President Barak Obama, in possession of "actionable intelligence," would order our armed forces to drop bombs on Pakistan. As a lawyer and senator, he knows that in a government of enumerated powers like ours, nobody--not any member of Congress, not any mililtary official, not any president or cabinet official--nobody has a legal right to drop bombs on Pakistan without congressional action. His recommendation betrays him as a would-be dictator.

This should come as no surprise. It explains why Obama has refused to hold the current president accountable for egregious abuses of power: Obama wants to be able to exercise these same powers when he takes office. It may well be that the unwillingness of congressional Democrats to impeach and remove Bush and Cheney is actually a conscious effort to preserve the "unitary executive" for whatever Democrat assumes the throne in 2009.

You would think that sentiments like Obama's would disqualify him for office among large swaths of Democrats. You would be wrong. Democrats don't pay much attention to a politician's convictions or lack of them. Party label will do it. Raise enough money to call yourself a candidate, and you can run as a Democrat or a Republican, take your pick. Either way, it's always safe to promise warfare. Democratic voters like flags and fireworks as much as Republicans do (or at least they don't want to be seen not to).

Voters who think it would be wrong to bomb Pakistan should resolve not to support Obama or anybody who would do what he proposes. If that means giving up on the Democratic party, they might find they're well rid of a loathsome burden.