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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPresident Obama mentioned The Constitution Tonight
But I'm also the president of the world's oldest constitutional democracy. So even though I possessed the authority to order military strikes, I believed it was right, in the absence of a direct or imminent threat to our security, to take this debate to Congress. I believe our democracy is stronger when the president acts with the support of Congress, and I believe that America acts more effectively abroad when we stand together.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/running-transcript-president-obamas-sept-10-speech-on-syria/2013/09/10/a8826aa6-1a2e-11e3-8685-5021e0c41964_story_1.html
and he did not say it was a goddammed piece of paper
that is a win in my book, peace, kp
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)pscot
(21,024 posts)I hope our betters in Washington have learned something. The country is fed up with military adventures.
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)... Only for as long as you can continue to get away with pissing on International Law, all of you, sisters/brothers.
bhikkhu
(10,718 posts)I can't say the line impresses me, but the result is what counts.
I still trust the president to do the right thing, but we need to recall that affirmation every time we elect a president; as recent history shows, a bad apple at the top really rots the whole barrel, and the recourse for electing a bad apple is very difficult.
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)kath
(10,565 posts)Not holding my breath though
Hell Hath No Fury
(16,327 posts)Uh, no you don't buster. You yourself said it: there was an absence of a direct or imminent threat. Which means you are Constitutionally required to go to Congress for any military approval.
Don't play that game, dude.
Uncle Joe
(58,365 posts)that the President unilaterally has the right to wage war; which is essentially what bombing is.
I like to think he's trying to find a diplomatic way out and that's what the Congressional Approval was all about.
I'm of the mind that the "chemical attack" was in fact an accident caused by the rebels themselves.
Thanks for the thread, kpete.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)It is a good thing.