Talking Points Memo’s creator Josh Marshall properly explains the constitution to Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who said President Barack Obama should be impeached over Libya:
A short while ago a couple of our reporters were asking questions on the history of the War Powers Act and the necessity for a declaration of war for the president to go to war.
I explained that the current constitutional rule is that a president doesn’t have to do anything to send the military into battle. Except in cases where the ruling party believes an Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) sets the party up well for the next election campaign.
So in general, it’s ideal to have a congressional vote except if you don’t have time or don’t want to.
There are many on the left who’ve idolized Kucinich, as a purported voice of truth. To many (including me) he is more like someone who might should take a few deep breaths before he pontificates. True, he has had strong support for him being President (himself).
But his inability to just stand and put things into perspective is why he sometimes seems a Democratic version of the huffers and puffers on the right. This is a classic case of where nuance matters. But it isn’t really nuance. Marshall’s fact is one most Political Science students or history students know already.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.