But that's where we are today, in the wake of the American-led air strikes in Libya, amid strong indications - I know this will come as a shock - that the mission, which is being conducted in what a top U.S. military official calls "an extremely complex and difficult environment," may take a wee bit longer than originally envisioned. Which explains the current liberal angst. Some on the left are muttering about President Obama in rhetorical language previously reserved for the likes of Bush and Richard Nixon.
When liberal California Congressman Mike Honda contended the other day that Obama had "leveled a devastating blow to our legislative-executive checks and balances," and demanded that the president conduct "a serious conversation in Congress before new countries are incautiously invaded and before America's legislative branch is eviscerated further," I was transported back in time to 1970, when bypassed congressional Democrats were infuriated by Nixon's peremptory invasion of Cambodia.
Liberals never anticipated that they would be assailing Obama for rushing to war. But that's the subtext of the statement released Wednesday by a quartet of House lefties:
"We have serious concerns about whether or not an effective and thorough case for military intervention in Libya was made. Too many questions remain. What is our responsibility now? Do we own the situation in Libya and for how long? Where does this dramatic acceleration of military intervention end?"
