Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton took the debate over Libya to a new low yesterday. (For full disclosure, I am lead counsel representing members challenging the constitutionality of the Libyan War). Clinton is largely responsible for entering the United States in another undeclared war. She is now dismissing all of the constitutional and fiscal concerns of members and publicly asking members “Whose side are you on?”
It is a case of hoisting the wretch to silence one’s critics.
The not-so-veiled threat is directed to House members who want to cut off funding for the war — who will now be accused of supporting Gaddafi. It is an approach taken by others. In a recent bizarre debate I had with Abraham Sofaer of the ultra-conservative Hoover Institute, Sofaer continued to push aside the constitutional and statutory problems with the war by repeatedly reminding listeners what a bad guy Gaddafi is. Sound familiar? It is precisely what the Bush Administration did in pushing us into the disastrous Iraq War. Clinton was one of those Senators who went along in approving the action (and later insisted that she had been misled). Back then it was Saddam and his weapons of mass destruction. The legalities and logic of the war were quickly pushed aside by the power of personality.
She may succeed. Not willing to appear pro-Gaddafi, Senators are moving to give Obama post-hoc authorization. Senators Kerry and McCain are pushing to give Obama the authorization that he never asked for — and is still not asking for. It is a rather pathetic display of the Congress desperately trying to appear relevant — even when a president is saying that it is not.
The technique of guilt by association is a time tested approach. Any high school student will tell you that the only thing as successful of pressuring kids to be “in with the in crowd” is to say that if they are not they are sweet on the ugliest or most unpopular kid in class. Next we will hear the State Department spokesman taunting members of being “up in the tree” with Gaddafi “K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” Either you give us the money for an undeclared war or you are BFF to Gaddafi.
Here is the answer for the Secretary of State — we are on the side of the Constitution. Jamaica.
Source: AP
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Mike Spindell,
Thanks for your follow-up. I rarely subscribe to threads and I almost missed your reply. I agree with what you stated. How do we get decent, honest folks to become politicians? I know I simply could not enter politics and I would never be elected anyway because of my unyielding atheism.
“Koh was in his mid-50s when he joined the administration, coming off a distinguished career built on opposition to the Imperial Presidency. Yet the lure of being “in the room” when the big decisions are made seems to have turned him into the Gollum of Foggy Bottom.
It’s the kind of story you hear again and again in D.C. — on the right and the left — of principles sold out for the dubious rewards of “access” and “relevance.” This town is “Hollywood for the Ugly” in more ways than one.”
“It suggests that many Americans’ aggressively pro-war ideology may fundamentally rely on their being physically shielded/disconnected from the human cost of war.”
FFLEO,
In your Greenwald quote and in your paraphrasing from the Sirota article you ably make points that I’ve felt to be true for many years now. For the Greenwald quote it has seemed to me since my experience in the 60’s that almost all seekers of political power are sociopaths and/or narcissists to some degree. Their position on the political spectrum, while superficially a reflection of their own beliefs, acts as a cover for their lust for power, sex and money (or any combination of the three).
Having been 4F for Viet Nam, I have never experienced either combat, or combat training. However, even so it takes little imagination to have empathy for those who have suffered through it. To imagine the horrors they must face with bravery and valor. That is the key to the second of your quotes above. Most people who aggressively are pro-war, lack the basic human empathy, which is a hallmark of sane humanity. War is sometimes necessary, but those of the pro-war bent display a recklessness in sending others to battle, despite mouthed piety of their compassion for the troops. When I think of the idealistic young people, propagandized into protecting their nation, only to be carelessly abandoned, I feel profound sadness for their plight. Accompanying it is a raging anger at those who would treat their lives so casually, while using their service to forward their own petty political ends.
To include Hillary Clinton…
{Quote:
‘Why people become chickenhawks’
A new study sheds light on why non-veterans like Cheney and Limbaugh are such avid militarists
For years, chickenhawkery’s roots in this culture of unshared sacrifice have been a matter of theory — albeit a logical, well-grounded theory. But now, thanks to a comprehensive new study, we have concrete data underscoring the hypothesis. It suggests that many Americans’ aggressively pro-war ideology may fundamentally rely on their being physically shielded/disconnected from the human cost of war.
End Quote}
http://www.salon.com/news/us_military/index.html?story=/news/david_sirota/2011/06/29/chickenhawk_origins
This article today by G. Greenwald illustrates how power has corrupted two attorneys: Mr. Obama and Mr. Koh
‘To defend President Obama, Harold Koh criticizes candidate Obama’
{Quote:
“Nothing in the War Powers Resolution authorizes the President to commit armed forces overseas into actual or imminent hostilities in a situation where he could have gotten advance authorization.”
Yet the implications of Koh’s position today are that the president can rain down destruction via cruise missiles and robot death kites anywhere in the world, and unless an American soldier might get hurt, neither the Constitution nor the War Powers Resolution are offended. . . .
Koh was in his mid-50s when he joined the administration, coming off a distinguished career built on opposition to the Imperial Presidency. Yet the lure of being “in the room” when the big decisions are made seems to have turned him into the Gollum of Foggy Bottom.
It’s the kind of story you hear again and again in D.C. — on the right and the left — of principles sold out for the dubious rewards of “access” and “relevance.” This town is “Hollywood for the Ugly” in more ways than one.
Given that, it’s easy to see how Koh has risen from token liberal placed in an inconsequential “advisory” position at State to the face of the Obama administration and prime Presidential spokesman. As Barack Obama himself has repeatedly shown, and as his underling Koh has dutifully learned, one does not advance in Washington power circles by adherence to any sort of principle or actual conviction. One accumulates power by saying anything and everything necessary to acquire and hold onto it: one key reason I now all but disregard what Obama says, and watch only what he does.
End Quote}
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/06/29/koh/index.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/28/libya-resolution-approved_n_886291.html Senate panel passes Libya resolution.