We Need Rules for Cyberwarfare Before a President Steals That Power, Too

-By Warner Todd Huston

A recent New York Times article revealed that the Pentagon briefly considered engaging in cyberwarfare at the outset of the actions in Libya, but decided against it for a variety of reasons. This reminds us all that as a nation we really need to discuss the use of cyberwarfare. The first question asked must be: should a president be able to simply order such an attack on his own hook?

The Times noted that one of the concerns about the use of cyberwarfare is how it would be justified under the War Powers Resolution of 1973?

One unresolved concern was whether ordering a cyberattack on Libya might create domestic legal restrictions on war-making by the executive branch without Congressional permission. One question was whether the War Powers Resolution — which requires the executive to formally report to lawmakers when it has introduced forces into “hostilities” and sets a 60-day limit on such deployments if Congress does not authorize them to continue — would be required for an attack purely in cyberspace.

One would think that the answer to this would be somewhat obvious — though nothing seems obvious in Constitution-based discussions, sadly.

We know that the Founders vested in Congress the power to declare war not in the president. They wanted to avoid a repeat of the historical outrage of a King’s untrammeled powers to declare wars without the consent of the people and their duly elected representatives.
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We Need Rules for Cyberwarfare Before a President Steals That Power, Too”


Miss America 2011 Slams WikiLeaks as ‘Espionage’

-By Warner Todd Huston

The new Miss America Pageant winner, Cornhusker Teresa Scanlan, wowed judges with her black bikini, her piano playing, and her silky blond hair. She’s the youngest winner ever at 17, her theme this year was eating disorders, and she also criticized WikiLeaks as “espionage.”

Scanlon said that she wanted to become a lawyer because she wanted to help change the negative perception that people have of lawyers.

“At this point, attorneys and politicians are looked down on and have terrible reputations for being greedy and power hungry and I really think it’s important for people who have their heart and mind in the right place get into those powerful positions,” she said to the media.
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Miss America 2011 Slams WikiLeaks as ‘Espionage’”


Chicago’s Anti-War Protest Gone Bust

-By Warner Todd Huston

A small handful of anti-war nuts came to downtown Chicago the other day and Chicago News Bench did the foot work to cover it all. Tom Mannis of CNB also has a great slide show of the freaks, geeks, wackos and communists that showed for the thing. And when I say communists, I mean it, I’m not just name-calling here. There were actual, self-avowed communists and socialists at this thing.

I am amused at the hypocrisy of the anti-war “movement,” these days, though. When it was the eeeeeevil Bushies in power they were having these parades of human detritus every other weekend in Chicago but now that their messiah Obama is in office this is the first one they’ve bothered with since inauguration day!

What does that mean? It means that being “anti-war” is NOT their goal. Being anti-George Bush was their ONLY goal. They couldn’t really care less about any war. All they cared about was getting rid of G.W. Bush.

Anyway, head on over to Chicago News Bench and laugh at the comedy that is the anti-war “movement.”
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Chicago’s Anti-War Protest Gone Bust”


Vice President Joe Biden is a Prevaricating Hypocrite

-By Warner Todd Huston

I have it on good authority that Joe Biden was laughed at as a fool by his colleagues in the Senate before he was elevated to veep. Well, this recent Iraq flap of his is more proof of how silly this man is and shows that he cannot be taken seriously.

Oh, and let us remember here that this is Joe’s own doing. He is the one that keeps opening his big mouth.

As HotAir says :

If you’re keeping score at home, the supposed foreign-policy genius whom we call our VP has the following track record on Iraq: Voted against the Gulf War; voted in favor of the 2003 invasion; opposed the surge; called for the country to be partitioned and earned himself a healthy degree of infamy among Iraqis in the process; and has now taken to lying about his prior naysaying and insisting that the administration deserves more credit than it does. Point for point, it’s the precise opposite of conventional wisdom about how things have played out. To steal a line from Glenn Reynolds, they told me that if I voted for McCain we’d have a vice president who didn’t know anything about foreign affairs — and they were right!

Joe Biden is a stupid, stupid man.
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Vice President Joe Biden is a Prevaricating Hypocrite”

Arab Paper: ‘Obama’s Historic Intifada’ Allows Islam to ‘Impose its Point of View on World’

-By Warner Todd Huston

From Beirut, Chawki Freiha reports* on a provocative editorial that appeared in the Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper on November 3 written by Abdelbari Atwan, the first journalist to have met with Osama bin Laden. Titled “Obama’s Historic Intifada,” Atwan praises the probable election of Barack Obama to the White House and claims that with Obama installed in Washington, Islam will be able to “impose its point of view” on the world.

As to be expected, Atwan’s editorial decries the Bush administration because it is “controlled by Zionists… whose objective is to destroy the Arab world and Islam.” Displaying true Muslim conspiratorial thinking, Atwan further claims that all Middle Eastern countries have been under the control Israel, even though the Arabs have the “largest wealth” in the world in petrodollars.

The most alarming part of Atwan’s editorial, however, is that he imagines that with a President Obama in office, Islam will be able to use its oil wealth to control the world.

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