Kennedy to Bush -- Surge this cowboy

Here's my first prediction for 2008. It will be the first election that turns on the internets. If this post at HuffPo by Ted Kennedy is any indication, the politicians are finally catching up to the technology. I thought it was really significant that he embedded his YouTube and asked readers to pass it along.

I also found it interesting that Ted was the one to bring this bombshell of a piece of legislation forward. It had to come from someone in a really safe seat with no presidential ambitions. I have to say I kind of love the rhetoric. It's strong and responsive to the people. My first response was yeah -- it's about time. I didn't see any constitutional flaw in the proposal so when I read McQ's somewhat snarky response I felt a little defensive. I was thinking this is just another case of Kennedy Derangement Syndrome and left a barbed comment.

But I'm no constitutional scholar and when I read Big Tent's post at Talk Left I realized McQ was right. Even in the unlikely event the Dems could get it past a veto, it probably wouldn't pass constitutional muster because of the war powers already granted by Congress. One suspects Kennedy has to know this and the whole schtick is more or less politial posturing, nonetheless, it could be a canny strategy to stall the escalation. By the time it winds its way through the process, they would have bought a few more months of safety for the undeployed troops.

In terms of actually stopping the war, Big Tent points out they have to revoke the war powers before they can really do anything else. Which is exactly what they should do. It would force the administration back into compliance with the rule of law and make it easier to get accountability and begin the repair of the damage done to our civil liberties. The question is, does the Democratic Party have the guts to do it?