It would have been great if when the Department of Homeland Security was created it was called the Department of Defense and the Department of Defense reclaimed its true name, Department of War. I wonder if this idea and practice of renaming something to try and change the nature of a thing started around then, or if it has a much older history.
[1]https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/h_multi_sections_a...
False.
> This used to mean an official vote by the Senate
No, it didn't. A time of war doesn't require a declaration of war, and while a declaration of war does involve a vote in the Senate, it's not just the Senate, but the Congress (by normal legislative process, e.g., both houses plus the President, or with a subsequent supermajority in the event of a veto, though it's hard to imagine Congress declaring war over a veto.)
> but since WWII the US decided that we no long would have wars with other countries.
No, we didn't. Hence, well, lots of post-WWII war-related legislation, including the War Powers Act.
> Instead the Congress passes resolutions authorizing the use of military force.
Which are exercises if the power to declare war, which requires no special magic words, just like sky other legislative power.
As for limited free speech vs (nearly) unlimited free speech, this is an old debate and as yet it's not answered, and may not even have an answer. The U.S. 1st amendment is unique in liberal democracies, most countries do in fact have limits on speech. Germany has no problem defining and enforcing the restriction of propaganda of unconstitutional organizations, it is not vague - it is context specific.
Meanwhile the U.S. Constitution didn't protect Japanese Americans from being labeled, and incarcerated en masse, without due process.