Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle tonight are lambasting the Biden administration for not getting Congressional approval before moving ahead with military strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.[...]
“The President needs to come to Congress before launching a strike against the Houthis in Yemen and involving us in another middle east conflict. That is Article I of the Constitution. I will stand up for that regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House,” posted California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna on X, just as news was breaking that the strikes were in progress. Some 30 minutes earlier, there were reports that Congressional leaders were given a heads up that the strikes were a go.
“Only Congress has the power to declare war,” posted Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie. “I have to give credit to @RepRoKhanna here for sticking to his principles, as very few are willing to make this statement while their party is in the White House.”[...]
“@POTUS is violating Article I of the Constitution by carrying out airstrikes in Yemen without congressional approval,” charged Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib. “The American people are tired of endless war.” Democratic Reps. Cori Bush, Val Hoyle, Mark Pocan, and Pramila Jayapal weighed in similarly as of 9 p.m. tonight.
On the Republican side, Sen. Mike Lee, who has often crossed the aisle on war powers issues, also gave Khanna a boost. “The Constitution matters, regardless of party affiliation.”
"The Constitution is clear, only Congress has the power to declare war. President Biden must come to Congress and ask us to authorize this act of war," posted Florida Republican Rep. Anna Luna.[...]
“These attacks have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation,” Biden said. “I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”
The Houthis have said they would continue the attacks until “crimes in Gaza stop and food, medicines and fuel are allowed to reach its besieged population.” The Biden administration, which has not supported a ceasefire in Gaza, said it would hit back hard if the Houthis did not stand down. After a particularly heavy volley of drones and rockets on Tuesday, the administration made its move.
This has a lot of analysts worried about escalation — something the Biden administration said it didn't want. "If the objective is to stop Houthi attacks without escalating matters toward a full war, then bombing them has proven quite inefficient in the past. Just ask the the Saudis," said the Quincy Institute's Trita Parsi, on X, referring to the Yemen civil war in which the Houthis gained major victories despite routine missile bombardments from U.S.-backed Saudi Arabia.
"Moreover, bombing them very likely will escalate matters, which means that not only will the attacks not be stopped, but the broader war that Biden [allegedly] seeks to prevent will likely become a reality."
12 Jan 24
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The thing abt Crowley that I think is missing from a lot of fan content is people like. how do I word this. people like him so much that they're not willing to make him do things they find unlikable. Crowley's demonhood is usually represented in fan stuff by him like, doing bad things to bad people, people who "had it coming" one way or another, which I think works in serious contexts but is just no fun if you're trying to match the tone of the source! Crowley comes up with and does things that are objectively annoying and unpleasant and that's Fine. It's hilarious. We all need to make peace with the fact that Crowley would play Instagram reels loud as hell on the train, she'd be in front of you on line at the drug store paying with exact change, she'd show up to your baby shower with one of those toys that make a bunch of noise, she invented the leafblower. Etc. These jokes write themselves they're so easy and they're always funny and I want to see more of that sort of energy
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seeing people comment on that first aid kit post like "what are you people doing that you need this" is so wild because like. i have a coworker who got her finger slammed in a door at exactly the right spot and angle to somehow pop the entire tip of her finger off. the whole joint just came apart! it's not like the door was sharp. she had her hand in the wrong place at the wrong time. sometimes you're trying to get the groceries inside and shit happens. injuries are not a punishment exclusively meted out to those that live dangerously.
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