Reality Check 101

  Consider this a preemptive strike, something to remember when President Obama makes his next unilateral military move. The media is single-mindedly focused on the war over Obamacare and another looming debt ceiling fight. Meanwhile, thousands continue to die at the hand of terrorists trained and funded by terrorist regimes. The President continues to lead from behind the international “community”. Eventually, he will be forced to act “decisively”.

 Intervention in Syria’s civil war is perfectly tailored for a balance-of-powers fight. The people’s representatives from both sides of the aisle have little interest in trying to justify another military engagement. In spite of that, our chief executive is dragging himself toward a face-saving move of desperation that will further empower militant Islamists.

 America’s founders, regardless of their individual differences in political philosophy, understood that human beings are sinful creatures. That being the case, their new system of government was to guard against the excesses of human folly and ambition. Their greatest anxieties and their greatest efforts were for a republic that would preserve both national security and the authority of the people in an effective co-existence. It was to prevent the misadventures of one human being.

 This understanding of human nature and their guardedness against power and privilege, was finally codified in the United States Constitution. The authority to spill American blood in war was given to the people through Congress. Once declared, the administration of war was relinquished to the president as commander-in-chief.

 Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution’s states: “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United states, and of the Militia of the several states, when called into the actual Service of the United States.” Historically, almost every administration has argued that that simple assignment gives the president broad war-making powers.

 Almost every Congress has strongly disagreed on the basis of Article I, Section 8. In contrast to the broad strokes of Article II, Article I carefully details the authority of Congress to control every function of a standing army. It is Congress which declares war, makes rules for military “captures” and military “government”, raises money and supports the military.

 In 1973, in the aftermath of America’s disgraceful retreat from Vietnam, Congress realized the need to preserve its authority as final arbiter of U.S. involvements in military conflicts. After two major undeclared wars, Congress finally formulated what became the War Powers Resolution (WPR). It was an effort to reign in the growing military overreaches of the presidency.

 The WPR requires the president to consult with Congress before committing American troops to hostilities unless the United States has actually been attacked. If troops are sent into harm’s way in response to an attack, the president has a maximum of sixty days to justify the involvement and get congressional approval or withdraw forces.

 Presidents despise the WPR. They consistently disregarded it and attempted to manipulate the authority of Congress. By doing so, they demonstrate a deeper problem, that of the growing unconstitutional power of the presidency.

 But the struggle between the branches of government over military authority is just one symptom. In the last five years alone, the office of the president has consistently and autocratically chosen which laws to hyper-enforce and which ones to unilaterally gut.

 If anyone is tempted to minimized the consequences of this trend, they should take the time to review only a partial recent history of actions which are in direct violation of Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution.

 There are many examples: selective postponements and waivers from the Affordable Healthcare Act, non-enforcement of the Defense of Marriage Act, non-recognition of Egypt’s coup in order to preserve funding for the rebels in violation of federal law, non-enforcement of federal marijuana statutes, National Labor Relations Board appointment while Congress was in session, refusal to honor a congressional subpoena, continued processing of the Yucca Mountain closure in violation of its federal designation, welfare work requirements waived, executive order to waive restrictions against U.S. funding of the Palestinian Authority, signing the United Nations Small Arms Treaty in defiance of the Second Amendment, the IRS targeting groups for political attacks, selling arms to drug cartels which were (and are being) used in the commission of crimes against U.S. citizens.

 In America’s morally stronger days, these violations and those of other administrations would have been impeachable offenses. The Nixon administration fell for much much less. May God save us from the authoritarianism we rebelled against so long ago.