Sunday, September 8, 2013

On Syria, It's Time for Congress to Remember Who They Represent


"Speaking as a child of the 90's
JUST SAY NO to bombing Syria."
NO WAR
Rally against U.S. military intervention in Syria - Chicago - September 7, 2013
(Image courtesy FJJ)


People nationwide are sending a loud and clear message to Congress: no U.S. military intervention in Syria.

But that's just part of the job.

Even though there is overwhelming opposition by the people to U.S. military intervention in Syria, and that should be enough to tell Congress to vote overwhelmingly against it, there is still risk that Congress will ignore what their constituents are telling them.

That's why it's essential that we demand our members of Congress get on the record now about the opposition to U.S. military intervention in Syria that they are registering from their districts.


@repmikequigley what level of constituent opposition r u getting
2 military action against #Syria? 80%? 90%?


How about a simple Twitter campaign? Just about every member of Congress has a Twitter account. Here's a chance to put those accounts to work in the service of real democracy. For instance . . .
@RepMikeQuigley what's the level of constituent opposition you're getting to military action against #Syria? 80% ? 85% ? 90% ?
Members face a lobbying blitz by the White House and AIPAC. Maybe the best thing they could do for themselves right now is get on the record about the level of opposition they are facing from people in their districts. Doing so today will make it a little easier for them to honor the wishes of their constituents when the pressure from administration officials and lobbyists gets really heavy.

Let there be no misunderstanding: there will be consequences if members of Congress turn their back on the express instructions of constituents. Now's the time to make that clear.

2014 Midterms
There will be consequences

Read about the whole Illinois Congressional delegation.




Related posts

Yesterday, as all the other senators sat patiently through the obfuscation of Barack Obama's Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse -- Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Martin Dempsey -- Rand Paul gave 'em hell.
"Stand up for us and say you’re going to obey the Constitution and if we vote you down — which is unlikely, by the way — you would go with what the people say through their Congress and you wouldn’t go forward with a war that your Congress votes against."

(See Obama's Syria "Vote" in Congress: Democracy? or Theater? )


People in Illinois made it clear they didn't want an attack on Syria.  Based on what I was able to detect, some representatives in Congress were listening, and some weren't:


WAR RESISTER - 2
Looks Strong -7
Question Mark - 4
Looks Weak - 3
WAR HAWK - 2




There are three centers of power that will impact nuclear disarmament: the President, the Congress, and the people. One of them will have to make nuclear disarmament happen.

(See Countdown to U.S. Nuclear Disarmament (With or Without the Politicians) )

No comments:

Post a Comment