[Alberta's Child]

Unfortunately, George Will believes that Congress has the power to micromanage the president's explicit commander-in-chief responsibilities.

Unfortunately for Mark Levin, George Will is technically correct on this one. Congress can -- at least indirectly -- micromanage any executive power to whatever extent they deem necessary.

The power of Congress to impeach a sitting President is basically unlimited. If the members of the House of Representatives decided tomorrow to impeach George W. Bush because they don't like Texans, and two-thirds of the members of the Senate agreed, then George W. Bush would be out of a job with absolutely no recourse other than to run again in 2008.

[holdonnow]

Of course Congress has the power to impeach for high crimes and misdemeanors. This has nothing to do with what we are talking about. Congress cannot micromanage explicit executive powers in the Constitution. This isn't speculation. It is the history of our Republic, and the way the Constitution has operated from day one.

[pawdoggie]

Don't be obtuse. If Mark Levin were a wild-eyed, foaming at the mouth Carville-type liberal on "This Week", George Will would cheerfully concede this point to avoid looking "mean spirited". Will's a liberal's definition of a "good conservative".

[tpaine]

George Will writes:

Besides, terrorism is not the only new danger of this era. Another is the administration's argument that because the president is commander in chief, he is the "sole organ for the nation in foreign affairs."
That non sequitur is refuted by the Constitution's plain language, which empowers Congress to ratify treaties, declare war, fund and regulate military forces, and make laws "necessary and proper" for the execution of all presidential powers .
Those powers do not include deciding that a law -- FISA, for example -- is somehow exempted from the presidential duty to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502003_pf.html

Mark Levin comments:

Unfortunately, George Will believes that Congress has the power to micromanage the president's explicit commander-in-chief responsibilities.

Albertas Child disagrees:

Unfortunately for Mark Levin, George Will is technically correct on this one. Congress can -- at least indirectly -- micromanage any executive power to whatever extent they deem necessary.

Will's bold words quoted just above are far from 'technically correct'. Mark has him pegged correctly.

The power of Congress to impeach a sitting President is basically unlimited. If the members of the House of Representatives decided tomorrow to impeach George W. Bush because they don't like Texans, and two-thirds of the members of the Senate agreed, then George W. Bush would be out of a job with absolutely no recourse other than to run again in 2008.

Good grief child; -- such a basis for an impeachment would never pass constitutional muster. He must be found guilty of "high crimes or Misdemeanors". -- Get a grip on your rhetoric.

[hinckley buzzard]

Congress can -- at least indirectly -- micromanage any executive power to whatever extent they deem necessary.

Well, they can try. I recall a series of laws collectively called "the Boland Amendment" back in the seventies. Dead letters today, and in fact never enforceable. We also have had Supreme Court decisions ignored and flouted by the Executive in the past, with the refrain, "the court has spoken, now let them enforce it."

[RobbyS]

"Timidity, indecision, obstinacy, pride, and sluggishness must mingle in a greater or less degree, in all numerous bodies, and render their councils inert and imbecile, and their military operations slow and uncertain. There is, then, true wisdom and policy in confiding the command of the army and navy to the president, since it will ensure activity, responsibility, and firmness, in public emergencies" (A Familiar Exposition of the Constitution of the United States, Section 278).

We need to remember that George Washington was presiding officer at the Convention, and that his experience as commander-in-chief during the war was exactly as stated above. AS CINC, Lincoln gave not an inch on warpowers, nor did FDR. As for impeachment, who does not agree that the Radical assault on Andrew Jackson was a revolutionary action, since it impeached him for defending his constitutional authority. I fail to see any revolutionary furvor in the Democratic party. If they did gain a majority, they would ruin every chance of winning the presidency in 2008 if they attempted a coup d'etat on constitutional grounds.