On Saturday, President Obama announced that he would be seeking "authorization" from Congress before committing to a military strike against Syria.
what eye thynk: Members of Congress, particularly Republican members who spent much of last week complaining that the President doesn't take Congress seriously enough, are now caught with egg on their faces.
Recently, a letter was circulated among members of Congress demanding that the President seek Congressional approval before any action on Syria was taken. It is not clear where the letter originated or who signed it. But, for the past week or so, members of Congress have voiced a variety of opinions on what the U.S. should do about Syria, yet there seemed to be near universal agreement that, before anything was decided, they wanted the President to give them a voice in the decision.
Technically, this is supposed to be how our democratic system works. W. and his guide dog, Cheney never bothered with the niceties of democratic protocol in issues of military force and now that President Obama has demonstrated his willingness to actually work within the confines of government as defined by our constitution, Congress is stunned into stupidness.
Representative Peter King (R-New York), a member of the House Intelligence Committee: "President Obama is abdicating his responsibility as Commander-in-chief and undermining the authority of future presidents." (I'm assuming he means future Republican presidents.)
John McCain (R-Arizona) who has been advocating that Congress step up and force the issue of using American military force in Syria for months, seems particular conflicted...or confused, take your pick:
On Thursday he was pushing for the President to take action: "I think it was proven that (Assad) used (chemical weapons) before, so it shouldn't surprise us when it is used again, and he will use it again if he can, if he feels there's not going to be any retaliation."
On Sunday morning, Mr. McCain seemed to distance himself from the majority of Congress and claimed that the President's eleventh hour decision to seek endorsement from Congress shows his weakness to Arab nations and that Congress doesn't have "the information I think they need to make a decision of this magnitude." So on Thursday he was willing to push for military action based on what he knew about Syria's President Assad using chemical weapons, but now that he is being asked to actually vote yea or nay, he's no longer in possession of enough information? If this about-face happened during a campaign, I'd be raising the flip-flop banner.
Mr. McCain also said that, since the President is now seeking Congressional support, Congress must act as soon as possible. Of course, Congress is in the midst of a month long vacation, and don't expect them to return to work early to take up what was, until Saturday, seen as a pressing issue. House Republican leadership has announced they will "consider a measure the week of September 9th". Senate Democrats say they may act sooner, but there has been no formal announcement.
What we have is a double contretemps of We-demand-to-be-consulted vs. You're-a-wimp-for-consulting-us. As one political writer pointed out, this situation points to a "larger problem: for far too many lawmakers, it's so much easier to criticize than govern."
The President has made his argument. Now its time for the children in Congress to put up, grow up or shut up.
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