISTORIC!!!

Virtually no one in politics, the press or the academic community expected Obama to go to Congress for approval. That isn’t the way the presidential power works in the modern era. It is a sad truth that whomever occupies the Oval Office invariably expands rather than trims back the Imperial Presidency.

Obama stands alone. Every President expands their authority, but not Obama, not when it comes to making war. He's a former part-time constitutional professor. He's principled and truly understands the precedent he may set by going at it alone in Syria without UN, NATO, or Congresses support. He's asking Congress to support a strike on Syria for the noblest of reasons.

The full reasoning behind the president’s turnabout remains murky. He may have wanted to share responsibility for a risky strategy to punish the barbarous regime of Syrian strongman Bashir al-Assad for using chemical weapons against his own people

You don't say.

I like how the author decides to go over the top in his description of Assad's regime. Do you remember the MSM using the same colorful language about Saddam Hussein in the run up to the Iraq War? I seem to recall Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 depicting Iraq as a kite-flying land of peace.

I should note, while I am glad Obama has asked Congress to vote on this, I'm not going to pretend that he's doing it for noble reasons. He wants someone to share blame with should this "intervention" backfire. Everything Obama does is political. He has no fidelity to the constitution.

[Obvious: Obama is having Congress vote on this, so now would be a good time to call your congress-critter's office and let them know how you feel they should vote. If you want to do something or have an impact, this is a decent opportunity. All it takes is an e-mail or phone call]

posted by BenK at 09:34 AM

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