A clue to how Barry feels about the whole thing can be gleaned from his letter to Congress:
“Congressional action in support of the mission would underline the U.S. commitment to this remarkable international effort,” he wrote. “Such a resolution is also important in the context of our constitutional framework, as it would demonstrate a unity of purpose among the political branches on this important national security matter.”Yeah, it would demonstrate a unity of purpose. It would also demonstrate compliance with the law, you cretin.
But you see, this is a "remarkable international effort" and Barack Hussein Obama, our first post-American president, is a remarkable international kind of guy. I mean, he's got friends in Europe. He even hung out with the Queen of England and gave her an iPod, for heaven's sake, you non-arugula-havin' bitter clinger! And this mission is sanctioned by NATO, which is international, and therefore bigger and more important than Congress, which is merely national, just like being the junior senator from Illinois in Washington is bigger and more important than being the state senator from Hyde Park in Springfield.
Don't you people get it? It's all like a hierarchy of sovereignty: city, county, state, nation, NATO, UN.
(And most of the people who make up the media class feel this way too, hence the nonchalance about something that would have had them howling out of sheer partisan reflex had Obama's predecessor been doing the same thing.)
35 comments:
They did scream about Bush, Tam. Loudly, endlessly while Bush was getting Congress to pay attention.
L'etat, c'est Barry.
Of course, if some Grown Ups in the House and/or the Senate would "Just Say No" .......
@TenMile
You expect politicians anywhere to behave honestly?
I envy you your naivete.
Politicians are scum of the earth. Their business is lying to idiots.
Really. It's high time we shot those basterds, and instituted a proper, aristocratic republic, where the first rule in politics would be never, ever to bullshit.
Penalty for bullshitting would be having the politician flogged by people who voted for him. Each voter would have to dispense one strike.
I have a better idea. When a politician flames out, flog the people who voted for him.
ickbit: what splatters off the lash after you're past the skin and into the meat.
Hmmph. Someone finally followed through on the game of Constitutional Chicken that the WarPowers Act represents.
I figure that violation of the war powers act should be grounds for impeachment.
The War Powers Resolution is transparently unconstitutional, and most administrations since 1973 have been vocal on this point, but nevertheless every President has pursued Congressional authorization because the alternative is a Constitutional crisis.
Until now.
Penalty for bullshitting would be having the politician flogged by people who voted for him. Each voter would have to dispense one strike.
Oh, let's be kind, shall we? Since the politician was elected with a majority, let's reduce the number of strokes by having him flogged by the people who voted against him.
@perlhaqr
You show insufficient revolutionary zeal.. Would you care to be flogged?
Two thoughts.
First, B. Hussein Obama became influential in his community, and became part of the graft and corruption of slum lording as a community organizer, and his wife involved in using the University of Chicago med school to shuffle away patients that couldn't pay (a federal law violation).
Now, I could be wrong, but as I understand it, a community organizer pretty much wrests, intimidates, and bullies as much resource as possible from the legal government, for the benefit of those housing the poor (the slum lords). Adherence to the law is actually a weakness, for a community organizer, as I understand it. At least, President Obama doesn't seem to have a lot of practice working within the law or making the law work for him.
The second thought is that the long-held diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder afflicting our dear "Hope and Change" unicorn fart collector might have been accurate, but that the condition has progressed. I wonder if the President has trouble tracking reality, in a clinical, mental health sense. Forget the blood pressure, I want to see the mental health examine on the First Community Organizer.
Hang Them All.
CIII
“NATO nations and partners agree we have taken the initiative; we have the momentum..."
Well, that's good enough for me...
Wait a minute. The ACLU told The Hindmost to back off?!
So the Congress can come along if they want, which would certainly be nice, but they gotta ride in the back?
"Ahh, but Loo, you'll get to kill fifty, maybe sixty people."
"The War Powers Resolution is transparently unconstitutional"
How do you get that? Congress, as part of their exclusive power over the declaration of war, simply allowed 60 days for the President to get their approval for committing acts of war, to allow for the fact that getting nearly anything through the legislative process is slow.
The power to tell a President to stop making war is a necessary part of Congress's exclusive power to declare war.
Atom Smasher wins. ;)
You beat me to it, Atom Smasher!
"...Barack Hussein Obama, our first post-American president..."
Powerful if tragic bit of campaign gold right there...
From your lips to Tea Party ears?
AT
What's a good proxy-war without a payment plan? Someone's gotta cover the action.
Has anybody considered that Gaddafi is the "Lesser of Two Weevils"?
Two tribal confederations. One in the east, backed by Al Quida and the Muslim Brotherhood, one in the west, led by Daffy Kadaffy. Both are, militarily, incompetent dickwits.
Gaddafi is hated by Al Quida and the Brotherhood (as well as the rest of the world). He also hates the 'Quidas and Brotherhood, and whacks them whenever he gets the chance.
The western tribes have the treasury, which buys suprisingly tough and loyal Tuareg mercenaries. Said Tuaregs bring along their black Harattin slaves to work in the oil fields, for peanuts.
The eastern tribes use that as an excuse to kill every black African they get their hands on, even if they aren't Harratin. Handily overlooked by our first African-American President, in order to look "tough" (pause for laughter).
Assholes (Western Tribes) who can deal with the west, vs. Assholes (Eastern Tribes) who will screw us given the chance, and finance anybody else who tries.
Perhaps time for a little Realpolitik?
Of course they only bow to NATO when the US isn't running the show. Whole Cold War, NATO was evil
@Ed
Huh. The eastern ones can't be complete idiots. They know they can't get money in any other way than selling us oil.
You expect for them to keep antagonizing their future customers?
Any data on Al-Qaeda backing? Why would local tribals invite disaster by trying to get assistance from an organisation that's almost universally hated by all advanced countries, eh? If all they need to do is kick out Qaddafi and then enjoy the oil money.. while it lasts.
That's like fucking retarded.
Lanius,
I suspect asking Al Qaida to leave would have been like inviting Al Capone (or Mayor Daley) to exit Chicago for several decades.
But I don't mean to suggest that organized crime invented terror tactics, or taught Al Quaida how to get things done.
Your basic tribals with AK's, which is what the Libyan opposition is, could make Al-Qaeda leave pretty easily, I think.
When you have no real law and order and only militias, it's easier to get rid of unpopular people.
Hell.. I should read up on that. It's interesting.
Anyway. Point is Al Qaeda hated Qaddafi. So it's safe to assume that even if they weren't real popular in Libya, the opposition would let them help fight Q.
And these Al-Qaeda types are often eager to fight.
The real question is, how much of them is there, and what will happen once the opposition wins against Q?
In the long run, I'm more worried about the Moslem Brotherhood, which pretty much calls the shots in eastern Libya, as well as, increasingly, Egypt.
Libya is an artificial construct, compliments of the Europeans (mostly Italy), and has no real stability. It's tribal because that's the only loyalty any of them feel.
Egypt, if run by the brotherhood, would end up in de facto control of eastern Libya. Without Quaddafi, they end up with the whole show. One less player in the oil business, and less competition drives up prices.
Quaddafi would commonly load up French and Lebanese tankers that he knew were headed for Israel or to anybody with cash, and his selling under the table helped undercut OPEC's cartel, driving prices down.
The question isn't "Would the Brotherhood sell to us", It's "At what price would the Brotherhood sell to us".
The Saudis, Gulf States, and Russians have to factor in the damage higher prices would do to their massive investments in western businesses, which tempers their short term greed.
The very fundamentalist Brotherhood doesn't have any irons in that fire and is free to gouge all it wants to. In fact, to buy support among middle class Egyptians, it will have to.
Saudi oil production has peaked and will be declining over the next few years, and Russian extraction techniques are madly wastful. Libya will be an increasingly needed supplier to Europe. Run the numbers.
A lot of people are saying most Egyptians would want the brotherhood running the country. That'd be end to tourism, which is their only real source of hard currency.. so there is a vested interest in keeping them out of power.
Let's hope they'll be rational about it.
Lanius, I like that "Aristocratic Republic" remark. I thought that was what our country was founded to be. Speaking of Aristocratic Republics, I'm beginning to think I would get more and better justice as a serf in the Domination of the Draka than I can expect as a supposed "free citizen" of the USA.
@justthisguy
Draka has some good points, but is too much oriented on slavery and power.
My idea is, that people would have to earn the right to vote. Either by a decent amount of public service. Like military or police work, or working in enviromental control, doing engineering for public projects. All of these would entail monetary sacrifice and living frugally. Therefore people whose idea of a good life is to have lots of money and live in luxury would have a harder time.
Also, all laws would have to be approved by citizens. Legislators would only draft them, and explain various parts. People would have to approve the law, paragraph by paragprah, and no more legalese.
Some votes would be given for paying a lot of taxes, but they'd be logarithmic.. so for each additional vote, you'd need to pay exponentially more money.
But yeah. The whole idea is totally absurd and won't ever be put into practice-
"Draka has some good points, but is too much oriented on slavery and power."
That's because S.M. Stirling has some freaky fascination with lesbian bondage ninjas. They show up in all his books. That boy has got to be nearly as kinky as Jack L. Chalker.
Interesting about Stirling. When Mike Shepherd tried his female heroine -- Kris Longknife -- somewhere between Weber's Honor Harrington, and David Drake's Lt. Leary, he did pretty well. But he is fixated on the boobie bombs he came up with in the second book.
"...our first post-American president, is a remarkable international kind of guy. I mean, he's got friends in Europe. He even hung out with the Queen of England..."
Notify us when Obama holds hands with - and dances with - the Saudi Prince, ala Bush.
Just don't tell former German president Merkel when that happens...
My copy of Peshawar Lancers appears to be a bit defective; it is missing all of the gratuitous LBNinjas and most of the gratuitous sex o.O
I think they got into the Nantucket series instead...
Tam, I am fascinated more than is good for me by the prospect of a date with Gwendolyn Ingolfson.
Yikes!
p.s. Obviously, a rational man should not seek a liaison with a woman who will show him a wonderful time, and then kill him and eat him.
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