One, two, three, what are we fightin' for, don't ask me I don't give a damn...

The sight of the unnaturally tanned John Boner and his minions standing up at an ersatz press conference the other day to complain that Obama hasn’t fulfilled his manly presidential duties as it relates to congress’ power to declare war, was another instance in a long line of republican hypocrisy related to the power of the presidency.  Hell, you'd a thought George W. was king, not president.   And as is often the case, the democrats aren’t guilt free in this regard – both parties generally are belligerent to the opposing party when it’s in power, regardless of what’s in the country’s best interest.   But the republicans squeal the loudest when the president is a democrat and are the most quietly compliant when it’s their boy in power. 

Personally I am deeply disappointed in Obama’s foreign policy, in particular his handling of the wars.  And his administration has not covered itself with glory with its reaction to the upheaval in the Middle East this spring but it’s not clear to me that any other president would have done much differently, given the geopolitical complexity of the situation.  Congress is right to question what the hell the end game is in Lybia –it’s certainly not clear.  If you listened carefully to his speech a couple of months ago, trying to explain the US role, it sounded as if it was undertaken for two reasons; convenience coupled with a deep, institutional hatred of Col. Khadafy.  Expediency is not an adequate explanation for engaging the US military in support of foreign policy decisions, even against a camel turd like Khadafy.

But the tsk, tsking and finger shaking is laughable given the republicans’ roster of overly enthusiastic chicken hawks, war mongers and Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore wannbes.  From Reagan’s trumped up dick-measuring exercise – the invasion of Grenada – to cover up his concurrent interventionist debacle, landing the Marines in Lebanon, to Dubbya’s equally dubious and trumped up invasion of Iraq, the cheerleaders on the right have had their pom-poms out and shaking like Hot Lips Hoolihan.  Only when a democrat is in office have they suddenly remembered their constitutional mandate to sign off on sending US troops into combat and started a loud chorus of outraged hurrumphing…

But compounding the comic bleating is their  previously enthusiastic support for killing Khadafy by any means possible and John “I did think she’d be a great VP – seriously” McCain, who was all for landing the Marines again on the shores of Tripoli.  The guy had to be talked out of packing his Patton uniform and swagger stick when he went over there to “assess the situation” when the rebellion started.  

Let’s face it, fellas…congress long ago rolled over and said, “Oh, fuck it”, when it comes to questions of the War Powers Act, and to start acting indignant and protective of your constitutional prerogative now smacks of piling on.  You guys are taking turns treating Obama’s leg like a urinal over everything from his handling of the economy to health care to his freakin'jump shot.  He can’t satisfy you with his Iraq policy or his strategy in Afghanistan – clearly your shallow partisan political aspirations are coloring your running of the country and, although that’s not surprising in the weird, pitiless, 21^st century bitch-slap of a never-ending campaign world, it still makes you look like sniveling idiots.