We've heard the arguments, but what do they have to do with the real significance of a yes vote on the IWR?

They voted or the IWR because they were lied to. This has been debunked as it has been well illustrated that there was plenty of documentation to show that the evidence didn't hold up and that it was manipulated.

They voted not for the war itself, but to give the president more leverage in negotiating. To give him the power, power which was to be used as a last resort, if at all, to wage war if and when all other diplomatic options were exhausted. Well I'm sure they knew that W was the president, so if they voted to give him this kind of power how can we trust their judgment if they are president? Surely if we all knew W is ignorant, arrogant, do as I please kind of guy they did too. And if we all knew that Cheney and PNAC were behind this and that this war had been desired and planned for a long time they had to have known it too. So why would they vote yes?

With all this knowledge out there, I would bet that the real reason they voted yes is that they voted out of fear. Fear that their political futures depended on a yes vote. They allowed the Republics to force their hand and they acquiesced and folded. And now they want to rationalize it all with the above excuses. But that's not the worst of it.

What I believe to be the most critical and damning significance of a yes vote on the IWR is that by voting for the IWR members of congress abdicated their constitutional responsibility to be the branch of government that has the power to declare war. In essence, they failed to do their job of protecting and upholding he constitution and outsourced that responsibility to George W. Bush. They can come up with all sorts of reasons and excuses as to why they did it, but it doesn't change the fact that they willingly gave up their power as a coequal branch of government to the administration. Not just any power, but the power to declare war. Not just any administration, but an administration that everyone knew was, and still is, full of hubris, has no respect for the constitution and which does not listen to reason nor reason with listeners.

There was no need to do this. We were not in immediate danger. Iraq did not pose an imminent threat. They had no means to attack us on our soil. Had a true attempt at inspections and diplomacy failed and a grave threat actually emerged there would have been time to bring up war for a vote. So why then, why would anyone vote to hand over this awesome power to those whom they knew were planning on using it, and for less than altruistic purposes? How can any of them possibly justify this? How can any one of them justify a vote to abdicate their constitutional responsibility? Whether it was out of fear, out of laziness or just for being out of their minds, the fact remains that by voting yes on the IWR they failed. They failed in their courage. They failed in their judgment. They failed the American people and they failed the constitution by handing over the car keys to a man drunk with power. And by doing this they failed to show me that they are presidential material.