Glenn Reynolds on our Great Libyan Misadventure:
Libya is a “dumb war” — because it’s halfhearted, half-assed, and run by committee, and the President can’t even articulate the national interest involved. Obama the candidate said he was smarter than that. Obama the President is proving the candidate wrong.
Not quite. Candidate Obama was shrewd enough to say whatever he needed to get elected. President Obama is in over his head. “Half-assed” is his preferred method for waging war, as we’ve seen now in Afghanistan and in Libya. A surge with an end-date is not a surge. “Leading from behind” is not leadership. Especially when you prod your allies — the ones you’re “leading” into doing your dirty work — into upping the ante to “regime change,” without dedicating the necessary assets.
Can we call that “half-asser?” Half-assest? Fully-assed? I await your suggestions.
Meanwhile, the GOP has proven itself, yet again, to be the Stupid Party — and Congress has shown itself so risk-averse as to be useless.
First, Congress voted on a toothless resolution “scolding” the President for waging war on Libya in violation of the War Powers Act. That made them look even more ineffectual than usual. But given a chance to vote on a resolution with some teeth — to defund the Libya War — Congress punted.
Big surprise.
What we have here is a President with balls enough to behave with more brazen lawlessness than any president since Nixon, and a cowardly Congress unwilling to do much more than emit the occasional squawk.
From Libya to the debt ceiling negotiations to simple day-to-day governance — if there’s a way our lawfulness & leadership vacuum serves us well, please let me know.
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