Tom Kaine is a Democratic Senator from Virginia. His op-ed in the New York Times is a stunning rebuke of President Obama:
Just a few months ago Obama was suggesting that congress repeal the authorization given George W. Bush to wage war against al Qaeda. Senator Kaine describes the Obama administration interpretation of that authorization:
At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in May 2013, representatives of the Obama administration blithely opined that the 2001 authorization could allow for war to be carried out for another 25 years, an astonishing claim that surely went beyond what Congress intended 13 years ago.
Note the date here. At the same time Obama was telling us that he had ended the war in Iraq and was about to end the war in Afghanistan, his administration was telling the Senate Armed Services Committee he had authority to continue fighting for another 25 years.
It is particularly important that this was done by a Democratic Senator. Tom Kaine is no fool and he probably talked to several other Democratic Senators before he published this opinion. One will note that on this subject, Tom Kaine reached across the aisle to get support from John McCain.
This is a strong message to the Obama administration from someone they cannot afford to ignore. We can be sure that there are private conversations with the administration that are increasingly blunt. It is now clear that at least some Democrats are moving from frustration with Obama to fear of the consequences of his incompetence. This is impossible to predict and it cannot be ignored. We are truly in very unusual times.
TDM