During yesterday’s post-shellacking presser, President Obama mentioned that he would seek Congressional authorization for the ongoing campaign against ISIS instead of continuing to coast on the fumes of the post-9/11 AUMF:
“The world needs to know we are united behind this effort and that the men and women of our military deserve our clear and unified support,” Mr. Obama said, adding that he would begin a dialogue with congressional leaders when they come to the White House on Friday.
Better late than never. The timing is interesting, though. It’s not likely that forcing the Repubs to take a position on this would have affected the midterms, but I don’t understand why it made sense to let them have their cake and eat it too, with McCain and Co. screeching for more bombing and arming of elusive “moderates” on the one hand and the GOP peanut gallery criticizing the administration’s strategy and results on the other.
Well, in any case, the legislative branch is supposed to weigh in on this kind of thing — it’s right there in their pocket Constitutions, I think — and now they’ll have their chance. It’s not only the right thing to do, it might also result in a scrap between the GOP’s neo-con and libertarian factions. I’ll be rooting for injuries in that contest.