Obama Goes Rogue - Reason.com
David Harsanyi | September 26, 2014
Hey, why not? Neither Democrats nor Republicans in Congress see fit to stop him.
Of the countless lessons we've learned from liberals over the past few years, none is more critical than this: If Democrats find an issue important enough and if doing something feels like the "right thing," Barack Obama has the power to act without any regard for separation of powers. So what makes anyone believe that war would be any different?
This week, the president OK'd airstrikes against Islamic State targets—allying us with Bashar Assad, possibly Iran, and definitely Qatar—using an unrelated 13-year-old authorization for use of military force as his legal mandate. Seems like a big deal. It may even be a good idea. Yet even though Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, informed the Senate that ground troops could be needed to finish the job—whatever that job may be —the president didn't bother to ask for permission.
And really, why should he? With the midterms approaching, most elected Democrats have remained vigilantly quiet or tepidly supportive, and the once-vibrant anti-war movement has all but withered away. (We look forward to its miraculous rebirth if and when a GOP administration comes back to power.) It should be noted, of course, that there are voices on the left expressing apprehension about the legality and aims of the mission. The problem is that most often, these are the same voices—from The New York Times' editorial board to Joan Walsh—that have been justifying every unilateral executive action this administration takes or threatens to take. Their sudden reverence for process and constitutionality is about as credible as John Boehner's lawsuit to stop executive abuse.
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