Nancy Pelosi: Fool Or Felon?
By Joe Mariani
April 11, 2007
Page 2 of 2
In April 2007, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) took it upon herself to visit Syria while that country is involved in disputes with the United States throughout the Middle East -- not the least of which is terrorists using that country as a conduit through which to infiltrate Iraq. The White House specifically asked her not to do so, as it might undermine US policy towards Syria and embolden dictator Bashir Assad. Other politicians have visited Syria, but none have done so with the purpose of opening dialogue with that country against the express foreign policy dictates of the president. Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA), who accompanied Pelosi, said of the trip, "We have an alternative Democratic foreign policy. I view my job as beginning with restoring overseas credibility and respect for the United States." (web site)
However, Lantos' job -- and Pelosi's -- is to create laws. Foreign policy falls under the purview of the Executive branch of government, not the Legislative. Congress has as much power to conduct foreign policy as the President has to write laws -- namely, none at all. Nancy Pelosi's attempt to conduct her own private foreign policy is a clear violation of the Logan Act, for which she should be charged by the Attorney General... if he has time before the Democrats hound him out of office on yet another trumped-up non-scandal, that is.
Some have said that Pelosi, being a member of Congress, does indeed have the "authority of the United States" mentioned in the Logan Act, and was representing America on her trip. If that's true, then she did it badly. She appeared as a supplicant to Assad, and walked about wearing a headscarf and black abaya, showing her deference -- and America's, as our representative -- to overblown fundamentalist Islamic sensibilities. Pelosi allowed herself to be photographed smiling and showing friendship to a man who is the subject of a US campaign designed to isolate and embarrass him for the part his government played in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. (web site) She badly botched a message from Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, telling Assad that Israel was prepared to resume peace talks with Syria. Olmert's actual message was that "Syria should first stop supporting terrorism and 'act like a normal country,' and only then would Israel be willing to hold discussions." (web site) It's hard to imagine how Pelosi's blundering Syrian junket could have been any more of a foreign policy disaster for the United States.
Since assuming her position as Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi has been leading the power-drunk Democrats in an attempt to reduce the presidency to the purely ceremonial position it often occupies in other nations. True power in those countries usually resides in a prime minister -- a position to be filled here, no doubt, by Madame Pelosi herself. The recent condition-laden military funding bill was a blatant attempt to usurp the president's authority as commander-in-chief, and now the Democrats are trying to take over as arbiters of US foreign policy... and it remains to be seen whether anyone will do anything to stop them.
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Joe Mariani is a computer consultant born and raised in New Jersey. He now lives in Pennsylvania, where the gun laws are less restrictive and taxes are lower. Joe always thought of himself as politically neutral until he saw how far left the left had really gone after 9/11. His essays and links to articles are available at http://www.guardianwatchblog.com
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA. >> Back -- Page 1 2
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