Politico: Congress about to declare total worldwide war

Celebrating the death of bin Laden outside the White House.

National celebrations marking the death of bin Laden were not some kind of "grand finale." A better analogy is the half-time show at a football game.   We've still got a game to play.

Republicans, having huddled, have a bold new strategy for the second half.  Politico describes a muscular Republican-sponsored bill that would kick off the next the next phase of the War on Terror:

... critics say the Republican-sponsored measure amounts to the first full-scale declaration of war by the U.S. since World War II – at a moment when counter-terrorism efforts are succeeding, the U.S. is withdrawing from Iraq, and about to begin a withdrawal from Afghanistan. And, they say, it gives Obama and any successor carte blanche to attack any individual or any nation without further approval from Congress.

“The U.S. is trying to finish up and pull out of two wars right now [but] Congress is involved in declaring, for the first time in 70 years, worldwide war,” said Chris Anders, a legislative liaison for the American Civil Liberties Union.

In addition, Anders said, the legislation would result in “a huge transfer of authority from the Congressional Branch to the Executive Branch” that would give “ authority to this president and all future presidents to use military power, war power wherever a terrorism suspect resides.”

The half-time party was great fun, but it's time to get back on the field.  Call your Congressman and demand a declaration of "total worldwide war" before it's too late.