@SenAngusKing Sticks Up For The Constitution

Candidate Angus King meets Mark Roman of the Bring Our War $$ Home campaign in Bath, Maine July 4, 2012.

In hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, May 16, 2013, freshman Senator Angus King dared to state that the emperor has no clothes.

As Pentagon officials presented justification for making war on anyone, anywhere, by any means, anytime they feel like it, Maine's ex-governor -- who runs as an independent -- objected. Noting that he is "just a little lawyer from Brunswick, Maine" he nonetheless waded into constitutional law over the expansion being proposed of the Authorization for Use of Military Force rushed through Congress following the drama of September 11, 2001.

Focusing on the term "associated forces," which he noted was found nowhere the original AUMF, Angus contended at length that the Pentagon was usurping the power of Congress to declare war.

"This is the most astounding and astoundingly disturbing hearing I have been to since I have been here. You guys have essentially rewritten the Constitution here today."

Here's video of what preceded his remarks, and the remarks themselves, shared by Democracy Now!:



One of the shocking -- though not surprising -- statements made by the Pentagon's team was that the entire world is now a battlefield "from Boston to Pakistan" citing an attack in the USS Cole that killed 17 U.S. sailors in Yemen in October, 2000 as evidence of this. The team also predicted that the current war on "associated forces" of those who mounted the  September 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S. would last another 10 to 20 years.

That day loomed large in Sen. King's remarks as well, as he noted that the AUMF was based on taking military action against the groups responsible for events on that specific date.

What do you want to bet that the next AUMF Congress passes will include the Boston Marathon bombing? Yesterday also brought news of the contents of a note found in the boat where the surviving suspect hid, justifying the terrorist attack in Boston as a response to U.S. policies. CBS News reported the note asserted that:

• The bombings were retribution for what the U.S. did to Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq

• The Boston victims were collateral damage, like Muslims are in U.S. wars

Damn if the military contractors haven't found the perfect mechanism for endless "war on terror" -- which war Sen. King, by the way, says he wholeheartedly supports. So maybe the emperor just needs a freshly tailored set of clothes? Stay tuned.

CODEPINK Maine delegation visits Sen. Angus King's senior policy advisor Marge Kilkenny in Augusta, Maine February 21, 2013.