John Edwards To Congressional Democrats: "Silence Is Betrayal"

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

John Edwards' campaign provided excerpts of his Sunday Harlem speech commemorating MLK in Harlem. He's speaking at the same church MLK spoke at in '67 when he came out against the Vietnam War.

Forty years ago, almost to the month, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood at this pulpit, in this house of God, and with the full force of his conscience, his principles and his love of peace, denounced the war in Vietnam, calling it a tragedy that threatened to drag our nation down to dust.

As he put it then, there comes a time when silence is a betrayal -- not only of one's personal convictions, or even of one's country alone, but also of our deeper obligations to one another and to the brotherhood of man.

That's the thing I find the most important about the sermon Dr. King delivered here that day. He did not direct his demands to the government of the United States, which was escalating the war. He issued a direct appeal to the people of the United States, calling on us to break our own silence, and to take responsibility for bringing about what he called a revolution of values.

* * *

Escalation is not the answer, and our generals will be the first to tell you so. The answer is for the Iraqi people and others in the region to take responsibility for rebuilding their own country. If we want them to take responsibility, we need to show them that we are serious about leaving - and the best way to do that is actually to start leaving and immediately withdraw 40-50,000 troops.

That is why I have spoken out against the McCain Doctrine of escalation. That's why Congress must step up and stop the president from putting more troops in harm's way.

If you're in Congress and you know this war is going in the wrong direction, it is no longer enough to study your options and keep your own counsel. Silence is betrayal. Speak out, and stop this escalation now. You have the power to prohibit the president from spending any money to escalate the war - use it.

Source: http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/arc...ds_to_cong.html

[Alex+R 0]

Yesterday Bush says it doesn't matter what Congress wants, he has the authority to do whatever it is he wants with the troops.

In other words, apparently it doesn't matter what Congress does or says.

Edited January 15, 2007 by Alex+R

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Yesterday Bush says it doesn't matter what Congress wants, he has the authority to do whatever it is he wants with the troops.

Not quite. He said it's not their responsibility to rescind his order to deploy additional troops. He did indicate that they can cut off funding if they want.

Here is a quote from CNN:

Congress cannot reverse last week's decision to send 21,000 more troops to Iraq, President Bush said in an interview intended to rally popular support for his plan.

"Frankly, that's not their responsibility," Bush said in an interview on the CBS News program "60 Minutes," which aired Sunday.

"It's my responsibility to put forward the plan that I think will succeed. I believe if they start trying to cut off funds, they better explain to the American people and the soldiers why their plan will succeed," the president said.

Edited January 15, 2007 by Gupt

[Alex+R 0]

I watched an interview with him last night, and there was another question besides that one where the guy asked something like "If Congress doesn't approve of your plan, do you have the right to proceed anyway?" and Bush said yes he did.

eta: note the "start trying to cut off funds" like it can't be achieved.

I don't know who he thinks he is.

What really pissed me off about his speech was when he was asked what he would say to the American majority who oppose the war and he said "sometimes it's being the commander in chief and the educator in chief as well." I.E. people don't like my plan because they are too stupid to understand it, LOL

Edited January 15, 2007 by Alex+R

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I have two separate thoughts on this.

Firstly, and this is generally speaking, a leader does have the responsibility to lead. That includes educating and making decisions that are unpopular at the time.

Generally speaking.

My second thought is that the Iraq war... has gone on long enough for people to know a lot more about it than they did 3 years ago. Lives have been lost, money has been spent, plenty of trees have died in the media coverage of this war. I don't think in this particular instance, any more educating is really required.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I think the White House strategery now is to simply set the stage for assigning the blame for the lost adventure (yes, they know it's lost just as everyone else does) to someone outside the White House. They know there's no support for sending more troops and for the escalation. Hence, they send more troops and escalate looking for Congress to step on the breaks. Then it'll be the Congress' fault that we lost. Watch it unfold...

[mybackpages 0]

Yesterday Bush says it doesn't matter what Congress wants, he has the authority to do whatever it is he wants with the troops.

In other words, apparently it doesn't matter what Congress does or says.

ooh a constitutional showdown- Congress v a president with an approval rating only slightly higher than Nixon's at the time of the pending impeachment. Wonder who will win that match

[peejay 327]

I think the White House strategery now is to simply set the stage for assigning the blame for the lost adventure (yes, they know it's lost just as everyone else does) to someone outside the White House. They know there's no support for sending more troops and for the escalation. Hence, they send more troops and escalate looking for Congress to step on the breaks. Then it'll be the Congress' fault that we lost. Watch it unfold...

There are a lot of dirty hands when it comes to assigning blame...some people's hands are dirtier than others.

Unfold it will. Let the blame games begin!

In the end everybody will be blamed and nobody held accountable. I've seen it too many times to think otherwise.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I think the White House strategery now is to simply set the stage for assigning the blame for the lost adventure (yes, they know it's lost just as everyone else does) to someone outside the White House. They know there's no support for sending more troops and for the escalation. Hence, they send more troops and escalate looking for Congress to step on the breaks. Then it'll be the Congress' fault that we lost. Watch it unfold...

There are a lot of dirty hands when it comes to assigning blame...some people's hands are dirtier than others.

Unfold it will. Let the blame games begin!

In the end everybody will be blamed and nobody held accountable. I've seen it too many times to think otherwise.

Sad but true.