The Discerning Texan

All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke

Friday, April 06, 2007

Today's Outrage--and MUST READ

Nancy Pelosi was not a "lone wolf" in her visit to Syria to break bread with murderers and thugs, engage in false "shuttle diplomacy", and in general undermine the foreign policy of her country and its Allies; no, this was a "coordinated attack". Witness Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), who was along for the trip:

Democrats took Congress last fall in part by opposing the war in Iraq, but it is becoming clear that they view their election as a mandate for something far more ambitious--to wit, promoting and executing their own foreign policy, albeit without the detail of a Presidential election.

Their intentions were made plain this week with two remarkable acts by their House and Senate leaders. Majority Leader Harry Reid endorsed Senator Russ Feingold's proposal to withdraw from Iraq immediately, cutting off funds entirely within a year. He promised a vote soon, as part of what the Washington Post reported would also be a Democratic offensive to close Guantanamo, reinstate legal rights for terror suspects, and improve relations with Cuba.

Meanwhile, Speaker Nancy Pelosi made her now famous sojourn to Syria, donning a head scarf and advertising that she was conducting shuttle diplomacy between Jerusalem and Damascus. If there was any doubt that her trip was intended as far more than a routine Congressional "fact-finding" trip, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Tom Lantos put it to rest by declaring that, "We have an alternative Democratic foreign policy. I view my job as beginning with restoring overseas credibility and respect for the United States."

Americans should understand how extraordinary this is. There have been previous battles over U.S. foreign policy and fierce domestic criticism. In the 1990s, these columns defended Bill Clinton against "the Republican drift toward isolationism and political opportunism" amid the Kosovo conflict. But rarely in U.S. history have Congressional leaders sought to conduct their own independent diplomacy, with the Speaker acting as a Prime Minister traveling with a Secretary of State in the person of Mr. Lantos.

Yes, Congressional Republicans have visited Syria too. But Ms. Pelosi isn't some minority back-bencher. Without a Democrat in the White House, she and Mr. Reid are the national leaders of their party. Even Newt Gingrich, for all his grand domestic ambitions in 1995, took a muted stand on foreign policy, realizing that in the American system the executive has the bulk of national security power. He also understood he would do the country no favors by sending a mixed message to our enemies--at the time, Slobodan Milosevic.

Read the whole thing...and then stop a moment to ponder its meaning.

America made a HUGE mistake last November: that fact is slowly beginning to dawn on more and more in the mealy "center". This is a good thing--but it does not mean that America can afford "more of the same" for the next two years. The President needs to defend America, and job one is to stand up and stand for something--Americans do not need to see their Commander in Chief apparently ashamed or hesitant to call out these traitors for who and what they are.

UPDATE: See also Rich Lowry's new piece "The Capitulation Caucus". Definitely worth the click.

Labels: America War Support, Appeasement, Democrat Sabotage, Nancy Pelosi, Syria