When Barack Obama bombed Libya in 2011, a number of conservative voices spoke out against the president starting an unconstitutional war. Those Republicans insisted that presidents must go through Congress to declare war, as Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution requires.
As James Madison wrote to Thomas Jefferson in a 1798 letter:
“The Constitution supposes, what the history of all governments demonstrates, that the executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care, vested the question of war in the legislature.”
Neoconservative talk host Mark Levin thought Madison was ridiculous, however. Levin said of Obama’s unilateral decision to start a war with Libya, “I don’t believe in politicizing the Constitution. I believe the Constitution is the rock of this society. So all this talk about the attacks on Libya are unconstitutional because we don’t have a declaration of war, that’s ridiculous. That’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Levin believes that any president can start wars at any time and for any reason, without consulting anyone. The elected members of Congress have no say and should have no say. …
But ending a war or attaining peace? Congress must definitely sort that out. Neoconservatives love war. It is who they are. It is what they are. They care more about getting their wars than the Constitution, the health and well being of the American military, and even actual U.S. national security.
They want war so much that they will make any argument necessary to get it. If Levin thinks a newfound desire for constitutional congressional authority might work in his favor, so be it. Who cares about logic, integrity or anything he might have argued in the past?
Right now, neocons are pushing hard for a war with Iran. As Donald Trump reportedly seeks a deal and so many MAGA voices oppose a U.S. intervention with Iran, war hawks are turning up the volume to try to have their way, as they have been accustomed to.
But the neocons are fading. So much so that for the first time, in anyone’s recollection, Mark Levin is pleading that Congress must vote on any peace deal with Iran.
It’s hilarious.
Bullisht, no it is not hilarious!! This is what is getting a lot of people killed as we sit and read this. War is OK, genocide is OK, chemtrails are OK, what is not OK is the opposites of those conditions. Especially, peace and cessation of hostilities are not OK. Who are these ex-Trotskyite’s trying to kid? Is it working on you? No, probably not, if you have two brain cells to rub together. What they do have is the ear of the war machine and their lobbyist and money to congresscritters, isn’t it. However, it may just be that people and the war machine are getting tired of spending all of that treasure and blood on someone else’s dreams of world domination!