How Congress forgot its own Strength - Mario Cuomo - NY Times

[groovedaddy]

Op-Ed Contributor
How Congress Forgot Its Own Strength
By MARIO M. CUOMO
Published: October 7, 2007 - NY Times

SENATORS Jim Webb of Virginia and Hillary Clinton of New York are right to demand that the president go before Congress to ask for a “declaration of war” before proceeding with an attack against Iran or any other nation. But there is no need for this demand to be put into law, as the two Democrats and their colleagues are seeking to do, any more than there is need for legislation to guarantee our right of free speech or anything else protected by the Constitution.

Article I, Section 8 already provides that only Congress has the power to declare war. Perhaps the founders’ greatest concern in writing the Constitution was that they might unintentionally create a president who was too much like the British monarch, whom they despised. They expressed that concern in part by assuring that the president would not have the power to declare war.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/opinion/07cuomo.html?th&emc=th

[rodeodance]

1. I think the Clinton et al bill will bring the issue to light.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. I'm getting tired of both democratic and republican presidents skirting around

the Article I, Section 8 restriction of having only Congress declare war by their weasel words of "military action" and soforth.

At this point, wherever you have our military committed to fighting soldiers and civilians of another sovereign country and they have to defend themselves against the same, it's war. Maybe a little war, but it's war. Is it going to be necessary for Congress to pass a bill defining what exactly the elements of war are????

[LakeSamish706]

3. Thats all very nice, but then you have to have someone with "Balls"...

that will call these crooks on these things when they cross the line. At this time there is no one that is doing that. The Democrats have a serious problem of not being cohesive on important issues and especially issues that concern this White House breaking the law.

[Amonester]

4. Dennis Kucinich is doing that.

But for too many, he is "no one."

Too bad...

If only there was many more doing that (the courage to call the occupiers of the WH what they R: war criminals, and the spine to DO something about it), maybe there would still be something to hope for...