OK, if you are still one of those people who just foolishly follows what was known as “Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment,” which Darwin exposed as an absolute failure yesterday, then you really need to stop drinking the Kool-aid. Speaker of the House John Boehner’s staff is now advising the White House on exactly what Obama needs to say in order to gain Republican votes on war with Syria.
According to National Review:
Boehner, like Cantor, is supportive of the president’s proposal, but he has been more hands-off in dealing with House Republicans than the majority leader has. He announced his position after last week’s White House meeting, but since then he hasn’t wooed rank-and-file members or published any op-eds, and he has declined every Sunday-show invitation. Boehner’s aides say the speaker believes that the pressure is on the president and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi to deliver votes, and he’s focused almost entirely on keeping his fragile conference together ahead of the fall’s fiscal dramas.
“There’s no whip list since this is a conscience vote, and the speaker is acting accordingly,” says an aide familiar with Boehner’s strategy. “He’s going to come back this week and spend a lot of time listening to his members.”
take our poll - story continues belowCompleting this poll grants you access to DC Clothesline updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to this site's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.But Boehner’s reluctance to say much publicly doesn’t mean he’s absent from the discussion. His first vote in Congress, after being elected in 1990, was to authorize the Gulf War, and he has long been a hawk. Sources close to him say he’ll try to bolster GOP support without strong-arming anyone. Case in point: His staff is advising White House chief of staff Denis McDonough about what the president needs to say on Tuesday to win Republican votes.
What amazes me in this situation is that John Boehner is the same man that, just two months ago, went on national television and said that he couldn’t take a stand on the issues because it would make his job more difficult. Yet, he had no problem coming out and being Obama’s lap dog on this issue with Syria, supporting military strikes on the Middle East country. He still can’t seem to lead on Benghazi either.
One congressional aide told National Review that Boehner will “spend a lot of time listening to his members” this week.
Meanwhile, other Republican leaders like House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) wrote a recent op-ed for the Richmond Times-Dispatch in which he wrote, “America has a compelling national security interest to prevent and respond to the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), especially by a terrorist state, and to prevent further instability in a region of vital interest to the United States.”
The problem with Cantor’s assertion should be clear to any who read his piece, and that is that he never presents a “compelling national security interest.” He also references Syria as a “terrorist state,” but then goes on to try and address helping al-Qaeda against the Assad regime. He attempts to lighten the blow of aiding enemies of the United States by writing, “But extremist groups represent only a minority of those opposing Assad.”
Oh, well that makes me feel better. Tell us Mr. Cantor, how many alleged hijackers did it take to bring down the World Trade Center Towers and attack the Pentagon. Was that also a minority? By the way, the fact that Cantor acknowledges that he is all in favor of supporting known terrorists, even if they are in the minority and we have no evidence to indicate what he is saying is true, doesn’t that make every member of Congress that supports this aiding and abetting declared enemies of the United States, thus making them guilty of treason and susceptible to the provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)?
Frankly, if you weren’t ready to get rid of the Republican leadership in Congress along with the Democrats, this should be enough to convince you to do so. Be sure and contact your representative and senator and tell them your thoughts on intervention in Syria. America cannot afford another war.
Tim Brown is the Editor of Freedom Outpost and a regular contributor to The D.C. Clothesline.
