Wednesday, March 23, 2011
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
If we take the President at his word, the action this week in Africa is
not war and we have no enemy. I will give him that. Some in congress
howl of broken laws, as even Pres Obama did during his short stint in
that group. My how the tables turn when one becomes the ships captain.
Some time ago I posted, with a different bias, on the same legal
authorities, in some depth, this subject. One thing that is true, and will
never be tested, is that the war powers act is unconstitutional.
<1973 (50 U.S.C. 1541–1548)> Our beloved lawmakers often forget
the vow they take as they come into office. This can be seen in the
stretching of the verbally vague, albeit written with clear intent, interstate
commerce and public welfare sections of the constitution. The erosion
continues, giving nearly unlimited free range for congressional action.
At some point this may be addressed, but I digress.
In cases of international intelligence foreign relations, and conduct
of war, the coequal constitutional powers of the executive are not
necessarily subject to laws written by congress. The president, as
commander in chief, has full authority to intern whole groups of people
to camps, nationalize the entire steel industry, drop bombs on people,
even declare martial law if necessary.If you look at the constitution-
the President, not Congress or the courts, is the supreme authority. In
Fleming v. Page, 9 How. 603, 615 (1850), the Supreme Court wrote
that the President has the Constitutional power to "employ [the Nation's
armed forces] in the manner he may deem most effectual to harass and
conquer and subdue the enemy."
One would be hard pressed to say this is not war when bombs and
missiles are launched from vessels called “war ships”. Still, I have no
complaint with our administration exercising it’s power. As someone
said recently “elections have consequences” which lends to a level of
legality. There many things these actions may lead our country into,
these are a different issue. It is an honorable thing to try to stop mass
murder. If that goal puts us in the middle of a bar fight, then so be it.
The outcome will never be what one may imagine, many less than
good things may come to pass. Knowing we tried will at least ease the
stress on our collective consciousness.
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