AND, THEY'RE OFFFF..... Silly Season Begins!

 Kettle, Hey, kettle. Hey, kettle.... Ya, Pot?

This week Congressional Republicans, through their fearless leader, the mild mannered man from the very middle American town next door to where I sit at this very moment, accused Obama of violating the War Powers Resolution (WPR) by committing troops to Libya for over 90 days.

http://jonathanturley.org/2011/06/15/boehner-accuses-obama-of-war-powers-violation/

I guess they are hoping we are all too brain addled to remember when Bush INVADED Iraq in violation of the WPR and of what limited authority Congress had given him for military actions there. An excellent argument is here which parses the language of HJR 114, giving Bush limited authorization for military force in Iraq, and demonstrates Congress never meant this resolution to authorize the invasion. Then House Speaker John Boehner called the WPR “constitutionally suspect.” 

http://www.impeachbush.tv/args/noiraqauthority.html 

If Speaker Boehner (whose name originally rhymed with loner but was recently changed to rhyme with veiner, which is NOT the same as Weiner) were truly concerned with a WPR violation, he would have raised this complaint May 20th when the 60 day deadline passed for Congressional notice.  However, that would have defeated the purpose of keeping public attention on the party candidates; Boehner and buds took advantage of an exception under which the President could have sought (but didn't) a 30 day extension for Congressional notice so they could issue this complaint by letter dated Tuesday, June 14th, the day after the June 13th Republican candidates' debate in NH. Wonder of all wonders.

On June 15 President Obama submitted a 32 page explanation for his authorization of military force in Libya which is now the debate of every constitutional lawyer and scholar, including the President's advisors.  Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon general counsel, and Caroline D. Krass, the acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, had told President Obama they believed that the United States military’s activities in the NATO-led air war amounted to “hostilities.” Under the WPR, accepting this interpretation would have required the President to scale back "hostilities" until Congress authorized them. The President chose to reject these opinions in favor of those from White House counsel, Robert Bauer, and the State Department legal adviser, Harold H. Koh — who argued that the United States military’s activities fell short of “hostilities” and therefore required no Congressional approval. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/18/world/africa/18powers.html

So now House members are trying to figure out how to punish the President but his biggest problem is perhaps himself. When a senator, President Obama argued that Congress must have the "backbone" to stand up to presidents when they want to send troops to battle. 


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-17/dispute-over-libya-nags-president-who-wanted-congress-to-have-more-power.html


Whoops, there it is. A big old bite on the butt. 

Anthony's Troubles Seem to Be Expanding

Chapter II for this Saga:

I have been asked whether it was wise to mock this man's behavior given the terrible time his wife will now have and the fact that this just gives the Republicans reason to bash Dems. I confess my mockery didn't come from a place of deep reflection but after a firm foundation of torture from Prissy, the teaching of the nuns, and my own experiences being mocked, I trust my instincts. Here's basically why I thought this public humor fair: 

1) He had the chance to tell the truth and he lied. No one caught him off guard. He did these things and knew they could surface some day and he chose, "I cannot say with certitude that the picture is not me." 2) He was tweeting young college women, not women his own age. He thought that was acceptable behavior because ???? Once those tweets went into cyberspace, he risked that they would go public. What made him think they wouldn't go public? 3) He is, by his own choice, a public figure.  Nuf said. 

Is it fair to mock his stupidity? I think it's absolutely required. And now we should acknowledge that he has done the right thing and it will hurt a lot. I feel awful for his wife. Also, I would much rather have a man who likes to Tweet pix of his body parts represent me than a woman who doesn't know seventh grade history, social studies or geography.  

Mary Kay

What was he thinking sending these off to college aged girls?

Well, I don't know about you but I was always convinced this was the Congressman and now we have his word for it. Looks like there was some serious manscaping done here. There were other pix but they just were not that interesting. See Wednesday's post for prior news. I liked his approach ("I lied to myself") and am glad he didn't resign. He is, after all, a politician and chances are good his replacement could be worse. This way the voters can decide.