DC Star Wars

Hillary Clinton seems to think the Webb amendment was defeated at the eleventh hour by something sinister.

"Vice President Cheney came up to see the Republicans yesterday. You can always tell when the Republicans are getting restless, because the Vice President’s motorcade pulls into the Capitol, and Darth Vader emerges," Hillary Clinton said just now at a $100-a-head fundraiser at Town Hall near New York's Times Square, referring to Cheney's efforts shore up Republican congressional support for the Iraq war.

"I’m not invited to their meetings and I don’t know what he says or does," she said, in an informal conversation on stage with former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack and retired General Wesley Clark. "But all the brave talk about bringing our troops home, and setting deadlines, and getting out by a certain date just dissipated."

  Politico

What Constitution?

CNN asked [Senator Jim] Webb about Senator John McCain's statement that the Constitution doesn't give Congress the right to manage troop rotations and that the Webb amendment "would create chaos." Webb replied, "Senator McCain -- who I've known for 30 years -- needs to read the Constitution. There's a provision in Article 1 Section 8 which clearly gives the Congress the authority to make rules with respect to the governance of ground and naval forces."

  Raw Story

Josh Marshall comments:

I want to zero in on Sen. McCain's (R-AZ) claim that Webb's amendment is not just wrong-headed but plainly unconstitutional. [...] The idea that the United States Congress cannot make laws governing the organization, regulation and laws governing the US military is as plainly ridiculous as it is shocking.

[...]

[P]eople spout off about a lot of crap on Capitol Hill. But McCain's claim is part of a increasingly common Republican claim that the president is a virtual dictator on all questions regarding the American military.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.