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The House votes to continue a war that it has not even authorized

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I posted back in May, When will Congress act on an AUMF for ISIS in Iraq and Syria?, and more recently, Congress once again abdicates its war powers. Congress has yet to debate and to vote on an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, long past the time limitations prescribed by the War Powers Resolution of 1973.

But today Congress did manage to find time to debate and to vote on continuing a war that it has not even authorized. We have gone down the rabbit hole again. House rejects withdrawal from ISIS war:

us-forces-afghanistan-AP-640x480The House voted resoundingly Wednesday to keep troops stationed abroad fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) despite the absence of a formal congressional authorization for military action against the group.

In the first vote of its kind since the Obama administration began airstrikes ten months ago, the House defeated a resolution requiring the president to remove troops within the next six months. The vote was 139-288. [House Vote 370: Yes: Gallego, Grijalva, Kirkpatrick – No: Franks, Gosar, McSally, Salmon, Schweikert, Sinema.]

Nineteen Republicans and 120 Democrats voted for the measure. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) voted “present.”

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Bigots don’t necessarily take vows of poverty

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Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

Ann CoulterScreenshot: Fusion TV

Ann Coulter is one of those right wing demagogues with a high public profile who attracts a strange sort of – almost what you’d call a defense of her – that she’s just in it for the money! There’s a belief among many liberals that because she lives a cosmopolitan life split between New York City, Palm Beach FL, and Los Angeles (according to available bios) and is known to have gay friends and date liberal men, that she doesn’t really believe all that nasty stuff she espouses in numerous books, articles, speeches, and TV appearances.

But if you watch Coulter in a recent interview on the Fusion network with Jorge Ramos, it’s difficult to conclude that she’s acting. She refused to accept the offer of a hug a young woman who was an undocumented immigrant and compared Mexican immigrants to ISIS terrorists.

At another point in the appearance, Fusion host Jorge Ramos asked Coulter whether she really believed that immigrants were more dangerous to Americans than the Islamic State terrorist group.

“I have a little tip,” Coulter said. “If you don’t want to be killed by ISIS, don’t go to Syria. If you don’t want to be killed by a Mexican, there’s nothing I can tell you.”

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