Time: Future Historians Will Wonder Why George Bush Secured Congressional Authorization for His Wars, But Barack Hussein Obama Did Not

It's nice to think they would.

But why is almost no one noticing this right now, as it's happening?

Note that while this appears in Time, it was actually authored by a former Bush official.

So this is not the New Class troubling itself to ask troublesome questions.

Obama’s Breathtaking Expansion of a President’s Power To Make War

Jack Goldsmith Sept. 11, 2014

President Obama hoped to repeal the Bush-era authorization declaring war on al Qaeda--nstead he's expanded it without bound

Future historians will ask why George W. Bush sought and received express congressional authorization for his wars (against al Qaeda and Iraq) and his successor did not. They will puzzle over how Barack Obama the prudent war-powers constitutionalist transformed into a matchless war-powers unilateralist. And they will wonder why he claimed to "welcome congressional support' for his new military initiative against the Islamic State but did not insist on it in order to ensure clear political and legal legitimacy for the tough battle that promised to consume his last two years in office and define his presidency.

"History has shown us time and again... that military action is most successful when it is authorized and supported by the Legislative branch," candidate Barack Obama told the Boston Globe in 2007. 'It is always preferable to have the informed consent of Congress prior to any military action.' President Obama has discarded these precepts. His announcement that he will expand the use of military force against the Islamic State without the need for new congressional consent marks his latest adventure in unilateralism and cements an astonishing legacy of expanding presidential war powers.

Only Nixon can go to China, and only Obama can go to Emperor.

Some of Obama's supporters are feeling a little disappointed in him, given that he's given them nothing but failure and broken promises.

Karlene Richardson, 44, once counted herself a "very strong supporter" of the president...

"Honestly, I just feel that what I bought into is not what I’m getting," said Richardson, an author and motivational speaker who teaches health-care administration at a community college in Queens. "I'm starting to wonder whether the world takes us seriously."

What you bought into was a cult.

Not sure any cult has ever really delivered on its promises, unless that promise was mass suicide.

Both Cole and Richardson were surveyed in the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll and represent one of its most striking findings: the degree to which the president’s approval has slipped among key parts of the Obama coalition -- the women, youth and Latino voters most responsible for putting him into office.

Women surveyed said they disapprove of Obama by a 50 percent to 44 percent margin -- nearing an all-time low in the poll. It's almost the reverse of the 55 percent to 44 percent breakdown for Obama among female voters in 2012, according to exit polls.

...

Among younger voting-age Americans, Obama’s approval rating stood at 43 percent. That marked an 11-point drop since June among those 18 to 29 years old. Voters younger than 30 supported Obama by 60 percent to 37 percent in 2012.

Meanwhile, a Pentagon spokesman is contradicting Kerry's and Obama's and Rice's and Larf's claims that we're not at war:

What I said was it's not the Iraq war of 2002. But make no mistake we know we're at war with ISIL in the same we're at war and continue to be at war with Al Qaeda and its affiliates.

Out: An uncertain trumpet

In: A rusty trombone

posted by Ace at 06:18 PM

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