Biden’s Strikes in Yemen Are Unconstitutional, Bipartisan Members of Congress Say ( theintercept.com )

The U.S. and U.K. led a series of airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday evening, setting off alarms globally about how the attacks play into the smoldering regional risk of conflict — including a stream of questions from Congress about whether Biden was legally authorized to conduct the strikes at all.

cupcakezealot ,
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Spoiler: they are constitutional.

Drewfro66 ,
@Drewfro66@lemmygrad.ml avatar

Who cares if it's "Legal" or not under U.S. law?

Omega_Haxors ,

They've made it clear beyond a reasonable doubt there is no rule of law in the States. It's just "I get what I want or you die"

Pohl ,

Repeal the AUMF you fucking cowards! Otherwise, shut your little mouths and be the meek useless branch that you seem determined to be.

Put up or shut up congress.

BraveSirZaphod ,
@BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social avatar

Yeah, there's absolutely a valid question of whether the AUMF is a good idea or not, but the fact of the matter is that it did pass, it is in force, and therefore essentially any military action - especially in response to direct attacks on American military ships - is unquestionably legal.

If Congress would like to complain about the President conducting war without its authority, they should perhaps revoke the essentially unlimited authority to conduct war that it gave him.

FireTower ,
@FireTower@lemmy.world avatar

"All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void." Marbury vs. Madison, 5 US (2 Cranch) 137, 174, 176, (1803)

BraveSirZaphod ,
@BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social avatar

Rep Tlaib is welcome to file a lawsuit if she thinks the AUMF in unconstitutional. It would be a bit strange though if it survived 23 years of use, including actions in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and then a response to direct attacks on US Navy ships winds up being what sinks it.

But again, these representatives can sue if they're so confident.

yesman ,

It's ironic you bring up Marbury vs. Madison. The case where the Supreme Court gave itself the extra-constitutional authority to strike down laws.

LibertyLizard ,
@LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net avatar

What’s the argument that it’s a good idea? That congress is dysfunctional and can’t respond to urgent threats in a timely manner?

BraveSirZaphod ,
@BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social avatar

Basically, and that in the modern era where attacks can happen very quickly and with zero warning from non-state actors (as opposed to having to march an army across fields for days), the President needs to be able to react very quickly.

Given the current state of Congress, with a shutdown looming, no real plan, and apparently now some rumblings of a plan to oust the Speaker yet again, I can kinda understand the logic.

More cynically, it isolates Congress members from any political accountability.

LibertyLizard ,
@LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net avatar

I understand the logic in this case but I still think congress should have more oversight of US military force. If the entire body is too cumbersome to react quickly, surely a delegated committee could be formed that can approve or deny actions quickly. The danger of having that power unilaterally available to the president is too great.

BraveSirZaphod ,
@BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social avatar

For what it's worth, I don't really disagree.

agitatedpotato ,

So they really said "Instead of making our congress functional again, we'll drop some of the oversights on warfare". Brilliant.

intelshill ,

When has Biden ever cared about the Constitution?

JimmyBigSausage ,

Always more than loser Cheese Turd.

yogthos ,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

I love how this is the only reply these trolls have. The other turd is worse than the turd that's currently committing atrocities. Checkmate!

FlorianSimon ,

The other turd that would absolutely commit the same atrocities if he could, because all American presidents have had the same stance on Israel in modern history, and Trump himself was showing no sign of being any different*

"Oh, look at me, supporting proto-fascists because it's ironic and whatnot". Do you know what we call a person supporting a fascist? A fascist!

I'm surprised, though. I thought your support of fascists was supposed to remain a secret, nazbol. You're not supposed to say the quiet parts out loud.

Pretty obvious that you don't actually care about socialism or communism but are only here to promote "red" imperialism.

You should probably know that left-wing politics are not an aesthetical concern designed to make people sound cool. It's supposed to be about freeing the workers of the world from the yoke of capitalism.

But the truth is that you only care about is your horse being the winning horse, out of (probably justified, tbh) hatred for the West. You're willing to sacrifice the racial minorities, the LGBT, and the general working-class of both the West and the countries you're shilling for because you never actually cared.

Tough shit, though. It looks like it's not happening today pal. Your horse will not win the race today. It's not even close, in fact. We can talk about it in a year or 10 if you'd like. Seethe and cope (quoting you).

You're a disgrace.

yogthos ,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

Nice straw man there, given that nowhere did I say I support the other turd in any way. I reject the entire horrific system. Meanwhile, you are the one who supports genocidal fascist because he makes scum like you more comfortable, and you don't give a shit what he does to others.

The blood of millions is on the hands of scumbags like you who prop up western imperialism.

FlorianSimon ,

You're the one simping for Trump, shitbag. Get your facts straight.

yogthos ,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

Please quote where I'm simping Trump liar.

Omega_Haxors ,

Ignore them, they're a sh.itholefor.nazis user.

yogthos ,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

noted

Omega_Haxors ,

I picked this skill up from dealing with reddit but always read the username and instance if someone says something that doesn't sit right with you. You'll save a lot of mental health over time not having to constantly engage with blatant trolls.

yogthos ,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

That's a good point, I'm still not used to the amount of trolling we have on here with the reddit crowd. I really miss the old days when people just had civil and constructive discussions. I guess that's only possible with small communities.

Omega_Haxors , (edited )

It's possible if you root out the nazis. Lemmy has been really disappointing in that regard though i'm confident it will eventually get better.

For context of what I mean, this is one of the first posts I made when coming back from a hiatus. https://lemmy.ml/comment/2712925

EDIT: LOL I just checked, of course it was a sh.ithead. Of course.

yogthos ,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

they're nothing if not consistent

Omega_Haxors ,

Seems like they're downvote trolling you too. Not me though? Maybe it's because I have them blocked?? Is that how that works?

yogthos ,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

Not sure how blocks work in that regard actually, but yeah I have a handful of trolls following me around downvoting. It's kind of funny cause it tends to happen always at a specific time every day where I just get like 5 downvotes on every comment. The fact that people devote their time to this is equal parts hilarious and sad.

Omega_Haxors , (edited )

The latest update of Lemmy added in a system that allows admins to deanonymize the votes on a comment in cases where there's blatant vote abuse, so you can probably ask @dessalines where it's coming from so that they/you can deal with it. I'm sure with time better systems will be put in place but for now this is the best tool you have to fight back against this sort of trolling behavior.

For example before I was banned from LemmyWorld they would constantly barrage my posts deep into the negatives whenever I posted anything left of center, and it would be nice to be able to break down the voting scores among each instance so that one ideology doesn't just take over and become representative of the entire federation. From what I heard, Hexbear literally had to disable downvotes completely because LW reactionaries would slam every single post and every single comment they saw there, to the point it actually damaged their culture. The only way to defend against this is to either defederate entirely, or to ask the admin of the problem instance to ban you (so your posts stop showing up to their users) and if they're a bad faith nazi instance (like sh.ithole) they can just say no.

yogthos ,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

I haven't been worrying too much about it, since the vote count doesn't ultimately mean anything.

I do hope we can avoid having reddit culture on Lemmy in the long run. I do think Hexbear approach is good, another approach I've liked was what lobste.rs does where you have to provide a reason for the downvote. That adds a bit of context and helps reduce trolling.

It is intersting to see how encountering different perspective can set some people off though.

Omega_Haxors ,

where you have to provide a reason for the downvote

I would really like to see that here too, sometimes i'll get slammed and won't know if it's because I made a mistake or if I PO'd some racists. Hell, I wouldn't even care about getting downs if they were transparent about why I was getting them. What I care about is keeping the signal:noise ratio high, and it's hard to do that when you have some harassing assholes downing everything you post regardless of content.

yogthos ,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

Agreed, a lot of people just use downvoting as a form of harassment hoping to bully people they don't like off the platform.

FlorianSimon ,

I don't owe you anything, nazbol.

GilgameshCatBeard ,

If you chose not to vote, you’re helping Trump win . Period. Thats how this works.

Because if you weren’t going to vote Trump to begin with, but would have voted Biden had the “genocide Joe” movement not convinced you otherwise-

Yeah… that’s a vote for Trump that doesn’t get canceled out.

brain_in_a_box ,

At this point I think I might just vote for Trump directly; apparently basically anything I do counts as a vote for him anyway. It's not like it makes much difference to what the USA government actually does, and it upsets obnoxious people like yourself into the bargin.

GilgameshCatBeard ,

Wow… taking trolling to a whole new level where your temper tantrum has actually brought you to willfully helping end democracy because you don’t like not getting your way?

Incredible to behold.

I had wondered what the Bernie Bros would do without Bernie in an election year. Now I can see it.

brain_in_a_box ,

It's worth it for the way you disingenuous chuds cry and gnash your teeth. You deserve another Trump presidency.

GilgameshCatBeard ,

Then so do you.

brain_in_a_box ,

I'm not obsessed with "decorum" and "civility", so Trump isn't any different to me than every other ghoul who's held the office in my life time.

GilgameshCatBeard ,

I love how this is the only reply these trolls have. The other turd is worse than the turd that's currently committing atrocities. Checkmate!

I love how this is the only reply those that bought into MAGA propaganda about “genocide Joe” have.

brain_in_a_box ,

Imagine thinking what is happening in Palestine is "MAGA propaganda"

GilgameshCatBeard ,

“Genocide joe” absolutely is MAGA propaganda. I’m not arguing that what’s happening there isn’t atrocious. But you really should look into what’s going on a why- before you buy into the single issue reason to stand down voting.

brain_in_a_box ,

“Genocide joe” absolutely is MAGA propaganda.

You lot say that literally anything that makes your geriatric warcriminal look bad is "MAGA propaganda". It's meaningless.

GilgameshCatBeard ,

If you says so, trumper.

brain_in_a_box ,

The way to keep doing everything you can to alienate voters... Clearly you're actually a Trump voter pretending to be an insufferable Biden supporter.

Fedizen ,

what, specifically, are you talking about?

TexMexBazooka ,

Biden bad. It’s an election year, the brainworm propaganda is gonnna absolutely take off

GilgameshCatBeard ,

They’re one of those “gEnOciDe jOe” kids.

BraveSirZaphod ,
@BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social avatar

The numerous times that he has proceeded to not do something after the SCOTUS tells him that it's unconstitutional.

BrianTheeBiscuiteer ,

I mean, every time he doesn't violate it. It's a "low score is better" kind of thing.

cupcakezealot ,
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

i'm begging you to stop getting your view on politics from twitter and take a civics class.

autotldr Bot ,

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The U.S. and U.K. led a series of airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday evening, setting off alarms globally about how the attacks play into the smoldering regional risk of conflict — including a stream of questions from Congress about whether Biden was legally authorized to conduct the strikes at all.

In a statement, President Joe Biden said, “Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces—together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands—successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways.”

With Israel being brought before the International Court of Justice in the Hague for allegedly committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the Houthi blockade of Israeli trade in the Red Sea could gain a newfound global legitimacy.

“It’s appalling that instead of acting to stop Israeli war crimes, the Biden administration chose to further damage both our global reputation and our Constitutional system by launching a new unauthorized conflict against Yemen.”

“Iran sowed hatred across the Middle East, and the world is now reaping endless attacks from Hezbollah, Hamas and Houthis,” said Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, who showed up to Congress in an IDF uniform on October 13, 2023.

While Biden justified his Yemen strikes without congressional authorization, in 2020, when President Donald Trump was escalating hostilities with Iran, he was a staunch defender of the notion that Congress should be consulted before taking military action that could spark U.S. involvement in a regional war.

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