There's an interesting thread taking place over at H-Pol, the H-Net listserv for US political history, called the "Constitutionality of War." Discussions like this tend to get pretty heated, but the debate sofar seems civil and engaging. One of the statements in this debate has stood out and has been on my thoughts all day. Brian Dirck, an associate professor at Anderson University, argues that "the formal declaration of war by Congress is dead. We haven't seen it for fifty years, and we likely will never see it again." And, despite his support for the current war in Iraq, Dr. Dirck is rightly uncomfortable with this development. While I hesitate to make as broad a prediction as Dr. Dirck, I do agree that the developments of the last 50 years make the prediction a frightening possibility. I certainly hope not.