Congressman Charlie Dent is opposed to a Bill that would arm and train moderate Syrian rebels. His No vote was on the losing end of a 273-156 vote in which House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi were united.
His explanation:
“There may have been a time when, in 2011 or 2012, arming Syrian moderates would have been possible with a reasonable chance for success. That time has likely passed.
"Too many questions remain today that cannot be answered to my satisfaction. How will we effectively vet the opposition forces? How will we ensure that arms delivered will not be sold to ISIS forces or used against already persecuted people in the region, such as the Syrian Christians? In my opinion, the Administration has not provided reasonable answers to these key questions.
"ISIS is antithetical to American and civilized ideas of justice, equality and decency. They have demonstrated this fact with their barbaric beheadings of Americans James Foley and Steven Sotloff and of British aid worker David Haines.
"ISIS needs to be rooted out and destroyed, but to do so we need a comprehensive plan. What was proposed today was only a partial plan.
"Everyone is familiar with the saying ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t.’ It certainly fits the notion of our being able to reliably identify and arm Syrian ‘moderates.’ With that in mind, I believe that if we err – it should be on the side of caution.”
Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Local Government TV
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Thursday, September 18, 2014
28 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
Well, of course he does. He opposes everything that horrible kneegrow in the Whitehouse says does. That's why he's irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteWhen all that's left is the race-baiting card, you know his presidency has been an utter, unmitigated failure.
ReplyDeleteThe community activist president ridiculed the so-called Syrian moderates just a couple of weeks ago. His schizophrenic foreign policy is worse than Jimmy Carter. The world is laughing.
In reading that statement, I did not hear an alternative approach. The sure way to defeat them is with ground and air power, however, At this point in time, most are against ground troops. I do not think there are many good options hence the delayed announcement. Events in the world change. Maybe this same vote would have been different if taken a year ago.
ReplyDeleteI thought one elected official once suggested arming ISIS?
The obvious solution is to find Mr. Peabody and Sherman, fire up the wayback machine, and go back in time to about two weeks before Bush invaded Iraq, when virtually every single Middle East expert in the world was predicting that removing Saddam would destabilize the entire region, leading to civil wars and takeover by extremist terrorist groups. This time, we listen to them.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you keep parroting Dent's statements when he isn't even your Congressman?
ReplyDeleteWhen the facts are embarrassing, all that's left to do is cry racism. Blaming Obama's incompetence on his skin color is typical liberal whining. If the President was purple with green stripes, he'd be viewed as the same international laughing stock he's become. Scratch a liberal and you quickly reveal the racist within. Remember not all Democrats were original KKK. But all original KKK were Democrats. Some things never change. LBJ carried the flag well into the 60s when he called blacks "n*****S" and "uppity" and said he'd "have those n*****s voting Democrat for decades." Mathlete Maxine Waters (D-CA) once accused a fellow Congressman of changing views "360 degrees." That's what Democrats continue to do with their long documented history of racism. The spin in circles and always return to their racist roots. Hoods and crosses are a Democrat legacy.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, the three requirements for membership in the KKK are being white, Christian and a registered Republican. And that's the same across all the white supremacist hate groups. Incidentally, one can easily use Google and see that the US went from second most hated nation in the world under Bush, to most admired nation in the world under Obama. That has slipped somewhat, due to republican obstructionism, but we still remain more highly respected internationally than at any time under the previous administration, who's massive disasters we will continue to clean up for decades or longer
ReplyDelete"Why do you keep parroting Dent's statements when he isn't even your Congressman?"
ReplyDeleteI am not parroting his statements. I am informing my readers why he voted the way he did in a congressional district that makes up part of my coverage area and that includes a large number of Syrian Americans. When I get statements from both Congressmen on the same issue, I put them together.
You apparently don't want the people infomred.
"The obvious solution is to find Mr. Peabody and Sherman, fire up the wayback machine, and go back in time to about two weeks before Bush invaded Iraq, when virtually every single Middle East expert in the world was predicting that removing Saddam would destabilize the entire region, leading to civil wars and takeover by extremist terrorist groups. This time, we listen to them. "
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
"... republican obstructionism ..."
ReplyDeleteUh, really?
Democrats control the Senate and have failed to act on over 200 bills passed in the House this year. They include Democrat co-sponsored bills to reform the military's handling of sexual assault cases and a repeal of the medical device tax provision of ACA.
Senator Lisa Murkowki of Alaska told the New York Times she was “kind of fed up” with Reid’s obstructionism. “He’s a leader. Why is he not leading this Senate? Why is he choosing to ignore the fact that he has a minority party that he needs to work with, that actually has some decent ideas? Why is he bringing down the institution of the Senate?
Obama has signed 72 bills into law this year. Only 16 of them originated in the Senate. Obstruction, thy name is Harry Reid.
Only a Fox News stooge places obstructionist blame on the Democrats. You're funny.
ReplyDeleteHe is now part of the extreme right wing. If Obama farts east, he farts west. It is all they have done for six years. Sad to see a decent guy succumb to ultra-partisan politics.
ReplyDeleteSean Hannity somehow worked the outrageous war on abusive football players into parents not being able to tell their children homosexuality is bad.
ReplyDeleteThis is the steady diet of these people.
Any questions???
Off topic much, 12:01?
ReplyDeleteStick to your Race Card.
Why can't them desert rats just kill each other off already...
ReplyDeleteCharlie Dent is a racist. He's supported shooting anything and everything in sight, until a black guy entered the Oval Office.
ReplyDelete"Charlie Dent is a racist"
ReplyDeleteReally?
Okay.
"until a black guy entered the Oval Office"
ReplyDeleteI thought Obama's mother was white?
Therefore, this is obviously illegal procedure with respect to playing the Race Card.
Charlie was pro-war until a black guy took office. Democrats were anti-war until a black guy took office.
ReplyDeleteGee, guess that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Charlie Dent is racist!
ReplyDeleteAwesome.
Congressmen Dent's view has nothing to do with race or anything other than -Every time we send arms to some group they end up biting us later anyway. The consulates compound in in Libya, 4 Americans dead, no support to the compound , cover up pre- election day.We were doing business with fractions that were known to have killed our troops in the past! Probably attempting a weapon buyback. He probably knows it.
ReplyDelete"At this point, what difference does it make?!"
ReplyDelete(to directly quote former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking specifically about the debacle in Libya that left four brave Americans)
(dead)
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly DID then candidate Obama mean when he said he wanted to "transform America", anyway?
ReplyDeleteManchurian Candidate Obama, by any chance?
Remember Ollie Norths involvement with arms deal? Wanted to puke when I saw him on Faux criticising the Pres speech st the same time Gingrich was giving it a thumbs up.
ReplyDeleteYou all recall Reagan insisting the Bieruit barracks was properly secure? 299 American and French serviceman lost their lives. Seems ever breath a President speaks is now politicized.
That would be Beirut.
ReplyDeleteWhy would one choose to watch "Faux"?
Beirut...that is correct. That was back in 1983 and another "Islamic Jihad" attack.
ReplyDeleteI do not make it a habit of watching that network, however, I was interested in how different networks viewed the President's speech. Two networks had very constructive discussions with folks from both parties. The other did their usual one point of view bashing. They are entitled to their opinion, however, it says something when a question is pitch with an opinion and the answer a commentator wants to hear. When that happens, it is no longer a constructive conversation, it is political propaganda.
Propaganda - It's how the rock star Obama got sold to the American People ... (twice).
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid the "Hope & Change" song is completely worn out, though.
Record sales for that smash hit, The "If You Like Your Doctor, You Can Keep Your Doctor, Period", are not what they used to be, either.