kpete
kpete's JournalObama's Speech: 'One of the most important Rose Garden addresses in history of modern presidency'
War and peace in a democracy
Sunday, September 01, 2013 | Posted by Liberal Librarian at 7:30 AM
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President Barack Obama conducted one of the most important Rose Garden addresses in the history of the modern Presidency.
Taking the baton from his Secretary of State John Kerry, he again laid out, in forceful, passionate language, the situation as it was in Syria. He explained that the intelligence community had concluded with great certainty that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the chemical attacks in contested areas of Damascus the week before. He passionately argued that American values and national interest dictated that Assad's regime be punished militarily for the use of those chemical weapons against civilians. He stated that the military had assets in place and was ready to go at any time.
And then he did something no modern president had done. Even though he believed he had the authority to act, he knew that this was a divisive issue, and that the people's representatives had to join in the decision. He called for Congress to debate and vote on a resolution granting him specific authority to militarily strike Assad for violating international treaties banning the use of chemical weaponry, some of the oldest weapons conventions in international law. He had heard the rumblings from Congress saying that he had to seek approval before any strike, and agreed.
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In one Rose Garden statement, Barack Obama brought these issues into sharp focus. He's not just Commander in Chief; he's President of the world's oldest constitutional democracy. That democracy deserves to have its voice heard. Life and death cannot be decided by his fiat; the overpaid and reticent members of Congress have to be forced to accept responsibilities they have long shirked. There is no escape for them; they will choose either action or inaction, and own their decision. And that's as it should be in a democracy. Just as Congress voted for the AUMF after 9/11, under which the drone program operates, so must Congress have a voice in an action which promises so much peril. Syria is not Libya; a hornet's nest awaits, and the people's representatives should own the consequences, as the Constitution stipulates.
What the President did was call the nation to a serious discussion of what constitutes the national interest. I only hope that this so-far feckless Congress is up to the gravity of the situation.
MORE!
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/09/war-and-peace-in-democracy.html#disqus_thread
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STEVE BENEN:
It’s one of those terrific examples of good politics and good policy. On the former, the American public clearly endorses the idea of Congress giving its approval before military strikes begin. On the latter, at the risk of putting too fine a point on this, Obama’s move away from unilateralism reflects how our constitutional, democratic system of government is supposed to work.
MORE:
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/31/20273174-congress-be-careful-what-you-wish-for?lite
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President Obama (I know some here think I do not like him) has renewed my faith with this historic decision. I am hopeful, but I will still be watching. I am not an anarchist (as some here may think), I am an archivist (that is what mr. pete calls me). I am many other things too, mom, daughter, friend, art activist and bla, bla, bla, bla, bla., etc. etc.
Mostly, after 62 years on earth, I want peace,
just peace,
kp
40% Of Americans Now Make Less Than 1968 Minimum Wage
Economist Dean Baker describes one effect of this in Minimum Wage: Who Decided Workers Should Fall Behind?
Baker is referring to this CEPR study: The Minimum Wage and Economic Growth.
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/the-minimum-wage-and-economic-growth
Read what Baker wrote again. The minimum wage would be $16.50 an hour — $33,000 a year — if it had kept up with the growth of productivity since 1968. To put the effect of this a different way, 40% of Americans now make less than the 1968 minimum wage, had the minimum wage kept pace with productivity gains.
To put this even another way, the average American’s living standard would be much, much higher today if wages had not decoupled from productivity gains – with the gains all going to the 1% instead of being shared by We, the People. If wages had kept pace we wouldn’t feel the terrible squeeze that everyone in the middle class is feeling. (Never mind what has happened to those below the middle class.)
This is one more way to understand the effect of income and wealth inequality on each of us. The 1%/99% thing is real. When you hear that the 6 Walmart heirs have more wealth than 1/3 (or more) of all Americans combined, it is real. When you hear that the people on the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined, it is real.
And the effects on the rest of us are real.
http://seeingtheforest.com/40-of-americans-now-make-less-than-1968-minimum-wage/
The House Already Voted on Syria (including regime change) but they won't breathe a word of it now.
a very good, comprehensive, names, names - DK post:
HERE: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/09/01/1235478/-The-House-Already-Voted-on-Syria-including-regime-change-but-they-won-t-breathe-a-word-of-it-now
Phil Ochs: Cops of the world
Phil Ochs
Quick, get out of the way
You'd better watch what you say, boys
Better watch what you say
We've rammed in your harbor and tied to your port
And our pistols are hungry and our tempers are short
So bring your daughters around to the port
'Cause we're the Cops of the World, boys
We're the Cops of the World
We pick and choose as please, boys
Pick and choose as please
You'd best get down on your knees, boys
Best get down on your knees
We're hairy and horny and ready to shack
And we don't care if you're yellow or black
Just take off your clothes and lay down on your back
'Cause we're the Cops of the World, boys
We're the Cops of the World
Our boots are needing a shine, boys
Boots are needing a shine
But our Coca-Cola is fine, boys
Coca-Cola is fine
We've got to protect all our citizens fair
So we'll send a battalion for everyone there
And maybe we'll leave in a couple of years
'Cause we're the Cops of the World, boys
We're the Cops of the World
And dump the reds in a pile, boys
Dump the reds in a pile
You'd better wipe off that smile, boys
Better wipe off that smile
We'll spit through the streets of the cities we wreck
And we'll find you a leader that you can't elect
Those treaties we signed were a pain in the neck
'Cause we're the Cops of the World, boys
We're the Cops of the World
And clean the johns with a rag, boys
Clean the johns with a rag
If you like you can use your flag, boys
If you like you can use your flag
We've got too much money we're looking for toys
And guns will be guns and boys will be boys
But we'll gladly pay for all we destroy
'Cause we're the Cops of the World, boys
We're the Cops of the World
Please stay off of the grass, boys
Please stay off of the grass
Here's a kick in the ass, boys
Here's a kick in the ass
We'll smash down your doors, we don't bother to knock
We've done it before, so why all the shock
We're the biggest and the toughest kids on the block
And we're the Cops of the World, boys
We're the Cops of the World
And when we butchered your sons, boys
When we butchered your sons
Have a stick of our gum, boys
Have a stick of our bubble gum
We own half the world, oh say can you see
And the name for our profits is democracy
So, like it or not, you will have to be free
'Cause we're the Cops of the World, boys
We're the Cops of the World
Read more: Ochs Phil - Cops Of The World Lyrics | MetroLyrics
http://www.metrolyrics.com/cops-of-the-world-lyrics-ochs-phil.html
Bush v. Gore is looking better every day because it kept this guy out of power.
Lieberman: ‘Our enemies are cheering’ after Obama consulted Congress on Syriamore:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/01/lieberman-our-enemies-are-cheering-after-obama-consulted-congress-on-syria/
dupe
Earlier thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014582529
By Russell Findlay
Revealed: Britain sold nerve gas chemicals to Syria 10 months after war began
1 Sep 2013 07:21
FURIOUS politicians have demanded Prime Minister David Cameron explain why chemical export licences were granted to firms last January – 10 months after the Syrian uprising began.
BRITAIN allowed firms to sell chemicals to Syria capable of being used to make nerve gas, the Sunday Mail can reveal today.
Export licences for potassium fluoride and sodium fluoride were granted months after the bloody civil war in the Middle East began.
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Some details emerged in July of the UK’s sale of the chemicals to Syria but the crucial dates of the exports were withheld.
The Government have refused to identify the licence holders or say whether the licences were issued to one or two companies.
MORE:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/britain-sold-nerve-gas-chemicals-2242520
Sir David Frost, Dead, age 73
LONDON—
Veteran British journalist and broadcaster David Frost, who won fame around the world for his TV interviews with former President Richard Nixon, has died, his family told the BBC. He was 74.
Frost died of a suspected heart attack on Saturday night aboard the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship, where he was due to give a speech, the family said. The cruise company Cunard said its vessel left the English port of Southampton on Saturday for a 10-day cruise in the Mediterranean.
Known both for an amiable personality and incisive interviews with leading public figures, Frost's career in television news and entertainment spanned almost half a century. He was the only person to have interviewed all six British prime ministers serving between 1964 and 2007 and the seven U.S. presidents in office between 1969 and 2008. Outside world affairs, his roster ranged from Orson Welles to Muhammad Ali to Clint Eastwood.
http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-david-frost-dies-at-74-20130901,0,2294829.story
Mr. Kerry, Is THAT Really You?
September 01, 2013
RUSH TRANSCRIPT: JOHN KERRY ON “MEET THE PRESS”
Sec. Kerry tells David Gregory that new evidence suggests Assad launched a Sarin gas attack and that “this case is building"
Bashar al-Assad now joins the list of Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein have used these weapons in time of war. This is of great consequence to Israel, to Jordan, to Turkey, to the region, and to all of us who care about enforcing the international norm with respect to chemical weapons.
http://nbcumv.com/mediavillage/networks/nbcnews/pressreleases?pr=contents/press-releases/2013/09/01/rushtranscriptj1415026.xml
In our opinion, and from our experience, there is nothing in South Vietnam which could happen that realistically threatens the United States of America. And to attempt to justify the loss of one American life in Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laos by linking such loss to the preservation of freedom, which those misfits supposedly abuse, is to us the height of criminal hypocrisy, and it is that kind of hypocrisy which we feel has torn this country apart.
http://www.democracynow.org/2004/2/20/john_kerry_then_hear_kerrys_historic
before you all flame me for my dissappoinment, I voted for this man, I respected this man, I defended him....
kp
toon gets it just about right...
Oh, Man! I have been feeling a little like this for weeks...
mho, kp
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