Dan Popp
America at non-war
By Dan Popp
The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure. – George Washington
So here we are again. Another non-war. We live in an age when politicians are brave enough to call for bomb strikes, but too chicken to label those being bombed as "the enemy," and much too timid to actually, you know, declare war. It would be difficult to seize the moral low ground against the demon-possessed ISIS, but by their continued cowardice, lawlessness and deference to polls rather than to the standards of statesmanship, our leaders have given it the old college try.
Doesn't it seem to you that America generally wins the wars it declares, and loses the wars it doesn't declare?
And are we now finally done with the smug saying, "There is no such thing as a War on Terror because terror is a tactic?" What childish hyper-literalism. Certainly terrorism is a tactic but, among adults, the phrase "war on terror" could be shorthand for "war on the people who use terror as a tactic," yes?
It was said that the reason Congress couldn't declare war against al-Qaeda was that it isn't a sovereign nation. Well, now ISIS has pronounced itself a sovereign nation. So the reason we can't declare war against the Islamic State is...?
Anyone?
Oh, I remember now: We have to accept any leftist delusion exactly as they name it – from the "right to choose" to kill a baby to the "voter intimidation" of having to prove you are the rightful voter – but the fantasies of the "JV team" can be safely ignored. Only the left can twist the language into a pretzel and demand that we call it broccoli.
Americans once believed that, when hostilities break out, the world is owed an explanation. As the Founders inked it in the Declaration of Independence, "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." But this wasn't for the benefit of the outside world only; many of the colonists were against a rebellion against England. And ultimately this action would have to be justified before God. The "self evident" truth of God-given rights was the original cause of this demand for an explanation.
By bombing without officially stating the causes in a declaration of war, as the Constitution demands, the rogue American government says to its people, to the world, and to God, "We don't care what you think."
This from the President who was going to bring worldwide harmony with his own messianic magnetism, and from the Congress that continues to condone his lawless and feckless acts.
The use of force is a sobering thing. It should not be done lightly or haphazardly, as our President and Congress are doing now. And the American citizens, as sovereigns, will bear the final responsibility for the actions of our agents. If We the People continue to allow our government to use force without explicit justification, we will awaken one day to find that the government is at war with us. And that no notice or rationalization has been offered.
That has already happened, of course. Except for the waking up.
© Dan Popp
October 12, 2014
The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure. – George Washington
So here we are again. Another non-war. We live in an age when politicians are brave enough to call for bomb strikes, but too chicken to label those being bombed as "the enemy," and much too timid to actually, you know, declare war. It would be difficult to seize the moral low ground against the demon-possessed ISIS, but by their continued cowardice, lawlessness and deference to polls rather than to the standards of statesmanship, our leaders have given it the old college try.
Doesn't it seem to you that America generally wins the wars it declares, and loses the wars it doesn't declare?
And are we now finally done with the smug saying, "There is no such thing as a War on Terror because terror is a tactic?" What childish hyper-literalism. Certainly terrorism is a tactic but, among adults, the phrase "war on terror" could be shorthand for "war on the people who use terror as a tactic," yes?
It was said that the reason Congress couldn't declare war against al-Qaeda was that it isn't a sovereign nation. Well, now ISIS has pronounced itself a sovereign nation. So the reason we can't declare war against the Islamic State is...?
Anyone?
Oh, I remember now: We have to accept any leftist delusion exactly as they name it – from the "right to choose" to kill a baby to the "voter intimidation" of having to prove you are the rightful voter – but the fantasies of the "JV team" can be safely ignored. Only the left can twist the language into a pretzel and demand that we call it broccoli.
Americans once believed that, when hostilities break out, the world is owed an explanation. As the Founders inked it in the Declaration of Independence, "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." But this wasn't for the benefit of the outside world only; many of the colonists were against a rebellion against England. And ultimately this action would have to be justified before God. The "self evident" truth of God-given rights was the original cause of this demand for an explanation.
By bombing without officially stating the causes in a declaration of war, as the Constitution demands, the rogue American government says to its people, to the world, and to God, "We don't care what you think."
This from the President who was going to bring worldwide harmony with his own messianic magnetism, and from the Congress that continues to condone his lawless and feckless acts.
The use of force is a sobering thing. It should not be done lightly or haphazardly, as our President and Congress are doing now. And the American citizens, as sovereigns, will bear the final responsibility for the actions of our agents. If We the People continue to allow our government to use force without explicit justification, we will awaken one day to find that the government is at war with us. And that no notice or rationalization has been offered.
That has already happened, of course. Except for the waking up.
© Dan Popp
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