Fri Apr 6, 6:56 AM ET
Democrats in Congress have been busy flexing their foreign policy muscles almost from the moment they took power in January, for the most part responsibly. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) crossed a line this week by visiting Syria, where she met with President Bashar Assad. She violated a long-held understanding that the United States should speak with one official voice abroad - even if the country is deeply divided on foreign policy back home.
Like it or not (and we do not),Also along was House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., who said the meeting was "only the beginning of our constructive dialogue with Syria, and we hope to build on this visit." That suggested Democrats are going beyond unobjectionable fact-finding and getting-to-know-you conversation into something closer to negotiations, undermining U.S. diplomacy.
If there's any justification for Pelosi's trip, it is that foreign travel by members of Congress is important. Many come to office with little knowledge of the world and soon need to make important decisions about it. This was starkly evident in December when the congressman Pelosi chose to head the critical House Intelligence Committee revealed that he didn't know the difference between Sunnis and Shiites - knowledge critical to understanding Iraq and the war on terrorism.
The speaker presumably is better informed. Pelosi said she made the trip because the bipartisan Iraq Study Group urged greater engagement with Syria. That argument is strengthened by the fact that Assad also got visits this week from several House Republicans, who defied White House requests they not go. "I don't care what the administration says on this," said Rep. Frank Wolf (news, bio, voting record), R-Va. "I want us to be successful in Iraq. I want us to clamp down on Hezbollah."
But Wolf can travel to Syria virtually undetected. Pelosi has an international profile. That guarantees her heavy media coverage but multiplies the price of a misstep, which she quickly made when she created confusion about how eager Israel is to resume peace talks with Syria. Israel immediately clarified her remarks.
Pelosi's office defended her trip by noting that the "administration's cold-shoulder approach has yielded nothing but more Syrian intransigence." As true as that is, the place for Pelosi to make the case is not in Damascus. It's not up to the speaker to unfreeze relations with Assad.
PMO: Pelosi did not carry any message from Israel to Assad
By Yoav Stern and Amiram Barkat
*
The Prime Minister’s Office has strongly denied that Israel relayed a message to Syria, accepting its calls to renew peace negotiations.
The bureau responded to questions raised yesterday by a statement made by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, following a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Pelosi said she had relayed a message from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, to the effect that Israel was ready for peace talks with Syria.
The Prime Minister’s Office was quick to issue a denial, stating that “what was discussed with the House speaker did not include any change in Israel’s policy, as it has been presented to international parties involved in the matter.”
In a special statement of clarification, the bureau stressed that Olmert had told Pelosi that Israel continued to regard Syria as “part of the axis of evil and a party encouraging terrorism in the entire Middle East.”
According to sources at the Prime Minister’s Office, “Pelosi took part of the things that were said in the meeting, and used what suited her.”
The same sources explained that the decision to issue a statement of denial stemmed from questions from Israeli and foreign press regarding a change in Israel’s official stance on negotiations with Syria…
The Prime Minister’s Office said: “We have not intervened in the internal debate in the United States and we did not harm anyone. We simply announced what had taken place in the meeting [Olmert-Pelosi] on the basis of notes that are identical to those Pelosi has.” …
Has anyone ever heard of the LOGAN ACT ?
64 comments:
Looks like Fitz is coming under fire too:
"Libby’s persecutor may busted for lying to judges, and that could free Libby.
Mr. Fitzgerald is fighting release of the affidavits he filed with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to justify compelling two reporters to testify about their conversations with Mr. Libby, and to throw one of them in jail for 85 days until she did so.
Also under court seal are eight pages of a redacted 2005 D.C. Circuit opinion by Judge David Tatel that explained the court’s decision to support Mr. Fitzgerald’s pursuit of the reporters.
We now know Fitzgerald knew the identity of the leaker (the lefty Richard Armitage) when he filed these affidavits. So he indicted the reporters to make them reveal something he already knew.
Now the hunt is on to establish if he lied to the Court of Appeals:
In January, Dow Jones…and the Associated Press requested that the D.C. Circuit release this material now that the case is wrapped up…
The Dow Jones-AP request is about holding Mr. Fitzgerald accountable for what he told the courts.
If it is the same as what he told the public, then the prosecutor should have nothing to fear from the release of the affidavits or Judge Tatel’s redacted opinion.
Fitzgerald’s battle to keep his evidence hidden suggests he lied. That would give Libby excellent grounds for appeal, since a crooked prosecutor taints a verdict."
That's so amusing...LOL
When I go to the Love and Christ blog I can generate so many malicious comments simply by being nice and polite...
It's rather fun Johnny, you ought to try it.
Just be pleasant and polite to them and watch them explode into profanity and name calling.
They're a testament to their faith.
I should've thought of this a couple of years ago instead of getting caught up in the back and forth.
Once you get past his superiority complex, Roger is about as vile as the rest of them.
I'm also surprised that Cliffy can quote from the bible without interspersing it with profanity...LOL
I wish he'd do that more often, it looks so nice when he quotes the bible in one comment, and then laces the next with profanity.
For promoting "Judge not" they sure do a hell of a lot of judging don't they?
My post count is lagging. I wish they'd come back over here and promote love and peace some more...
Happy Easter to to Volt, JMM, and FF (wherever he is).
Here's a clip of Mark Levin taking apart the Libs' arguments about Valerie Plame
Happy Easter to you as well TT.
That was great TT! Mark has such a way with words....LOL
From the WSJ:
"Illegal Diplomacy
Did Nancy Pelosi commit a felony when she went to Syria?
BY ROBERT F. TURNER
Friday, April 6, 2007 11:30 a.m. EDT
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may well have committed a felony in traveling to Damascus this week, against the wishes of the president, to communicate on foreign-policy issues with Syrian President Bashar Assad. The administration isn't going to want to touch this political hot potato, nor should it become a partisan issue. Maybe special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, whose aggressive prosecution of Lewis Libby establishes his independence from White House influence, should be called back.
The Logan Act makes it a felony and provides for a prison sentence of up to three years for any American, "without authority of the United States," to communicate with a foreign government in an effort to influence that government's behavior on any "disputes or controversies with the United States." Some background on this statute helps to understand why Ms. Pelosi may be in serious trouble.
President John Adams requested the statute after a Pennsylvania pacifist named George Logan traveled to France in 1798 to assure the French government that the American people favored peace in the undeclared "Quasi War" being fought on the high seas between the two countries. In proposing the law, Rep. Roger Griswold of Connecticut explained that the object was, as recorded in the Annals of Congress, "to punish a crime which goes to the destruction of the executive power of the government. He meant that description of crime which arises from an interference of individual citizens in the negotiations of our executive with foreign governments."
The debate on this bill ran nearly 150 pages in the Annals. On Jan. 16, 1799, Rep. Isaac Parker of Massachusetts explained, "the people of the United States have given to the executive department the power to negotiate with foreign governments, and to carry on all foreign relations, and that it is therefore an usurpation of that power for an individual to undertake to correspond with any foreign power on any dispute between the two governments, or for any state government, or any other department of the general government, to do it."
Griswold and Parker were Federalists who believed in strong executive power. But consider this statement by Albert Gallatin, the future Secretary of the Treasury under President Thomas Jefferson, who was wary of centralized government: "it would be extremely improper for a member of this House to enter into any correspondence with the French Republic . . . As we are not at war with France, an offence of this kind would not be high treason, yet it would be as criminal an act, as if we were at war." Indeed, the offense is greater when the usurpation of the president's constitutional authority is done by a member of the legislature--all the more so by a Speaker of the House--because it violates not just statutory law but constitutes a usurpation of the powers of a separate branch and a breach of the oath of office Ms. Pelosi took to support the Constitution.
The Supreme Court has spoken clearly on this aspect of the separation of powers. In Marbury v. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall used the president's authority over the Department of State as an illustration of those "important political powers" that, "being entrusted to the executive, the decision of the executive is conclusive." And in the landmark 1936 Curtiss-Wright case, the Supreme Court reaffirmed: "Into the field of negotiation the Senate cannot intrude, and Congress itself is powerless to invade it."
Ms. Pelosi and her Congressional entourage spoke to President Assad on various issues, among other things saying, "We came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace." She is certainly not the first member of Congress--of either party--to engage in this sort of behavior, but her position as a national leader, the wartime circumstances, the opposition to the trip from the White House, and the character of the regime she has chosen to approach make her behavior particularly inappropriate.
Of course, not all congressional travel to, or communications with representatives of, foreign nations is unlawful. A purely fact-finding trip that involves looking around, visiting American military bases or talking with U.S. diplomats is not a problem. Nor is formal negotiation with foreign representatives if authorized by the president. (FDR appointed Sens. Tom Connally and Arthur Vandenberg to the U.S. delegation that negotiated the U.N. Charter.) Ms. Pelosi's trip was not authorized, and Syria is one of the world's leading sponsors of international terrorism. It has almost certainly been involved in numerous attacks that have claimed the lives of American military personnel from Beirut to Baghdad.
The U.S. is in the midst of two wars authorized by Congress. For Ms. Pelosi to flout the Constitution in these circumstances is not only shortsighted; it may well be a felony, as the Logan Act has been part of our criminal law for more than two centuries. Perhaps it is time to enforce the law.
Mr. Turner was acting assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs in 1984-85 and is a former chairman of the ABA standing committee on law and national security."
While Ms. Pelosi may not have been aware of the illegality of her trip, (I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt here) It does help to underscore the fact that our elected representatives don't have a clue about the Constitution they've sworn to uphold.
Nor I'm sure, will you hear many Democrat supporters vilify this particular violation of the Constitution.
Looks like over at the Love/Christ blog they're advocating not allowing wounded veterans to watch what they want...
Remember when CNN did an interview on an aircraft carrier and all the TV's were on FOX and then they demanded that they be changed?
Nothings too good for our troops, unless they want to watch FOX, then screw 'em!
Interesting post by Leisure Suit Larry...
" Larry said...
I'm going to bring you some viewers. I am Lydia Cornell's blog administrator, and I contribute to White Noise Insanity which has quite a growing audience.
I will try getting people over here. It is a good blog.
9:06 PM
Posted on: http://sq-sq.blogspot.com/
And this...
" Larry said...
I am currently redesigning Lydia's website and she will have her own blog away from blogger.
She will have a talk radio show soon and we will stream in on her site.
She has a troll problem but that will go away with the new blog as they can be controlled better..."
Happy Easter to you & your family as well TT.
Also, to FF, Rusty, & Clippy.
Volt said
"When I go to the Love and Christ blog I can generate so many malicious comments simply by being nice and polite...
It's rather fun Johnny, you ought to try it."
Do you mean say things like:
"Thats a great pic of you Mike..... bet you've broken many a young girls hearts?"
"Hey, Worf, hope things are going well at the dojo. Hows that dog of yours doing?
"If I were a four star General, Cliff, I would place an entire Corps under your command."
"Gee, Carl, I,ll bet your the best Minister in all of NYC."
Very interesting philosophy Volt.....could be worth a try! However, Im not the christian shouting LOVE. Its my job as an Atheist to point out the stunning inconsistencies in the astonishingly phony, self important, chrisitian rhetoric.
Also, it severely lacks any real entertainment value.....not to mention I refuse to be TAMED by communists who use delete buttons to inhibit freedom of speech so as to forcefully condition others into being docile kittens who must accept their slander & infantile attacks without a fight.
Hence......hogwash!
Checked out that "sq" blog.
The Crisco Kid certainly wasted no time introducing himself to that phony pic of some hot blonde.......LOL!
He's probably playing with his sausage right now?
Watch, closely, as Crisco comically agrees to everything she or her friends say in an effort to try & get down her pants...LOL!
:D
He'll probably start posting heavily at the peroxide blog so as to try to impress her.
Volt said
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may well have committed a felony in traveling to Damascus this week, against the wishes of the president, to communicate on foreign-policy issues with Syrian President Bashar Assad."
Gee, I better cancel my meeting with Vladimir Putin that was scheduled for early next week.
I was certain he would appreciate my version of making the trains run on time & foreign policy views.
Perhaps, I was naive in believing Harper would congratulate me for my diplomatic efforts?
Volt said
"Once you get past his superiority complex, Freshie is about as vile as the rest of them."
Believe me Volt, theres no shortage of armchair philosophers who seek attention......newbies are always jostling for a position! Its impossible to entertain every moron who comes along.....period!
Have I ever mentioneed freshies are blowhards who bug me.....LOL!?
Volt said
"Has anyone ever heard of the LOGAN ACT ?"
Of course, who hasnt.
"In the 23rd century, the survivors of a holocaust now lives within a domed city that is sealed off from the outside world.
In the domed city, men and women live in a society where you can only live until you are 30-years old (due to population control and limited resources), the people have two choices:
They can either take part in a extermination ceremony called "Carousel" where they are promised of being reborn or they can go on the run and escape to outside the domed city.
Logan 5, a Sandman, is an elite policeman whose job is terminate all "Runners" who refuse to be exterminated on Carousel and escape to outside the city."
LOL Johnny, I remember that movie.
And I used to watch the series too.
I'm thinking of a different "Logan Act" though...
TT said (regarding Levins speech)
"Whadya mean shes such a good witness; cause shes blonde?"
Well, she is kinda hot....LOL!
Works for me.
:D
Perhaps your a better investigator than me Volt, but, I did manage to find this video of Cliff with his oversea's girlfriend after he served on the "green line" in the first Gulf War.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfcTUb5nj_w
A Freshie said:
"I love the 10 Commandments too"
No, kiddin!
Heres a good one the christians on this blog seem to have great difficulty with:
"Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour."
But, of course, we all know such wise words are purely for show......like lets pretend anyone actually adheres to such malarchy......LOL!
worf
Your almost as intelligent as me. Why is it females need to express their point of view by revealing portions of their breasts?
Is this a good example for our young daughters to follow?
*bite tongue*....*bite tongue*....
Who should bite their tongue Volt?
Ok, Volt & TT, you win. I can no longer play the manufactured bad guy......good luck.
Goodbye!
I wasn't talking to you Johnny, I was talking to myself.
I was trying to keep from making a smart alecky comment regarding women making a point by exposing parts of their breasts!
As to good guy or bad guy, everbody has to play it the way they see fit.
I myself get a kick out watching them foam at mouth and curse me while I'm being nice to them.
I don't begrudge you going over and kicking them around a bit. Hell they deserve it after what they've said to and about you and your daughter.
The thing that I think though is this,
First off a liberal is ALWAYS going to degrade and curse at you simply because you don't subscribe to their point of view.
But secondly, there are probably some fence sitters lurking and just watching at Lydia's. What better way to showcase their blog than to let them watch how they treat someone nicely and politely disagreeing with them?
The outsiders think I'm level headed and intelligent and their a bunch of wacko screeching banshees ready to lynch anyone who has a different point of view.
As long as I can maintain my cool and be nice, To anyone watching, I make them look MUCH worse in comparisson.
But that's just me, if you wanna go in there and duke it out with them I don't condemn you for that. Like I said they've given all of us good reason.
I'm just not gonna take the bait anymore.
Hey Johnny, TT or FF. Have you guys picked up and malware or bugs after visiting here?
I'm pretty sure the LC crowd is lying, but I'd like to know one way or the other.
If you did pick up anything, what was it?
I don't think I can do anything about google/blogger tracking cookies, and you'd get them on ANY google blog, so I'm not particularlly interested in those.
But have you guys gotten anything suspicious or malicious?
And Johnny? No one here dislikes you. You are welcome here anytime.
Wow, I'm making friends left and right today....LOL
Johnny, I echo Volt's 9:13 post.
Volt, the only thing I get is the standard cookie that I get at any blogger site.
However, with Lydia, I get an additional cookie from her site. Her site also has some weird active x or java scripting going on that serves no purpose as far as I can tell.
I can sum this whole thing up in to words: "Liberal paranoia."
Someone might want to mention to Mike that he can disable cookies in about two seconds on his browser.
Thanks TT, that's what I thought too, but I wanted to be sure.
As for Lydia's, we know Worf is running security and that they are IP tracking. That may account for some of the java/activeX you see.
Don't know if that's the extent of it, but some may be that at least.
Funny that someone with a bigger higher fence is complaining about my site...
I will say that Lydia's comments in support of their lies about my blog really bothers me.
I expect the kiddies to smear me, but I didn't think Lydia would go that far...
Why do you think they'd want to fearmonger about my little blog?
Lydia Cornell said...
"Worf, Lt. Eric Shine's site is: www.martialLaw911.com
What is moo moo talking about?
Volt, I mean TT -- I can't click on your link for fear it might take me to Volt's blog. And we all know what happens when we go there.
Please post the url in its entirety."
2:24 PM
This is the post I'm refering to in case you missed it.
I'd love to know what they think happens, IQ go up some? -what?
I emailed Lydia asking her to respond to this assertion. If she replies, (and I'm not holding my breath) I'll post it.
I thought we all had to let go of fear and embrace love?
This was my email to Lydia:
Regarding my blog Lydia, just what is it that "happens" when you go there?
I assure you I have not installed any malicious software. You should not get anything more than you would from google/blogger itself. I can see where there may be a tracking cookie that blogger may plant, but then you'd get that no matter what blogger hosted blog you went to including yours.
For that matter, I haven't even been tracking IP's! If the rowdy bunch keeps coming over I might consider it, but so far I haven't.
I understand from Clif there is a rumor going around, and I don't believe there is any truth to it.
But if something is happening, I'd also like to see the proof so I can get to the bottom of it.
-Volt
You know, I used to think they were merely misguided or naive.
I'm not so sure anymore.
They have embraced evil and are entranced by it.
Carl a supposed "minister" has claimed that since I'm a conservative I'm pretty much a beast and as such he may judge me.
Further, this "minister" claims that he will be at Jesus side to make sure Jesus condemns me to hell. Also, this "minister" seems to cuss like a sailor on leave...
Worf, who probably knows more about the subject than Carl does, says nothing. (and he can be just as evil in his own ways...)
Clif and Roger can't reply to a question without throwing in profanities and degradations.
Mike, while fairly decent to me can't see anything wrong with their behavior.
And Lydia lords above it all talking about peace and love and turning the other cheek, while she pats her little horde of flying monkeys on the back, and slandering me as well.
No wonder they like Islam so much. It's pretty much like looking in the mirror.
It's pretty much like the last thread I posted. They project all their thoughts and fears on others not like them. And in their paranoia they actually think THEY are the "good" ones...LOL
They are evil through and through, and leading the sheep to the slaughter right behind them.
Oh well, enough for now.
Happy Easter Y'all!!!
If that's you Johnny, go ahead and post, nobodies gonna bite your head off or anything...
There was no criticism directed at you from me or anyone else here.
A wise man once posted:
"Battle not with monsters lest ye become one; for when you look into the Abyss, the Abyss looks into you."
Wow......excellent analysis of the Jelly libs Volt!
I just performed three seperate scans & found no harmful bugs, spyware, adware, etc....nothing! I still have to run two more scans though as I have like five different spyware/adware/virus applications.
I also have real time virus & spyware protection through my firewall. "Spyware Blaster" is good too as it stops harmful spyware before it even reaches your computer.
Regular Shredding (not deleting)of your browser, temporary files, windows programs, plug-ins, Dat files, etc...keeps it running smoothly. A registry cleaner is a must also.
I,ll let you know if I ever find anything.
Their just making this up to silence us & keep people away from your blog.....kinda ignorant really!
Oh, yeah, almost forgot. I owe you & TT an apology for being so crabby yesterday; I guess I became a little bothered when all the guys scurried to that SQ site to check out those rather large milkers......LOL!
Actually, its really quite funny now that I think about it.....LOL!
Volt said
"If that's you Johnny, go ahead and post"
???
I thought you were mad at us, and having second thoughts...LOL
Somebodies posted twice today and then deleted it before I could read it...thought it might have been you.
Actually S-Q is kind of a kick. (A kick exactly where, I'm not sure)
Her blog is rather schizophrenic, there are several different threads all going on at once and posted by different people.
I tried to offer a little advice, but got shot down by the flying monkey crew...
Oh well, they aren't on our side anyways, let 'em spin.
No, wasnt me. Sometimes I can start a comment and take up to an hour to finish it as Im enjoying games, grabbing a snack, playin with my model tanks etc.....
I didnt peek at the Jelly blog as I feel today isnt really appropriate; sounds like quite a ruckus over there.
Yeah it was pretty bad....LOL
I make such a good target.
Actually instead of fighting and trying to make them look bad, I like it better when they do the job all by themselves...
That's pretty much what I meant before. Watching them react to me is kinda like watching the Rodney King video...
I don't think they're gaining any sympathy from those watching...
Hey, Volt, I just finished making my latest video......its about WAR! Took me a month and a half to make it. I,ll let you know when its up at YouTube.
Crank this one up......big time!
I,ll talk to you tomorrow......someones ripping my turban coz Im wrecking the video game.....LOL!
BTW, Miss Moo Moo said your son was cute but your blog was ugly???
Want me to rip her turban for this extreme insult? I think the blog looks cool.
Maybe I ought to try that phrase once in the middle of it...
"Can't we all just get along?...."
LOL
Nah! It's OK Johnny...
I think you once said you didn't like the color either..
Have fun!
Probably won't be around Monday Johnny, gotta go up north for a friends wedding. Be back Tuesday evening though....
Tell lil miss moo moo I said Hi!
Volt said
"Can't we all just get along?...."
Did you run out of red pills again Volt? Dont worry, I,ll send you a fresh supply. And, no biting them in half this time.
Your starting to sound like Chamberlain......oh well, I suppose we all go through periods of temporary insanity.
Enjoy yourself at the wedding, Volt, and dont forget to drink excessive amounts of refreshments.....at least thats what my psychiatrist's told me to do at such festivities?
Miss Moo Moo says hi to you as well.....shes always liked you, TT, and FF!
She cant stand lydia.....barely acknowledges her existence......LOL! However, she still watches TCFC for some strange reason; she even laughs.
I'm back, but I'm really tired. I may post a little more later this week, but I'm gonna get some rest tonight...
Oh but I did promise I'd post the reply if I got one, and here it is:
"Maybe I'm just paranoid lately. One time I went to your blog and it seemed "electricity" was going through, and my whole server seemed to slow down. Maybe I just imagined it and the rumor going around made it more real.
Lately we've had a lot of weird things happening, that's all.
Thanks for writing,
Lydia Cornell"
I like Lydia, I really do. But don't they claim WE'RE the ones operating on fear and paranoia?
nancy pelosi posing submissively in a Muslim head scarf -- the perfect symbol of the dhimmicrat party!
Too bad they couldn't get her to wear the FULL burka eh FF?
Indeed Volt. Check out the WSJ editorial entitled Democrats at War featuring a shot of pelosi in the head scarf:
"Prime Minister Pelosi and Secretary of State Lantos undermine U.S. foreign policy--and maybe their own party."
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