PELOSI: Britain? “Great” Britain? I seem to remember reading something about them when I was a little girl. Weren’t we allies or some such in a war or something? I always wanted to be a princess when I grew up.
The fact that House Democrats excused themselves from history by deliberately adjourning for a little spring break without expressing any sentiment whatsoever of support for the 15 British sailors languishing in capitivity shouldn’t surprise us. This is the gang that likes to write little love notes to the terrorists, insurgents, and unreconstructed Baathists in Iraq telling them the date certain the US military won’t be around to kill them anymore. Why should they bother sending a message to Iran expressing any kind of displeasure whatsoever with the dirty necked galoots who are holding the military personnel of our most important ally hostage?
Members of the House left Washington on Friday for their two-week spring break without weighing in on the international crisis tormenting the nation’s closest ally: the capture of 15 British sailors and marines by Iran.The omission by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is being noted by some Republicans, who say they should have gotten the chance to join the Senate in denouncing Tehran’s bold actions.
“I am very disappointed that the speaker chose not to act,” said Rep. Charles Dent, R-Pa.
“I believe it’s important for us as Americans to show our solidarity with the Britons,” he added in a phone interview Friday. “The British are our closest allies, and I think we have to stand next to them in a moment like this.”
The Senate on Thursday, before adjourning for its one-week break, passed a resolution condemning the act “in the strongest possible terms” and calling for the sailors “immediate, safe and unconditional release.”
Maybe the Democrats are still mad at the Brits for burning Washington during the War of 1812. Seems an awful long time to hold a grudge. President Madison, of course, was a Democrat. Perhaps that matters to the hyper-partisans who masquerade as lawmakers.
Seriously, it’s not really a mystery why Speaker Pelosi refused to consider condemning Iran for their outrageous violation of international law. She didn’t want any unpleasantries to interfere with her photo op in Damascus with President Bashar Assad of Syria. It might have been awkward talking with Iran’s number one ally in the region if she had just come from a House session taking them to task for acting beastly to the Brits:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit Syria, a country President Bush has shunned as a sponsor of terrorism, despite being asked by the administration not to go.
“In our view, it is not the right time to have these sort of high- profile visitors to Syria,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Friday.Pelosi arrived in Israel on Friday in what is her second fact-finding trip to the Middle East since taking over leadership in the House in January.
Her repeat trip, an indication she plans to play a role in foreign policy, is also a direct affront to the administration, which says such diplomatic overtures by lawmakers can do more harm than good.
Yes, let’s “affront” the Administration by running into the arms of Syria and talking to the man who, while she is sitting in his parlor drinking tea, is attempting to destroy democracy and gobble up his tiny next door neighbor Lebanon. Better to make Bush look bad than do the decent, honorable thing and shun the beast who orders the assassination of Lebanese democrats whose only sin is standing up to their Syrian tormenters while Assad foments civil strife to create an excuse for his tanks to roll back into Beirut.
It’s pretty clear Pelosi eschewed a resolution of support for the Brits because it may have upset her little Damascus tea party with Assad. And despite the fact she will not change the relationship between the US and Syria one iota by her grandstanding, she does send a disappointing message to our ally; politics trumps loyalty. Better to thumb your nose at the President than stand shoulder to shoulder with a nation that has been at the side of the United States in every major conflict over the last century.
UPDATE
The Democratic leadership has once again demonstrated why no one took them seriously on foreign policy and national security for the last twenty years. It’s difficult to achieve this conjunction of idiocy in a single week, but Pelosi & Co have proven themselves just the idiots for the task.
Allah nails it – and Pelosi:
Mind you, Assad and his terror apparatus are also the prime suspects in the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, whose pro-western political heirs are currently deadlocked with Hezbollah in Lebanon. If she’s not loyal enough to her own country to refrain from handing one of its biggest enemies a propaganda windfall, you’d think she’d at least be decent enough not to legitimize a suspected killer under UN investigation by doing meet and greets with him.
Repulsive. As usual.
3:25 pm
Somewhere in our partially unpacked houshold goods is a framed cartoon entitled “Great Moments in the Foreign Policy of the Carter Administration”.
One pane shows a smiling Jimmy in a Rough Rider uniform standing on a lock beneath the caption, “He kept the Erie Canal”.
Another drawing showed two bored, portly men sitting at a wooden table with flies buzzing around them. “He sent Frank Church and Ted Kennedy to Cuba… but they came back.”
Do you think we could get Assad to keep Nancy? There’s always hope.
4:31 pm
Pelosi going to Syria despite objections…
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit Syria, a country President Bush has shunned as a sponsor of te…
5:22 pm
Huh?
Seems pretty clear that Pelosi went to Damascus to keep an eye on the Republican congressmen who were already there.
Does the Captain’s and Allah’s commentary apply to them as well?
10:50 pm
“Does the Captain’s and Allah’s commentary apply to them as well?”
I can’t speak for them Tano, but if the Reps are off on a junket to Syria against the wishes of the administration, then for me, yes the same commentary applies.
I’m truly afraid of what it will take for the “535” to get serious—if it’s even possible for them to do so.
11:35 pm
same ole same ole from the wingers. Republicans go to Syria but the wingers think we don’t know how to read so we’ll miss it. I guess if Speaker Pelosi would have issued the meaninless proclamation of support for britain, the Iranians would have immediately let them go. Doesn’t matter what Pelosi does, the wingers will tear into her because they can’t get over getting their asses handed to them last November. The rubberstamp GOP congress no longer bows to Karl Rove! Theres a new sheriff in town. All the neo-nuts have left for support is their propaganda experts. Thats even falling on deaf ears. Its hard to keep up with all the gop scandals. They think if they can work up some faux scandal with Pelosi the american people will forget how inept they are. Not gonna happen, Bush can’t even keep his own side from jumping ship. I guess Rick the Iraq Study Group recommending we talk to Syria fell off your radar. Bush won’t try to end the Iraq fiasco, I guess the Speaker has to do Bush’s job for him. Americans think Bush is a joke. They wish he was already out of office. Iraq wants us out of THEIR country, what part of that don’t the neo-cons understand? They’ll wind up in the scrapheap of history. But I’m sure Fox News will continue to give Bill Kristol a mouthpiece for more of his bunk. The neo-con ideology’s ship has sailed, its not coming back. Only people in denial think it is. But hey lets keep ripping the liberals who proved to be right about Iraq. Like,hey,no one will notice, nice try. Think it’s a coincidence Daily Kos gets 700,000 hits a day. People don’t fall for Bush’s bunk anymore. Its not even conservative principals. Reagan was a conservative, Bush is more inept tyrant than anything else. The DEMOCRATICALLY-controlled congress will keep that doofus Bush in check the next 2 years. He’s lamer than lame duck. People are jumping off his ship like rats off a sinking ship. But Rick keep bashing liberals, I love to see you flail around sounding all important. Saying how the “surge” is working. Republicans can play offense pretty good, they sure don’t like being on defense. And say goodbye to Gonzalez, he’s toast, I just hope bushie prolongs the agony by supporting him. I guess the weenie liberals have some teeth after all. Get used to it.
12:03 am
I never thought I’d see the day that a warning would be issued by the EU before the U.S. House of Representatives. (sad)
At this point in time, I think Steny Hoyer is reading up on “Julius Caeser” for some tactical information.
12:09 am
...oh, and i’m reading up on how to spell “Caesar” haha
by the way, Tano..regarding your posting: are you saying that we still have Republican Congressmen in Syria (were they taken hostage?) and Nancy is going over there on a Special Ops mission to rescue them??!! If so, maybe after the operation she can take a shuttle to Tehran and free the Brits!