IF ONLY HE WOULD USE THOSE POWERS FOR GOOD...

Well, it looks as if Republicans just won the messaging war on the shutdown: it's now being reported that the House has approved a Republican resolution that funds the government for another week (with predictable odious cuts) but also appropriates money for the Pentagon through September 30. So an Obama veto threat can now be portrayed as Obama not funding the military and not fully paying the troops.

At this point, I'd like to see the president stick to his veto threat ... while also declaring that, pursuant to his commander-in-chief authority, and under the doctrine of the unitary executive, he's ordering that the troops be paid in full indefinitely, regardless of how long the shutdown lasts. While he's at it, he should declare that, under the same John Yoo-approved doctrines, he deems the Pentagon funding in the House continuing resolution to be the law of the land.

Screw 'em. Why not? He's already using dubious Bush-era powers, so it'd be nice if he used them to lay down a little partisan smack. "You want to patriot-bait me? Bait this, schmucks."

What are the Republicans going to do? Say "How dare he use imperial powers to ... um, pay the troops and fund the military"? I'd like to see them try.