Where You Stand is Where You Sit – Congress Edition

Bruce McQuain compiles a list of quotes from Democratic Senators on their ever-evolving views on whether Congress has any business interfering with the President in the conduct of ongoing military action. He concludes, shockingly, that “perhaps the real difference is nothing more complex than who’s running the war.”

Of course, I’m sure one could compile a list of Republican Senators whose views have evolved in the opposite direction. (Note that I wrote “sure one could,” not “energetic enough to.”) Certainly, Dick Cheney had different views as to whether it was proper to speak out against controversial wars a decade ago than now.

Politicians being inconsistent and partisan no longer surprises me. It’s not any less objectionable, of course, but it’s par for the course.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. M1EK says:

    You also forget the possibility that the difference is really between

    “small war that goes well”

    and

    “large war that’s going very very very badly”

    There are about ten other reasons to support the Balkan interventions over Iraq, but the one above is an obvious pragmatic political one.