The Nonsense of Non-binding Resolutions

The current political climate appears to be the classic example of an empire, our empire in a state falling into decay whether we call it “staying the course” or “the way forward” if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck it is a duck and this duck is freefalling through the decade of decadence which ushered in the dark ages for democracy.

This has become evermore evident during the last two weeks beginning with George W. Bush’s state of the union statement that chaos in Iraq would result in “an emboldened enemy with new safe havens, new recruits, new resources, and an even greater determination to harm America. To allow this to happen would be to ignore the lessons of September 11th and invite tragedy.”

Say what? What lessons of September 11th would be ignored? Osama bin-Laden, ,the architect of that tragedy, reportedly claimed one of the three reasons given for that act of terrorism was in retribution for the over 500,000 Iraqi deaths of mostly women and children since our first invasion of Iraq. In less than a year we had already forgotten the most important lesson.

Indeed a 2006 NIE report claimed that our invasion of Iraq in 2002 already emboldened our enemy with new safe havens, new recruits, new resources, and increased Islamic radicalism which now presents an even greater threat to American security. A surge will only fuel the chaos and further increase the number of Iraqi deaths thus ignoring the lessons of September 11th and invite more tragedy to visit our shores.

In response our representatives, our esteemed cowards in Congress, try to agree on tepid language of a non-binding resolution to express their disagreement with the continuation of a failed foreign policy that remains binding only on those in uniform who died and will continue to die fighting a war based on false pretexts and in violation of international law.

The nonsense of non-binding resolutions becomes even more disgraceful when our politicians those who represent “we the people” brazenly bicker over that which is nothing more than superficiality, pass off sound bites as substance and assign importance to empty slogans that will used to further their political ambitions - nothing more and nothing less than insulting to those who will have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

When White House spokesman, Tony Snow, said Mr. Bush “will continue to exercise his responsibilities as commander in chief” even if the Senate approved a resolution opposing the buildup he was speaking on behalf of a majority in the war party no longer concealing their contempt for American values by accusing those who dared to voice even a timid dissent of emboldening this nation’s enemies.

Indeed when our other infamous war criminal, Vice President Dick Cheney, defiantly said that such a resolution “…won’t stop us” what more evidence did the opposition to this nation’s illegal war in Iraq need to know about this corrupt administration’s contempt for the rule of law that demanded more than the futility of a non-binding resolution.

Over 30 years ago former Rep Robert F. Drinan introduced legislation to impeach another of this nation’s Republican war criminals by declaring “Can we impeach a president for concealing a burglary but not for concealing a massive bombing?”

Two decades later the party of the terminal righteousness tried to impeach a president for lying about marital infidelity and yet a decade later, those who took an oath support the Constitution of the United States cut and run from their responsibility to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney for blatantly committing high crimes and misdemeanors since 9/11 preferring instead to argue about non-binding language which they were already told would be ignored.

During this most recent meaningless charade of shameless political posturing from our bought and paid for representatives on both sides of the aisle former Rep. Robert F. Drinan passed away from pneumonia while democracy seems to be passing from neglect.

When the arrogance of evil men proclaims that Congress “won’t stop us” the gauntlet has been thrown down for Congress to pick it up and prepare binding articles of impeachment for if today no one in Congress has the courage to keep the same oath to the Constitution of the United States which Fr. Robert F. Drinan displayed over 30 years ago then Fr. Drinan’s obituary contains within it the obituary for democracy as well.