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In a normal situation, the President of the United States would offer a convincing case before Congress, and then Congress would go along accordingly.

(See: "Day of Imfamy" speech - FDR, "Gulf of Tonkin" speech - LBJ, "Iraqi Freedom" address - GWB)

But this is not a normal situation. In those other instances, we had Presidents who actually possessed the ability to lead. But things are no longer normal. Today, we are left with a President who couldn't lead ants to a picnic. We have a President whose only experience with accountability came as but one of many legislators who vote from time to time on various pieces of legislation - always diluting their accountability among their cohorts, and always shielded from actually having to put that legislation into action. Yet even in that, this man who is now President would not allow himself to bear even the most minimal degree of accountability. Instead of actually voting 'yea' or 'nay' on something that would have no consequence upon him personaly, he chose to vote 'present'.

Congress needs to think long and hard about this one. Because when the missiles are loosed and the shells begin to reach their targets, there will not be anyone at the top leading. As oil climbs to $200/bbl, as Soviet-era anti-ship missiles target our solitary destroyers in the Med, as the war spills out through the southern border of Lebanon, and as Egypt opens the Suez up to Iranian ships under Russian escort resupplying Syria, everyone will look to see this President blaming everyone else for this predicament while en route to the closest golf course or vacation spot.

We are screwed.