The Constitution and the law is not an excuse. You just don't get it - or don't want to get it. "To hell with the legal dictionary, specifically defined legal words mean whatever I want them to mean when I want them to mean it!" - apparently that's your joint resolution and it carries just as much authority as the resolution at issue.
The Constitution and the law is not an excuse. You just don't get it - or don't want to get it. "To hell with the legal dictionary, specifically defined legal words mean whatever I want them to mean when I want them to mean it!" - apparently that's your joint resolution and it carries just as much authority as the resolution at issue. I know you think you are the Constitution's defender, but I would think that both houses of Congress and the President would tend to disagree with you, and that their Joint Resolution clearly expresses their will and position on this matter.
Agitator (and others with similar views), the truth of the matter is this: THE RADICAL ISLAMISTS WANT TO KILL YOU, YOUR FAMILY, AND ME, AND MINE, AND EVERY OTHER AMERICAN. Whether or not Congress used a formal statement that includes the phrase "declare war," there is absolutely no doubt that they authorized the use of the United States armed forces to combat this extreme threat to us.
A range of Constitutional experts have said that a formal (and some would argue, archaic) declaration of war is reserve only for conflicts between nations. It does not apply to loosely organized, shadowy groups who are acting for themselves rather than as any nation's army.
Simply because Congress did not use that phrase in its resolution, what would you have us do? Fail to act while we debate and try to resolve these issues.