Why did Obama just ask for a war authorization that severely limits his options?

Did President Obama wake up this morning and realize that he has to respect the constitutional limits of his authority, and that he needs congressional authorization to undertake major military operations against ISIS?

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Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. You know as well as I do that Obama never does anything except for political purposes. And that's why, while it seems strange it first, it makes sense when you dig down to realize that today he asked Congress for a war authorization resolution that severely limits his authority to deploy ground troops. We know that, as a political imperative, Obama doesn't want to deploy any ground troops. But as a strategic imperative, it's impossible to guess when or under what circumstances he might want or need to. So why do this?

In an accompanying letter to Congress, Obama explained that the proposed legislation “would not authorize long-term, large-scale ground combat operations like those our nation conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Instead, he said, it would “provide the flexibility to conduct ground combat operations in other, more limited circumstances,” including rescue operations or targeted attacks on Islamic State leadership. U.S. troops could also be used to “enable” airstrikes, presumably through spotting and targeting on the ground, and to render “advice and assistance to partner forces.”

Strategically this makes no sense whatsover. You just telegraphed to ISIS that all they have to do is deploy strategies that are best countered with large-scale ground combat operations, and we will not respond with our most effective strategy. That's as idiotic as the day is long. But here's why it makes sense in Obamaworld: First, remember that everything Obama does is political. He's now gone from claiming he had authority under the Bush-achieved authorization of 2002 to asking that it be repealed and replaced by something that gives him less authority? Why do that? Because it allows him to say that this is nothing like Iraq or Afghanistan, and politically he wants to be able to say that. Second, Obama is going to do whatever he wants no matter what the authorizing statute says. He may or may not fight to win, but if he doesn't, it will be because he doesn't feel like it, not because Congress failed to authorize the necessary action. If Obama decides to deploy ground troops beyond the statute permits, he'll just say it was an emergency, he didn't have time to ask . . . and hey! Stop politicizing the mission of our troops! You're not really humstrung by the limits of the law if you don't think the law applies to you. So why not propose a law that purports to limit his authority. He scores the political points he wants without really accepting any limitations whatsoever on what he will actually do. It's good to be the king.