Gary Ackerman, of course, managed to avoid military service during the Vietnam War, but is not shy in demanding that others risk life and limb.  Concerns for the United States do no bother him.  Lives and sanity of Americans assigned to expose themselves to danger for his country, Israel, have finally found a worthwhile purpose in life

That his ambitions are abetted by mental sluggards such as Pence only illustrates our precarious position.

I do not have a dog in this fight and so generally disdain to comment on it, but I cannot help expressing my amusement at the legislators’ insistence that the US government impose “stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran.” Last I heard, we could not even do that on our own borders, much less those of some sovereign nation half a world away.

Why don’t those fine ladies and gentlemen rouse themslves to pay attention to matters closer to home and grant federal judges a pay raise? I do have a dog in that fight.

Mr. Jones’ point that the United States can hardly defend our own borders is well taken.  Yet his assertion that he has no dog in this fight is more than a little upsetting.

Anything that causes the Middle East and its oil to be affected by rash military action will have tremendous repercussions in this country.  Iran with missiles manned by Russians would be a formidable enemy, and this possibility does exist.  Putin and his country have a great interest in high energy prices.

Woody, great point on contrasting congressional attitudes towards inspecting everything going into or out of Iran versus the US.

Any congressman who supported this resolution should have that same question posed to them.

It’s not insane mass murdering immoral stupidity and ignorant plan but something clever the lads in Jerusalem have come up with. We need to draft millions to invade everyplace these people want to occupy. We have millions of illegals who would sign up to get their papers. We dump them into Afghanistan, Iraq, Georgia, invade Iran and Russia, the world economy collapses, and all of the illegals are trapped in Asia with worthless money and no way back to the states. We can roll up the ones that are left and dump them over the border. Other then the depression it seems like a master stroke to solve the immigration problem since there won’t be any jobs left for people to sneak in the country to get by then. And gas will be so expensive, once they got over the border they would need to walk to the breadlines. Assuming there is any bread available since Cargil and ADM are making ethanol.

I have a theory, and my theory is:
Every person, beginning in 1932 who has reached a position of influence in the government, from the president on down has had their brain sucked out immediately upon taking office and taking their first nap, and their brains are replaced by a tiny radio-control unit, that Someone controls. Sort of like ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’, but hi-tech.

People got it all wrong. Israel is not America’s 51st state. I don’t even know why Zionists want Jerusalem as “their undivided capital.” The Big Bagel, as Taki is fond of calling New York, is already Israeli occupied territory.

Any fair reading of HCR 362 debunks the notion that has it as a “virtual war resolution.” Regrets.

It is, foremost, a nonbinding and concurrent resolution and thus accords Bush the leverage to do absolute squat in the middle east and, two, it creates no law, legislation or authority for him to step anywhere near Iran.

Where you are correct is by intoning that it’s an AIPAC thumbprint and a regurgitated congressional echo from AIPAC puppets. I’m too lazy to look, but it would be my guess that Ackerman-the bill’s main sponsor-likely has AIPAC DNA all over his political rear-end.

Still, is it not better to submit and stress detailed economic pressures (which, in the abstract, are the resolution’s essence)on Iran than to tacitly grant the Bush-Cheney cabal the license of war by, instead, playing opossum?

I think we’ve learned by now that an acquiescent and lobotomized democratic congress fast transforms this administration into Machiavelli’s Prince.

The bill calls for a blockade of Iran. If the Iranians resist then there is an excuse to start shooting up the place. Bush and Cheney have been trying to provoke them for years. Nasty Pelosi is where she is because the Democrats said they would stop the war. Something supported by the majority of the citizens. The Dems have since gone to AIPAC gatherings and pledged their loyalty to Israel. The Democratic and Republican leadership of this country are pushing close to treason, putting the national interest of Israel ahead of the US.

It is really galling to hear talking heads say its ok because we have a “special” relationship with Israel. I assume that means our so-called leaders are all God’s Special Children and Isreal our caretaker. It seems pretty obvious when Bush tries to talk. .

@resh:

Sir, I may be misunderstanding the issue, and have not read HR362, but would counterpose two thoughts:

First, the Bush Administration believes that the AUMF provides all the justification necessary to pursue action against any and all people, organizations, states or actors the president sees fit.  Congress defeated a proposed bill to require the administration to contact, consult with and receive approval from Congress before instigating military action against Iran.

Finally, a blockade is an act of war.

Thus, the president believes he has the inherent authority, backed by the congressional AUMF, and further supported by a “sense of the Congress” resolution.

Regards,

Italic text

There is thus no imminent crisis to justify war on Iran.

There’s never been an imminent crisis justifying any of the Bush Administration’s savage intiatives in the Mideast - Congress knows that. Our Beltway elite are working in concert with their Israeli handlers to trap us into yet another blood-drenched disaster in the region. Once the first shot is fired, the first bomb dropped, we’ll have to fight. The window for making choices will be closed. We’ll be facing enraged, vengeful enemies that were never, really, our own.

That’s the idea. We will be there a hundred years. Or - more likely - see the end of the American democratic experiment, a Constitution shredded to obviate a war state, and fortuned sucked away.

You know what? Maybe that’s the idea, as well…

“But the juice behind them is that of the Israeli lobby AIPAC, which is marching in step with Israel.”

Pat seems to dislike juices; I wonder why.

Mr. Buchanan understands that juice doesn’t at all agree with our American constitution.  Too much of the juice has poisoned many a nation!

Refreshingly, the folks on this forum, far as I can tell, have too much insight and intellectual integrity to engage in false argument; thus, comments such as those below are awry:

-"The bill calls for a blockade of Iran.”

- “First, the Bush Administration believes that the AUMF provides all the justification necessary to pursue action against any and all people, organizations, states or actors the president sees fit.”

- “Finally, a blockade is an act of war.

I beg those who seek to debate and dissect HCR 362 to at least read it. No where in the resolution is the word BLOCKADE even mentioned. No where. There’s a request for
inspection requirements of goods, cargo and bodies, etc., entering or exiting Iran, but that request extends to trains and planes in the same vein as proximate ships. Thus, would this putative and imaginary blockade equally extend to the omnipresent railways and skies of the world, which also help “export” to Iran?

The proposition is absurd. The expressed “inspection requirement” clause is simply meant to seek in a multilateral(worldwide)sense toward Iran what is already being done in many countries toward other dubious regimes: i.e., double-check AT MANIFOLD POINTS OF EXPORT(and it could be Canada, for god’s sake) any products headed toward, in this case, Iran. So enough of the “blockade” strawman, please.

One more minor detail: there’s an explicit statement in the resolution that denies any right or power to employ force. Period.

Point two: The AUMF. Clearly, Bush would use any device within arm’s length of legality to exercise his Sharansky-esque worldview. Unfortunately, the AUMF invites that and more, including having the paradoxical virtue (for Bush)of constitutional ambiguity and, worse, of being legally buttressed whenever those House and Senate dopes...including Obama...sign off on additional war funding. The AUMF thereby obtains a tacit approval in perpetuity.

There’s some good news, however. The AUMF also mandates a pretty explicit nexus to 911 and to terrorists (and oragnizations) thereof. It has a shelf life. And while few would doubt that the Iranian mullahcracy has its share of terrorists, it strains credulity to link Shia with Sunni (say Hezbollah v. al Qaeda) in this instance (recalling that most of the 911 crowd were Sunni/Wahhabists from S.A.) Moreover, the SCOTUS did reject-or constrain-the blanket use of AUMF in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (as it will untimately do if FISA ever arrives at the Supreme Court.)

Those two elements in mind, even Bush’s dogs of war would find difficulty in using the AUMF to tackle Iran.

I have noticed, that anyone even speaks of AIPAC the American Isreali Jewish Lobby is a
new development; that is to say that it is ‘allowed,’ by Jews. So therefore that must
mean in allowing it, they know they have american blood and treasure already
wrapped up to be used to launch their putsch against Iran. Wouldn’t it then be more
prudent to accept their control as a *given and begin to discuss it and deconstruct it
in that context, like they deconstructed your culture and system initially in
manipulating it to their own ends and purposes? They don’t care anymore that you know
the reailty, so you can only change it by doing likewise and in a similar manner what
has been done to yourselves.

No where in the resolution is the word BLOCKADE even mentioned.

Why… you’re RIGHT! That absence of specific terminology proves 362 is nothing more than a gentle love tap, a sweet bon mot for the Tehran intractables. Like… we can rest assured the administration never condoned torture - because the word was never mentioned in a White House document. WHEW! Guess we can all sleep at night, again.

But before we get all bunched-up and turned around by yet another Zionist troll, let’s examine the actual language of 362 - shall we?

“...The president (shall) initiate an international effort to immediately and dramatically increase the economic, political, and diplomatic pressure on Iran to verifiably suspend its nuclear enrichment activities by, inter alia, prohibiting the export to Iran of all refined petroleum products; imposing stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran; and prohibiting the international movement of all Iranian officials not involved in negotiating the suspension of Iran’s nuclear program.”

We cut off the gas and frisk everyone going in and out. Oh… and none of that diplomatic immunity nonsense. The envoys may say something that reveals human tendencies. Don’t want that. No nation could acquiesce to such an international bitch-slap - and remain a sovereign nation.

Nice try - but we’ve been punked too often to buy crap like your’s. Try preaching it to the Weekly Standard crowd. They’ll probably fling their underwear on stage.

Go Pat Go!

Great piece, Pat! Tom Powers has an excellent article in the July 17th New York Review of Books called “Iran: The Threat” and all those following this story should read it.

Iran poses no threat to the US, or even to Israel for that matter.  The Iranian people want an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, but so do hundreds of millions of other people all around the planet.

Given that half of all political contributions to Democratic politicians in the US are made by Jews, the knee-jerk and fatuous resolution pending in the House is to be expected.

Howdy SFCurt-

AIPAC troll? Hehe. That’s a first. Are they now recruiting non-Jewish, irreligious, anti Israeli- lobby types (of German descent, no less)? Hell, I don’t even like bagels. Moreover, they’re now recruiting folks who caustically depict sponsors of their esoteric legislation as having AIPAC DNA on their asses(see my first post)? News to me.

Look, I’m sorry that your prior liminal experiences in the E-abyss leave you with AIPAC algae in your cereal. But when youre done with the compelling jejunity, do let us know how HCR 362 authorizes a blockade. Something beyond tinkertoys. Maybe I misread the difficult sentence that exclaims how HCR 362 is not intended in any way to authorize force against Iran. Perhaps you can spin that sentence into a battlecry.

Indeed, this spineless piece of polemic begs the Bush hawks to engage an “international pressure” to blah, blah, blah.... International pressure? Too funny. The frickin’ Eurowimps wouldnt seriously threaten or pressure Iran if Hezbollah was sleeping with their in-laws.

So get back to me on whence this mighty and duplicitous war resolution. I need to get word to my secret likudnik lovers that the fix is in.

Ooo… So you got a thesaurus for… Arbor Day? Now I’m intimidated!

Quote: “That’s the idea. We will be there a hundred years. Or - more likely - see the end of the American democratic experiment, a Constitution shredded to obviate a war state, and fortune sucked away.

You know what? Maybe that’s the idea, as well…

Posted by San Fernando Curt on Jul 16, 2008 (end Quote)

Yes our enemies the zionists and by proxy the jews now, who always support their own as
a tribal response have no allegiance to the u.s. or our constitution but rather of
course to their own narrative their own culture.

They are formidable and do think quite a number of moves ahead strategically. Their
culture isn’t Christian and so when they pause at the conceptual level (i.e. we’re all
conceptual creatures) theirs is a ‘putsch’ culture which informs them they are always
under threat and so must be the aggressors even if in being so it is advantageous to
appear the victim. There’s enormous power in the victim Role; no power in being the
Actual victim.

So obviously as a Christian nation we are being SUCKED dry and once they have complete
perhaps irreversible control of this nation/land mass, then deals with other nations like
Russia etc. Whomever it is advantageous to have a temporary relationship with for geo-
political reasons with concern about Israel as the hub and focal point of policy would
be on the table (if they aren’t already?). It’s not even really betrayal of ‘us’ or the
u.s. as it is today or was in the recent past. It’s simply a natural act in behalf of
another culture and people at the expense of us, the host. I say the host since we and
our christian culture is in fact in the vast majority, at least numerically. We are the
Actual victims and thus we have relatively little power.

In nature what is happening to us is also called ‘aggressive mimicry’ - when one similar
species but not identical - mingles with and mimics another for the intended purpose of
domination. It’s natural. It’s nothing new.

Apparently they’re actually going to pull it off. What power on earth at this point can
stop them?

Actually, jeff w., the forces besetting our culture cross a lot of ethnic and religious boundaries, as well as those political and economic. We define our nemeses so exclusively at the price of our own foresight and capability to respond.

And… if worse comes to worst, our own humanity.

don’t outsmart yourself sf - enemies come along one by
one (if and when they do) and should be dealt with as such.
don’t be a wooosie, right? christians don’t remember christ said
turn the other cheek once, not become a doormat. otherwise it’s
inferred you enjoy it.

you know the card carrying masochist don’t you. it reads: ‘in case
of accident, please leave me be and let me enjoy it.’

ok sf- i’ll let’ya enjoy it.

Rockwell is right. The editors’ apology is as feeble and transparent as Andre Serrano’s for “Piss Christ”: a protest against the commercialization of religious art. All the blah-blah is just another dive into the well of cultural politics to retrieve a dead cat.