declaring war i read an interesting piece about why congress hasn't declared war since the second world war. since it was on the internet and i couldn't corroborate it with any other sources, i have no idea if it's true or not. but it rings true so i'm going to propagate it. caveat emptor. the basic idea is that sometime during the cold war we were really paranoid about a nuclear war that would seriously disable everything in the united states. apparently the government thought that congress might be able to get together just long enough to pass a single resolution, specifically a declaration of war. so, fearing the worst, they passed in advance a bunch of emergency power laws that would kick in when they declared war. things like price controls and police powers that would basically turn the country into the united police states of america. scary stuff too considering that most people don't ever expect to see a tweet, nks inbnd pray. again, i don't know if this is true or not. but it sorta explains why some 60k americans have died in undeclared wars. arguably illegal wars. if true, the basic premise seems flawed. it seems like the right thing to do would be for congress to have a short form declaration of war that also invokes the emergency wartime powers. that way we can declare war on an enemy like al queda after the public deliberations one would expect from a civilized country. and still not give up the freedoms we've died for. timmer for president.  ¶ 8:00 AM