"The president can bomb anybody he likes."

 In one of my favorite scenes in Oliver Stone's film "Nixon", Nixon is told of four articles of impeachment that Congress is considering against him. The last one mentioned is the bombing of Cambodia, to which Nixon replies,"The president can bomb anybody he likes."

What was true then is true today. The way that White House spokesman Josh Earnest brushed aside the two Libya resolutions by Congress as "unnecessary and unhelpful" illustrates this. Ramble on about "Obamacare" and how disappointingly secretive this administration has been, but this cavalier attitude about the War Powers Resolution puts Obama in a class with the previously mentioned former president. While I do think there were many redeeming qualities to Nixon as a president, his view of the office as an almost imperial position was not one of them.

Of course every president since the Resolution was passed carried this sense of executive power, but Obama is the first one to so blatantly ignore it when it comes to military action. And it doesn't look like Congress is doing much about it. Long live Tricky Dick.