Now that the mission in Libya is creeping away from humanitarian protection and toward arming an insurgency, this might be a good time for Congress to get involved. I know it’s quaint, but they do have war powers, last time I checked my Constitution. Bob Gates succeeded in getting a delay in any war powers resolution on Libya by Senate Democrats until after a briefing today with him and Hillary Clinton. But after that, Harry Reid said, “if in fact you want to do more legislatively, you’re entitled to do it…. The War Powers Act we believe is valid, is very clear, setting forth timelines.” It’s also clear that the President can only invoke force prior to a war powers resolution in the presence of an imminent threat, which Gates admitted was not the case in Libya.

In the House, where the White House doesn’t have the same kind of sway, Republicans are already introducing a bill to defund the Libyan operation, going further than a war powers resolution. Rep. Tim Johnson is the lead sponsor of the RECLAIM Act.

President Obama is still relatively popular with younger Americans, but he has a serious political problem with people over 55. Only 39 percent of people in that age group approve of his job performance while 52 percent disapprove.

John Boehner is in a tight spot. Having been around in the 1990s, he must have a sense that affirmatively shutting down the government carries a serious risk, especially because that’s not the end of the story. Eventually, there would be a resolution, and it won’t carry everything the Tea Party wants, and the reaction will clearly be betrayal. Not to mention that he has Eric Cantor looking over his shoulder, dusting off the nameplate that would go over his out in front of the Speaker’s office should Boehner lose the confidence of his caucus. Cantor has been stepping out of late, ruling out any short-term stopgap even while Boehner never made such a claim.

Two years ago war in the Middle East was something that only reactionary hicks, discredited neocons and those with too many X chromosomes supported. Now it’s the purview of hip technocrats and “cruise missile liberals,” having been successfully repackaged as benevolent liberal paternalism.

Was it the cruel and incoherent platform? The nativism and ignorance on display at rallies? Or maybe it was the myriad of racist/crazy statements by Teabagger leaders. Whatever the case may be, the American people have been watching the ‘baggers for two years and have decided they really don’t like them.

The American people haven’t been sold on our military actions in Libya according to two new polls. An AP-GFK poll found that 48 percent approved or leaned toward approving US involvement while 50 disapproved or leaned toward disapproving. Similarly, a Quinnipiac poll found 47 percent opposed, with only 41 percent in support.

Former Bush Special Counsel Scott Bloch’s attempt to get out of his guilty plea has been denied and he will be sentenced to prison today.

The civil war in Libya has hit a snag, from the perspective of the rebels and the international coalition. As quickly has the rebels gained oil cities along the eastern coast, they are now losing them. After meeting fierce resistance on the road to Sirte, the rebels appear in disarray, still outmanned and outgunned by Gadhafi’s forces. Even with the close air support from the coalition, Gadhafi’s forces have the better of it on the ground, because they’re actually an army and they have actual firepower.

We’re spending an average of $55 million a day to bomb Libyans while, as Bittman says, people here are going to bed hungry.

“I hope that my vote today is understood clearly by the Administration as one more effort on my part, on behalf of my desperate constituents, to get the Administration to recognize the urgency of the housing crisis and respond to it accordingly.”