President Obama can be credited with doing plenty of extraordinary things during his tenure, keeping in mind that “extraordinary” doesn’t necessarily mean “good.” After the nation’s elected representatives demanded over the course of several days to be consulted on a possible military strike on Syria, President Obama announced this afternoon that he would indeed seek Congressional approval.
NBC’s Chuck Todd called the president’s willingness to “share” his power with another branch of government extraordinary. Fortunately, explicit instructions for just how to divvy up that power can be found in the Constitution, readily available online and in most libraries and bookstores.
Quite extraordinary: after 30 years of presidents strengthening powers of exec branch, POTUS is giving some of that power back to Congress.
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) August 31, 2013
https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/373868090607419392
https://twitter.com/OrwellForce/status/373870831971344384
MT @chucktodd "Quite extraordinary" What? Didn't Bush seek congressional authorization?
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) August 31, 2013
.@chucktodd How exactly does one give back a power explicitly delegated to Congress back to Congress? When did they give it away?
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) August 31, 2013
https://twitter.com/seanagnew/status/373868318383304704
@chucktodd Did you miss that Sen. Obama specifically said President Bush did NOT have this power in 2007?
— John Sexton (@verumserum) August 31, 2013
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It’s hard to say. Like Benghazi, all those things Barack Obama said when he was senator happened a long time ago. In case anyone thought Todd was alone one this one, BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith and Evan McMorris-Santoro quickly penned a piece about Obama’s “big Syria power giveaway” — a “rare and dramatic blow against his own power.”
President Obama’s Big Syria Power Giveaway http://t.co/UWmnCehWzR w @evanmcsan
— Ben Smith (@benyt) August 31, 2013
As we’ve learned from the Spider-Man movies, though, with the giving away of great power comes the giving away of great responsibility.
@chucktodd He just voted "Present" again!
— Jillianwv (@jillianwv) August 31, 2013
@chucktodd @msnbc wkae up chuck. Its called passing the buck. Cause he can't make a decision.
— MPK (@mpkienzle) August 31, 2013
https://twitter.com/seanagnew/status/373868736400203776
@philthatremains @chucktodd he doesn't want to be the one making the decision
— MPK (@mpkienzle) August 31, 2013
David Axelrod seems happy that those pesky Congressmen nipping at Obama’s heels have finally been given the attention they demanded.
Big move by POTUS. Consistent with his principles. Congress is now the dog that caught the car. Should be a fascinating week!
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) August 31, 2013
It will be a fascinating week, especially if Congress decided to hand the president the same defeat Parliament delivered to David Cameron.
WH completely confident they get the Syria vote in Congress. Of course, they could be wrong.
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) August 31, 2013
@chucktodd Upon reflection, many in Congress will probably be eager to give it back to POTUS.
— Byron York (@ByronYork) August 31, 2013
@ByronYork u got that right
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) August 31, 2013
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