Hardball: Mario Cuomo Describes Congress As Abdicating Their Constitutional Duties
By Nicole Belle Friday Sep 28, 2007 4:26pm
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I've always admired the no nonsense approach of Mario Cuomo. I remember his '84 keynote address at the Democratic convention was so stirring that my whole family hoped he run for national office. And again, Mario Cuomo cuts through all the political spin and gives the unvarnished truth. His condemnation for Congress for their naivety and willingness to give up their responsibilities to an untrustworthy administration makes me wish again for Cuomo on the national scene.
Let's not do what we did before and wind up apologizing for our resolutions and saying we're sorry. Now remember, the Founding Fathers gave the powers to declare war to the Congress. That power cannot be delegated to the President. You can't adopt a resolution and say well, the Founding Fathers wanted us to do it, but it's too heavy a lift for us, so we empower you, Mr. President, if you feel like doing it, to do it.
And my goodness, the President you're talking about is the president who started a war with a mistaken context-assuming he was telling the truth, and I will-he was wrong about the reason for it, he was wrong about complicity, he was wrong about how many troops we needed, he was wrong about how we would be greeted when we got there, he was wrong about the civil war, wrong about how much it would cost, wrong about how long it would last and now you're saying maybe he can start another war. It's a mistake; this an opportunity for Democrats to show real leadership. And the presidential candidates should lead the way. And if they don't, then the question is going to be when it comes to improvident war-making, why are you any better than Bush?
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I saw this on The Show last evening, Mario was spot on.
I'm glad somebody GETS IT. Can we please get Coumo down to congress to explain it to them?
Who the fuck isn't tired of hearing about the US congress "Abdicating Their Constitutional Duties"?
It is a shameful situation to be tired of.
Damn! Go Mario!!
Someone needed to say this.
*
justabill @ 2:
... explain it to them slowly, using simple words.
At the moment, most of our Congress is not any better than George Bush.
I just received a fundraising call from Nancy Pelosi's office. I told them that as long as impeachment was off the table so was my support. The man on the phone started arguing with me that it didn't take a rocket scientist to understand that impeachment wouldn't work. Apparently Pelosi's fundraisers' new line is that if you aren't with her (allowing Bush to do whatever he pleases) you are too stupid to understand anything. Shut up and give us your money, in effect.
Sorry, if you want my money represent me. End of story.
We are not amused.
Forget Cheney claiming he's not in the Executive Branch;CONGRESS IS NO LONGER IN THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH!
This is how it's done.
wow
i feel better!
I'm flabbergasted!
A smart, adult US American!
I thought that species had gone extinct due to global warming...
Matthews is so damn right: Mario Cuomo is so far ahead of the rest! More of that is what is really needed!
sorry, but DUH !
It's all about the money. . .
I wish cumo would go on evey major TV network and repeat this..
I can't get over that so many of them are disrespectful to the constitution and the bill of rights. I wonder if "US History " class in high school have been canceled or defunded?
I would think that anybody who decide to become a politician would memorize the constitution as do any Christian preacher tried to memorize the bible. Maybe we should require politician to pass a quiz on US history before they become elected? Before we vote on them, we need to see how well they know it.
Let's push this bridge over the cliff. The Netroots are working. Keep infiltrating. Keep educating.
The damn is breaking.
If only Mario didn’t sound so much like Mel Brooks I would have to say draft Al Gore and Mario Cuomo in 08!
Amen, Mario! But, anyone who was aware of PNAC before 9/11 and Iraq knew that the war was a sham, and 9/11 a pretext to begin an imperialist grab of oil in the ME.
I wrote my repesenitive when the war first started advising him you can't amend the constitution w/ an act and he wrote back telling me george could go to war under the war powers act.Even if this is so there are six month reporting requirements so how do those reports look fellow?
I love Mario Cuomo.
I've always loved Mario Cuomo.
"President Cuomo."
Sigh.
Mario Cuomo IS RIGHT about this, completely RIGHT.
Dennis Kuchinich(sp) has more spine than the dems in congress and running for president in 2008. i am and have been a dem for many years, but i am ashamed of the spineless pricks in congress now. we have a constitution, but they don't want to fight for it or on the side of getting it back.
right now the dem suck big time. i want responsible adults back in congress.
New here.
Hi, everyone.
Mario must be vulnerable. Otherwise, why hasn't he run for Prez?
VietVet8666 @ 21:
they are all vulnerable, some just can weather the gop bullshit better.
just another bozzo @ 16:
We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to right a wrong. For Gods' sake, stop thinking about what a candidate looks like or sounds like and start paying attention to the message. Cuomo is right in that the Constitution is the law of the land. The sooner we as a people return to the very laws that set us free as a society, the sooner our once proud nation will be able to take its rightful place as the worlds leader it should be.
The Democrats need to find their damn spine and all of them should push a copy of the Constiitution so far up the butts of the Republicans that would make their heads spin.
Either we are well on our way as Aaron Russo would say From Freedom To Facisism, or we take back our country from those who neither derserve our votes or would sell out our country to the highest bidder.
An Al Gore/ Cuomo ticket would win in a landslide!
VietVet8666 @ 21:
I think he's too smart to involve himself in this "fustercluck".
Cue concern troll bringing up skeletons in Cuomo's closet in three... two... one...
great interview! this is the info i've been hoping to hear for the last 2 years. whats it going to take for the rest of the Dems to get on track? maybe some are l but their not getting enough air time?
NO MORE WAR (WITH IRAN) !!!!!!
we held the communist with diplomacy, we can do it again with the terrorists.
VietVet8666 @ 21:
Welcome VietVet8666! And since Mario has more money than the Catholic Church he probably doesn’t need the headaches!
IMO,
The people of the U.S. are in the process of abandoning the Constitution.
He was great ! however, I may be wrong , this statement from him seems off.
Let’s not do what we did before and wind up apologizing for our resolutions and saying we’re sorry. Now remember, the Founding Fathers gave the powers to declare war to the Congress. That power cannot be delegated to the President.
I don't recall duhbya declaring war. At least not in iraq.
Andrew @ 23:
I was just jokin, sheeeees
what is it going to take to make congress understand what we the people want?? We voted out the warmongers. nothing has changed. i don't understand what else we can do other than take up arms.
[...] THIS soundbite tastes so good to the ear, all I can think to say afterwards is, “More please.” [...]
Pelosi Can't take the responsibilty to FUCKING impeach off the FUCKING table.The constitution is not on some FUCKING table as an orniment but the FUCKING law of the land and if she ever took the time to read it she would see it mentioned six FUCKING times.Do the job you accepted to do or FUCKING resign.My keys are on the table from pounding this keyboard not the constitution.Leaders lead period.
The problem is that it's just easier to pander to the public and leave the heavy lifting to others rather than risk taking an affirmative stand for something. Mario says it well. I have never seen such a risk adverse Congress in my life.
Congress needs to do the bidding of those that elected them. If not, remove them from office. What does it take to get through to the people whose salary we are paying? The media is NOT paying their salary. Neither is GW. so get on with it.
They Abdicated their Constitutional responsibilities so they could all blame it on Bush. Killer Hillary gets away with it everyday and the Dems who support her and gonna vote for her are her Enablers.
Peace
VietVet8666 @ 21:
Because, he said, re. the rightwing: "these are mean, ugly people".
Maybe he was too revolted and/or protective of his family or his health.
I'm from NY, and we've hardly had leadership--anywhere--since Cuomo.
I love it. I've had to watch the vid several times now.
"The difference is, and this is what was said at the Convention, and this is common sense:
You give it to one man and he may be mad.
He may be an egotist.
He may be misguided
or he might be stupid."
Bush is all of the above.
I'm nodding my head so hard listening to this guy, my neck hurts.
Why didn't he run for president, again? He had (has) the stuff to be a great one.
Props to Cuomo for speaking truth to power
So many smart people here!
This should not be considered rocket science, just a simple interpretation of the constitution. And yet our congressional Dems haven't the backbone to acknowledge this reality.
Simply amazing. At least the Repugs stand up for something they believe in, even if what they believe in is only existent in the twilight zone. Congressional Dems are useless appendages.
He tells it like it is.
Uh oh, faux opinion broke the new rule Rush broke on hating the troops:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/09/29/hunt/index.html
Perhaps what I said was too unkind. Dem leaders and half of Dem congresscritters are useless.
Aw screw it. Congressional Dems are useless, period, except for a small handful. Feingold is one of the few exceptions.
Lauren @ 6:
Pelosi's latest line about Iraq which she gave to Wolfie Blitzer and the Boston Globe that the Republicans own this war won't fly either. If Democrats vote on the war, they own it just as much as the Republicans.
Good on you about the money. You should have seen my comments I returned on a money plea from Bill Clinton for his wife!
Bull Shit! Chris Matthews. Ron Paul talked about The Constitution during the debates on the floor of the House re: the wars powers article and it was Congress's duty to declare war. But, it was refreshing to hear someone else mention it after all these years.
good to hear from mario cuomo, he was gov. of NY for a good chunk of my youth, and i named a goldfish after him at one point. glad to see the fish was not named in vain.
Orangutan. @ 16:
I REALLY hope you're right.
*
Sen. Byrd talked about the Constitution too, maybe not on that show.
But Cuomo made Matthews shut up longer than I've ever seen. Cuomo commands respect. He was a great governor. People were really sorry when Pataki won; just goes to show that you never throw your vote away in protest.
[they were angry about high taxes, which of course continued w/Pataki].
There's no hope of these Democrats doing the right thing. All they care about is money in their pockets, whoever will pay them and give them votes, they'll support. It's sickening. I finally realized that Pelosi, Durbin and Edward Kennedy are all Catholic. That's why they fight so hard to let illegal Mexicans come in here and stay. I imagine the corrupt Catholic church is paying them handsomely. This is as bad as what the evangelicals do.
VietVet8666 @ 22:
I have always thought that someone must have something that keeps him from running. He's too smart to be so underused by this country. You would think that he would have held some cabinet job like Housing and Urban Dev. at least.
naschkatze @ 46:
I hate to say it, but Nancy Pelosi has been a terrible disappointment as the first woman Speaker.
Cuomo speaks.."rah rah".
Enough congressional democrats will ALWAYS run from a righteous fight, and into the welcoming arms of their "loyal opposition", to render all such rhetoric just so much hot air. Even those among them who know the score still refuse to damn the GOP as enemies of our Republic. When the chips are down on fundamental issues, the democratic party invariably folds.
"No lie, just fact".... Will Sonnet
justabill @ 39:
My wife and I were watching this live and as soon as Cuomo said this we looked at each other and said, "Yep, all four." I called it a "quadfectra".
kaT @ 51:
The Democrats are the worst, except for all the others in Congress. What's your choice? It's a 2 party country and will be for a long time to come. And the other guys have even fewer redeeming qualities.
Some of you young'uns might like to know that there actually was something called a Liberal Party in NY, even just a couple decades ago, which more often than not, endorsed the same candidates as the Democratic Party.
These days, the democratic party doesn't rate any capital letters.
.
I have always seen this invasion and occupation as a Constitutional issue. Sure, it's a moral issue too, underscored by it being a Constitutional issue. Many argue, agreeably so, that there have been war crimes committed.
Yea's in the face of Treason:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2002/roll455.xml
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm...
No where in the Constitution does it say Congress may give up the power of declaring war. The fact that a majority in Congress behave as if they believe that they are exempt from following the very document they swore to defend and support, should be no way, a deterrent to Truth and Justice.
This, will take a revolution.
We, The People, must be willing to face our Representatives. They need to understand that they ARE replaceable. I've faced mine down in a forum with this simple question: "How are you supporting and defending the Constitution of the U.S.A. when you tolerate and defend the usurpation and violation of the Constitution of the U.S.A. and the Laws derived from it?"
McDermott now supports Impeachment AND the Anti-war movement.
.
That was refreshing to watch :)
MARIO CUOMO FOR PRESIDENT & BILL BRADLEY FOR VP!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Cuomo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Bradley
Why did Cuomo never make a serious run? He has a great record and no skeletons in his closet that I know of. I think he and Bill Bradley would kick some serious butt running as independents!!!
kaT @ 51:
What kind of racist / religiously bigoted crap is that? Worried the brown skinned Papists are gonna get you?
It-za me, Mario!
add me to the list who would prefer Mario to any of the current Dem candidates. and it ain't even close.
As far as Iran is concerned, The Nation reports that Pelosi and the Democrats considered and then withdrew provisions requiring the President to come to Congress, giving the President a plausible rationale that Congressional approval isn't needed for war with Iran.
There may be an AIPAC factor at work here.
woodguy @ 55:
Bush is all of the above.
My wife and I were watching this live and as soon as Cuomo said this we looked at each other and said, "Yep, all four." I called it a "quadfectra".
As soon as he said "or he might be stupid" I about fell out of my chair.
fiver @ 61:
Thanks, fiver! Great questions. I was really wondering if kaT wasn't a troll or something.
Choked me UP!
This IS what it IS ALL ABOUT!
The Constitution of the United States of America.
Something we all forget from time to time and the people in power tend to forget ALL the time!
Canuknotusa @ 11:
I was going to come on here and make some kind of snarky remark about expecting to hear Marlon Perkins narrating this piece, as it is one of the last known sitings of an almost extinct species in the process of reverse evolution - Democraticus Vertabrinus - last seen somewhere during the Nixon hearings.
Glad to see someone else here beat me too it. Minus the extra points for the Marlon Perkins reference, of course.
I especially liked his reference to the Sureme Court not recusing itself in Gore v Bush in 2000 or in other words the year of the Supreme Judicial coup d'etat
There is no way that congress doesn't know they have been abdicating their responsibility. It can be nothing else but willful neglect of their duties. The question is how long the people will continue to let them get away with it.
On a side note. I hope C&L posts the Bill Mahr clip where the panel and the audience take Rham Emmanuel to the woodshed about cutting off funding. It was quite satisfying to watch the audience start shouting him down when he began peddling his weak excuses. It has never been so obvious that the democratic leadership is completely out of touch with the people, or at least ignoring them, which is just as bad.
http://rawstory.com//news/2007/Kucinich_seriously_thinking_about_forcing... DK talks about a vote to impeach Deadeye Dickhead Chainy.
Jo @ 66:
"I’ve always admired the no nonsense approach of Mario Cuomo."
H'yeah, me too.
WHERE HAS HE BEEN?
You know, Bushco didn't take over the country yesterday, but Mario Cuomo has been pulling the ultimate Bill Clinton -- OUT OF SIGHT, UNHEARD OF, HAS NOTHING TO SAY, DOESN'T NEED TO WORK FOR CHANGE.
Instead, now he has sprouted anew, as if none of it went down while he was SNOOZING.
And he also doesn't seem to be able to count the votes -- no wonder he is out of politics. Probably he's been growing green beans -- between his ears.
firstly, cuomo is too smart to ever run for prez, and thats why he chose not to and made way for clinton
secondly, what the fuck is tweety talking about? cuomo is not the first to note the constitutional role of the congress in regards to declaring war, or even noting that congress cowardly abdicated their role
tweetie needs to get out more
Cuomo: "This is an opportunity for the Democrats to show real leadership. And the presidential candidates should lead the way. And if they don't then the question is going to be, well, when it comes to improvident war making, why are you any better than Bush?"
From the debate at Dartmouth:
RUSSERT: You were in the Senate, and you take credit for stopping the draft.
If you were a senator right now, what advice would you give your colleagues still in Congress about how they can stop the war, even though they don't have enough votes to stop a debate or to override a
veto? What should they do?
GRAVEL: Well, the first thing, you stop the debate by voting every single day on cloture. Every day. Twenty days, and you'll overcome cloture.
The president vetoes the law. It comes back to the Congress. And in the House at noon every single day you vote to override the president's veto. And in 40 days, the American people will have weighed in, put the pressure on those.
You tell me that the votes aren't there -- you go get them by the scruff of the neck, that's what you do. You make them vote.
RUSSERT: Senator, are you suggesting that these candidates suspend their campaigns, go back to Washington, and for 40 consecutive days vote on the war?
GRAVEL: If it stops the killing, my God, yes, do it.
And, Tim, you're really missing something. This is fantasy land. We are talking about ending the war. My God, we're just starting a war right today. There was a vote in the Senate today. Joe Lieberman, who authored the Iraq resolution, has offered another
resolution and it is essentially a fig leaf to let George Bush go to war with Iran.
I want to congratulate Biden for voting against it, Dodd for voting against it.
And I am ashamed of you, Hillary, for voting for it. You're not going to get another shot at this because what happens if this war ensues, we invade, and they're looking for an excuse to do it. And Obama was not even there to vote.
--
I DARE ANYONE to say that Mike Gravel is "crazy". HE WAS THE SANEST ONE ON THE PLATFORM!
The useless line up of Democrats we have in congress, led by that scrawny, whiny mouth Harry Reid are no match for a man who has lived to kick some ass and who has the balls to do it again.
We're in for more bush war, folks.
Perhaps before our national prison sentence of 8 years is up we can truly say, "That's All Folks!". The good news, should the maladministrator take to war once again, is that Democrats may not have much left to govern.
I, [name], do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
The oath of allegiance taken by every member of congress and violated routinely by the majorities of both political parties. People who violate their oaths as a matter of daily business have no honor They consider oaths to be trivial or arcane rituals. Such people can never be trusted, nor should they ever hold any office of public trust.
It's like Mathews just got paroled out of a ten year prison term and discovered a ranking person to merit for what simple citizens have known since 911.
____________
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature,
nor do the children of men as a whole experience it.
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.
Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits
in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.
- Helen Keller
If Cuomo has even half the spine he seems to have, I'll take him over Pelosi as leader of the House any day.
And yes I realize he's not a congresscritter.
Otay @ 78:
Pelosi is a smart cookie. She says chimpeachment is off the tables but she and the rest of congress who are anti-war have contingency plans for cloture and sensure as well as the golden ring - chimpeachment neatly ready for to drop like the proverbial hammer upon the heads of this corrupt administration. You can bet on it! Take the winnings to the bank!
So..... why can none of these people in Washington understand this?? It's clear as a bell to me. I just an average guy and I get it.
The people that we elected do understand what Mario is saying and they agree that it is the right thing to do. But that doesn't stop them from putting personal agenda ahead of doing what is right for the country by the Constitution.
kaT @ 51:
And they're also after YOU!!! Run along and hide, like a good little boy. You're not safe, and may never will be.
I didn't watch the debate. I wont watch them. They are garbage because, a priori, I know for a fact that that only viable and correct candidates (Gravel, Kucinich, perhaps Dodd) are not going to be allowed by the Punditocracy to be the Dem candidates. The Dem party itself, and the DC Pundits have already declared Hillary to be the candidate regardless.
I also know a priori what everyone's answers to questions will be. I don't need to watch the debates to know that I will never ever ever vote for Hillary and never again call myself a Democrat or ever again give so much as a DIME to the Democrat party.
That long and ranting preamble completed, what was War Criminal Hillary's response to Gravel's factual declaration?
Where has this voice been for the past 5 years? It pisses me off that this voice, this logic, has not been heard by mainstream Americans or our so-called political leaders. It's tragic. We need to hear a lot more of this.
Mario IS spot on. So were a lot of other Dems, who then seemed to immediately forget their constitutional rolls upon being elected to office.
oops "roles"
OH YES, Mario. Tell the Congress what they should be doing.
If the Congress protects our Constitutional rights, they are doing their job.
If the Congress protects our Constitution, then history will see them as doing the right thing.
This administration has shredded the Constituion to fit their needs.
NO, NO, this is not what is supposed to happen.
We elect a body of people who are supposed to look after our rights.
Bush has been stripping us of our rights. Now, Congress must put a stop to this.
JM @ 85:
Couldn't agree more.
Unless US Americans figure out how to get "this voice" back into the mainstream of political dialogue, you are doomed as a free nation.
Doomed, I say.
tjb @ 34:
Thank you! This is exactly right. I even saw a t-shirt the other day that says basically the same thing. I think I want to buy some and send them to Congress, not for nothing! They've really infuriated me and clearly a whole lot of other people for their poll numbers to be so very low. I'm tired of waking up every day and wondering what rights will be newly taken from us or thrown away for the sheer hell of it, y'know?
Canuknotusa @ 89:
Free? It is already turning the corner from benign fascism. In the wrong direction, mind you.
Canuknotusa @ 89:
Don't worry. We're still free to be herded off into our free speech zones surrounded by riot police when we speak up. And free to be condemned by congress as radicals when we presume to criticize the mistruths of the Important People.
Wow! I don't care if Mario Cuomo has been MIA, this is powerful stuff. This boxing about the ears for Congress is long overdue. I see a yin and a yang at work here. Hillary is circumspect about keeping troops in Iraq but Bill comes out swinging about the MoveOn vote. Congress caves to the Republican screech machine on MoveOn but the Democrats come back on the back of the buffoon Rush Limbaugh. It takes a while to stop an out of control train but there is a glimmer that the brakes are beginning to heat up. Keep the foot on hard!
Oh that was refreshing! Like seeing the sun for the first time after years of cloudy skys.
Mario Cuomo would have been an awesome Supreme Court justice. The people of NY didn't know what they had when Mario was Governor; he got a lot of shit from the NY papers because he was a true intellectual, a real honest-to-God deep thinker. So they replaced him with the likes of George Pataki.
Lauren @ 6:
good for you , let her use the money she gets for selling us down the fuckling river!
Otay @ 78:
Pelosi has more spine than Cuomo any day of the week, as she has proven in twenty years of serving her district, and as minority leader and Speaker especially.
What you don't like is the vote count in the Senate, but you aren't clear enough to understand that. Pelosi does.
There are many things I don't like about Pelosi. And it has nothing to do with the Senate. Nice try though.
[...] Crooks and Liars » Hardball: Mario Cuomo Describes Congress As Abdicating Their Constitutional Duti... One of the most Constitutional liberals alive. This is an excellent history lesson…listen carefully. (tags: Constitution) [...]
Mario Cuomo made the same point Ron Paul was making on the floor of the house back in 2002/2003
Welcome back Mario!
Otay @ 98:
It has everything to do with the Senate. You really think it's good for the country to have the Congress start an impeachment that has no successful conclusion? You obviously have no idea about the danger of such a tactic.
Whether or not you like her is moot. You slander her and don't have any specifics on which to base your slander, except for the stupid idea of turning the Congress over to a year-long failed impeachment, to make you happy. I'm glad she isn't as foolish as you.
justabill @ 2:
The pity of it is that Gov. Cuomo can try to explain it to congress till he's blue in the face; the sad truth is that nobody in congress will either UNDERSTAND his message OR have the guts ACT on it.
Scoobysnacks to Gov. Cuomo for GETTING IT and having the courage to speak out so succinctly!!! He goes right to the top of my list of heroes.
What a great president he would make!! Can we do a write-in vote for him????
just another bozzo @ 17:
What a sad, pathetic bozo you are, to allow the sound of Gov. Cuomo's voice (which sounded just fine to me, btw.) to prejudice you from voting for a man who is sentient and courageous. No wonder our country is down the crapper, with people who reason(?) like YOU, you clown!!!
If only you had a brain.
Responsible leadership from the corporatists? From Pelosi? From Hoyer? From Reid? From the media-appointed "Top 3"? These people are so gutless, such unprincipled moral cowards. I've heard the right thing only from Kicinich and Dodd.
I hope Kucinich will consider Kuomo as a running mate.
On what basis do you claim that Speaker Pelosi is a 'corporatist'?
Rep. Pelosi hasn't voted for any of this Iraq nightmare. She is independently wealthy as a result of her husband's real estate sales in wine country. She is a grandmother with a big family, the daughter of the Mayor of Baltimore. NONE of that upbringing had to do with selling out to large corporations, nossir.
You're slinging slander around because you presume highly negative things about public servants who are WILLING to work through the insanity that is the United States Congress in the midst of a coup. Because you don't accept history. You pretend that the US Congress has been PERFECT before lately. Or that somehow Pelosi stands up and proclaims 'stop the madness' (which she actually has), and suddenly the entire military-industrial complex will grind to a halt.
It's a CANARD. You are lucky to have Speaker Pelosi, the most progressive Speaker in my long lifetime, the first woman Speaker, who became minority leader in 2002 by leading sixty percent of House Democrats in voting NAY on the Iraq Resolution.
The Speaker is simply not free to talk like Rep. Kucinich. She is not free to announce impeachments SHE KNOWS CAN'T BE COMPLETED.
You're blaming her for that because you prefer a scapegoat, to actually accepting our very dangerous situation as NOT her fault, and not simply a matter to be solved by you snapping your fingers with derision.
Mathews doesn't keep up with Ron Paul, he has been saying these same things for a very long time and he is running for President. I don't agree on some things Senator Paul stands for but he is by far the most honest and adheres to the constitution more than any other Senator ever!
I personally don't see any way of getting out of Iraq and avoiding a confrontation with Iran. There's too much at stake to just walk away. I wasn't for the invasion, I protested against it but now we are stuck, for a very long time. None the less, if Congress doesn't bring the people into the debate about any military action on a large scale, against any country in the future, including Iran, then it's certain they are signing their pink slips, no matter who they are. Pay close attention, see who screaming for War Authorization and who isn't.
Paul in LA If your comment is directed towards me I take umbrage at that. I call bullshit on anyone who will not stop this run away train before the total crash into Iran. Where in the hell do you get the fact it has to take a year to impeach? If it gets to the senate and doesn"t reach conviction well we will know for whom the pitchforks point. God you are lucky the patroits who risked their HONOR didn't think like that.
Will someone please explain Cuomo's remarks to Nancy Pelosi. She just doesn't seem to get it.
Well done Mr. Cuomo. All Americans, including members of Congress, need to see this video. I believe all members of Congress, once they're elected, should be required to attend to class on the Constitution. Sadly, it seems they either didn't learn it to begin with or have forgotten. I'm quickly becoming disillusioned with the Dems for NOT standing up to this administration the way they should. I'm deeply fearful of what Bush has in store for Iran, as we all should be. We're hearing the same old sabre rattling. This resolution is a back door way of linking Iran to Bush's never ending "war on terror" and opening up another front. It would be a catastrophe beyond imagination. George Bush should have been impeached long ago. He's a tyrant, hell bent on doing what he wants, no matter the consequences. I don't know why after the election they every thought he would play nice. He's flat out dangerous.
Mr. Cuomo, sir:
You are absolutely CORRECT. And that IS the struggle WE the PEOPLE find ourselves in....REMINDING the CONGRESS of their DUTY and their OATH in OFFICE to preserve and defend the CONSITTUTION of OUR NATION. It is a DISRESPECT to NOT abide by the CONSTITUTION and WRONG for the SPEAKER of the HOUSE to make an ARBITRARY decision to keep IMPEACHMENT "off-the-table" when it is CLEAR that IMPEACHMENT is the REMEDY to remove an out-of control PRESIDENT. To argue that CONGRESS does NOT HAVE the VOTE and IMPRACTICAL, is ludicrous. The CONSITITUION is set in STONE and should not be COMPROMISED, changed or enforced only when it is CONVENIENT.
Our ancestors have fought hard and some have sacrificed their lives to protect and preserve this IMPORTANT document for 220 years and NOW it is being figuratively being shredded, demeaned, denigrate as a worthless piece of obsselete paper. Is that what WE will teach our children? Is that what we show respect for our history and our founding fathers? NO NO NO NO NO!
BUSH has taken our history for GRANTED. He has no regards but for his OWN. And many are complicits to his ACTIONS. Its time to bring back ORDER to our dysfunctional government.
I usually reserve some degree of respect for my President even when I see my president as less than perfect giving the benefit of the doubt that a president is human just like everyone.
But I must admit, I HAVE LOST ALL my respect for this BUSH. He is not worthy of my respect after what he has DONE to our NATION, OUR PEOPLE, and the IMPACT his actions had on the REST OF THE WORLD. I am ASHAMED of HIM. I am ASHAMED at the CONGRESS for their part and role in allowing HIM to CONTINUE to RIP us apart to OUR FACES when they KNOW in fact that there IS a REMEDY. BUT they chose to support Speaker Pelosi's call to defy the power of IMPEACHMENT..
It is BUSH's WAR is her CALL. BUT she ALLOWED it to CONTINUE and that makes her complicit. And NOW she OWN it TOO.
Paul in LA @ 102:
The only one who looks foolish here is the one jumping to conclusions on why I don't like Nancy, and that I don't have specifics. She has engendered many reasons for progressives to disappointed with her built up over the years of her "leadership". Sorry I'm not a fanboy.
Ron Paul has made this same point many times over! Still, its nice to see this important issue validated in the media by others as well. I hope the public focuses on this issue.
tjb @ 108:
Indeed. The founders originally intended impeachment to be a duty - something you have to try for if the president is not doing his/her job. They also considered it would be common and used for any provocation by the president. Kind of like prosecuting a crime, where a prosecutor has a duty to try a crime if he has evidence, whether or not he thinks the jury is biased.
One thing Pelosi and Reid are completely clueless about is that they think by doing nothing, or going along with the Repugs, they will not only keep their base support, but gain the support of the wingnut faction. Or "build a coalition" among the wingnuts to vote for the Dem legislation.
The problem with this is that their base wants action and strength (not pussy-footing). And the wingnuts, even if they were willing to change support to the Dems (which is not going to happen), despise weakness. And the Repug congresscritters are playing the Dems for fools - they will never build a coalition.
This is why congressional approval ratings are dropping like a stone - nobody, base, undecideds or wingnuts, likes weakness or gullible losers. So they are losing the support of everyone, making their future prospects even more bleak.
But watch them continue to listen to the beltway concern trolls. And snatch more defeats from the jaws of victory.
That's why I'm voting for true conserative ron paul (not dennis, the democrats have truly lost it big time, why can't they do the right thing and that is called impeachment.
If it was OK to impeach clinton for fibbing about an event that only embarrassed his family and some politicians and spoiled a dress, why is not ok to impeach the whole bush crime family for deceiving us into this iraq costing so many thousands of lives.
Gravel speaks the truth, if democrats do not fight against the bush regime, they will lose in 2008 in both the white house & the congress and so far, he is right.
Cuomo well illustrates the importance of the oath -- it binds people to act when it is difficult. The oath is a good "excuse" to do the "difficult" thing: Impeach, and end funding for illegal activity.
This is an excuse for inaction and malfeasance, not governance:
Congress, by saying it is too "difficult" to do something is really admitting, "We are reckless, negligent, and have violated their oath of office." Time to prosecute them. All voting inputs have proved meaningless. They had their chance. Let's get prosecutions going.
Cuomo is correct and I agree with his descirption of presented facts.
The problem is that the American people are noot accepting their role and duty.
I suggest that Many Ameicans do not pay attention are disenfranchized from citezenry duty, and are ill informed. But that is changing. Very slowly, but it is changing..
Options @ 118:
They are also saying they are incapable of taking responsibility. Pelosi played into that meme when she said "the Republicans own the war now" (or words to that effect). The problem is the Dems are a majority and the citizenry can see the Dems are caving to fund the war, not to mention not even trying to stop the war. So this is a pathetic excuse. What Pelosi is really saying is that the Dems do not have the strength of character to toughen up, take responsibility for past failures in going along with the Repugs, and play hardball. And they are saying they are afraid of the words the Repubs might use against them in the media if they did not fund the war, yet won't even bother making a case to the public not to fund the war.
So they go along with the Repugs, vote their way, and hope that they won't share the blame for going along with the Repugs. Fat chance.
tjb @ 108:
The prerogatives by the complicit Senators are almost endless. If you don't know that the impeachment, even if begun, would not succeed either through a run-out of the clock or via simple obstructionism, then you simply don't grasp the design of the Senate.
If you think you need to know "where the pitchforks point," then you aren't paying attention. It's OBVIOUS. The Speaker knows for sure these facts -- she is not free to simply bumble ahead on the hopes and ignorance you may seem to operate upon.
That's hilarious vagueness of the sort you specialize in.
Apparently, you didn't study the career of the former minority leader Gephardt, or the previous Speaker, Gingrich.
If you insist on having no perspective, you can crucify Christ for failing to pay his parking tickets on time. And even feel justified with hating the scoundrel.
Otay @ 120:
That's falsehood. The House has not "gone along with the Repugs" in any significant way you can name.
You expect perfection from democracy, apparently because you are perfect.
Options @ 118:
How would you do that?
Before you can have ANY prosecutions, you have to have an AG who will allow special prosecutors.
The Dem Congress has removed the crony AG and about 20 of his cohorts. The DoJ has been exposed as rigged by Bushco, and much of the damage has been D&C'd. Do Dems get any credit for that nine month effort? No -- far easier to call for prosecutions that have ZERO method attached.
Very much like the impeachment idealism -- a procedure which has NEVER worked, and which won't work now, because Bushco has at least sixty Senators in their pocket, and they only need thirty-four.
Afi K. James @ 116:
Rep. Ron Paul calls for impeachment -- but as a REPUBLICAN he could file a bill of impeachment, and it would probably reach the floor.
Why hasn't Ron Paul put his legislative pen to work holding his pants up?
Rep. Paul's accomplishments in Congress are as VACANT as Rep. Kucinich. Mostly they talk tough, and you buy that.
Wow. A Democrat who actually thinks things what is happening to our country and who has a spine. Before I get my hopes up, I remember: Cuomo is not a member of Congress and is not running for president, so we're still left with the spineless, "afraid of the Republican spin machine" Democrats who are. I need a drink.
Paul in LA @ 123:
Nowhere near perfect. Usually I am a kind person, but I know how, and when, to play hardball. The problem is Dems think they have to be "perfect" and "take the high road". They do not know how to play hardball, and apparently don't know a thing about game theory.
And yes the House has gone along with the Repugs: on Lieberputz/Kyl, on FISA, on the ridiculous MoveOn condemnation, on funding Iraq. I could go on and on, but I would not be saying anything everyone does not already know.
If my team received a job approval rating in the teens I would fully expect to be fired. No questions asked.
Paul in LA @ 122:
Hilarious vagueness? Ask many people here and on other progressive blogs what they think of Pelosi and Reid's leadership. You will find many people disappointed - a kind word to put it to say the least.
Yeah, it's a good thing someone FINALLY brought up the Constitution and the fact that it's the responsibility of the Congress to declare war. It's not like Ron Paul has been saying that for years every time he gets a chance or anything...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EywYDhPeY8
Obvious question? What do we (the common folks) do when we have a rouge "president" and a derilict, spineless congress and we cant afford to wait until the next election (because it may be too late by then).
What the fuck do we do? Does the constitution (or the ammendments) offer a solution for that problem?
Otay @ 127: "And yes the House has gone along with the Repugs: on Lieberputz/Kyl,"
A Senate resolution that did not get one vote in the House. I wonder why?
"on FISA,"
A six-month sunseted bill which expires in a few months, because the full-rewrite of FISA wasn't ready yet. And, btw, there would be no FISA Act if not for DEMOCRATS.
"on the ridiculous MoveOn condemnation,"
Which made Moveon a lot of money, and did nothing to change anything otherwise.
"on funding Iraq."
No, we passed meaningful withdrawal tied to those funds, and it was vetoed. That's not 'going along with R,' that's fighting back but not having enough votes to overcome a veto.
You still haven't produced the evidence for your statements.
Otay @ 112: "Ask many people here and on other progressive blogs what they think of Pelosi and Reid's leadership."
Progressives? Speaker Pelosi is the first progressive Speaker in US history.
Asking disaffiliated leftists what they think of Democrats -- wow, what a waste of time.
Speakers in my lifetime:
Sam Rayburn
John McCormack
Carl Alpert
Tip O'Neill
Newt Gingrich
Dennis Hastert
Nancy Pelosi
Now, if you can look at that list and PRETEND that Speaker Pelosi is not the most progressive Speaker in the last 50 years (in fact, the only progressive in US history), and if you can pretend that you aren't VASTLY better off under Pelosi than Gingrich or Hastert, then you are simply delusional.
But for you, there is no history. There is no past. There's just perfection, and you want it now.
Sorry, I left out Jim Wright and Tom Foley (insert before Gingrich).
Jim Wright was removed by the efforts of Newt Gingrich.
Tom Foley is now the head of the Trilateral Commision.
Neither would have been members of the Progressive Caucus.
Excellent job, Gov. Cuomo. I fervently wish that those in Congress could understand these simple, fundamental truths and their responsibility to us, as citizens, to uphold the Consitution, especially in matters of war.
Thank you for speaking out!
Paul in LA @ 131:
I see you do not understand hardball. Hardball is refusing to submit an Iraq funding bill to begin with. Hardball is NOT allowing a vote, not to mention not voting, for temporary passage of an illegal bill (FISA). Hardball is not voting to call the hand that feeds you (MoveOn) a "radical left" movement and condemning it's free-speech rights for saying what most Americans agree with. All of this only plays into the bigger narrative being advanced by the Repugs - that the Dems are little more than a bunch of pussy-whipped spineless cretins. Adding to that is when the Dem congresscritters tell the press that they are opposed to the netroots for not being "centrist" enough (translation: they are too representative of 70% of the population and not enough of the far right). And congresscritters who tell the press that they are angry with their base for the same.
The biggest problem right now, which you seem oblivious to, is that the congresscritters listen to the beltway concern trolls and follow their advice, rather than following what 70% of the population wants. This is why they are losing political power, losing the muscle to ever conduct investigations, losing support from the people. This is why approval dips down into the 11% category.
But go ahead and praise them all you want. You may get a few converts, but you are not going to get their approval rate back up over 30%. Only they can do that by their "leaders" taking a strong stand. And leading.
Otay @ 136: "I see you do not understand hardball. Hardball is refusing to submit an Iraq funding bill to begin with."
The minority could fund the war themselves.
"Hardball is NOT allowing a vote, not to mention not voting, for temporary passage of an illegal bill (FISA)."
Such hardball is NEVER coming from the Democrats. And you lot don't have ANY representatives, so until you can elect your benigh Gingrichlike dictator, go fish.
Approval of the Congress is, surprise surprise, primarily due to bad news coverage.
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