THIS is the article we need to get out to the American people! . . .

it seems obvious that the corporate media won't be disseminating this news release far and wide . . . or even covering it at all . . .

but someone should . . . maybe the other progressive sites can pick up on it? . . .

May 5, 2006

DeFazio Sends Letter Directing Bush to Get Congressional Authorization Before Military Strikes on Iran

News from the offices of Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR):

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Congressman Peter DeFazio organized a bipartisan group of 62 members of Congress to send a letter to President Bush today calling on him to seek congressional approval before making any preemptive military strikes against Iran.

When Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was White House Counsel, he came up with a novel legal theory that the president can take whatever military action he wants without getting prior authorization from Congress," DeFazio said. "My letter calls on the president to follow the law as set by Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution and get authorization from Congress before taking military action against Iran. Members of the House of Representatives have been elected by their constituents to participate in major decisions like initiating military strikes against other countries, and it is an injustice to the American people to deny them that prerogative. Our founders intentionally put the responsibility for deciding whether to send our troops into battle into the hands of the Congress because they did not want the president to have the power of a king. The president saying otherwise does not make it so."

Recent news reports, including a report by Seymour Hersh, who won a Pulitzer Prize for uncovering the My Lai massacre, have indicated the administration is planning a military action against Iran.

"DeFazio also introduced a resolution, H. Con. Res. 391, on April 26 that expresses the sense of the Congress that the president cannot initiate military action against Iran without congressional authorization.

The text of the letter to the president is included below:
http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/06/05/ale06050.html"

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this news release isn't just a warning to BushCo! . . . it's intended for a much wider audience, i.e. the American public . . .

READ IT! . . . this is as much a civics lesson as it is an intra-governmental communique . . . the signers are trying to educate/re-educate Americans about the Constitution, and who has the Constitutional power to do what . . .

and, more importantly, who doesn't have the Constitutional power to do what . . .

this release is far more than it may seem at first glance -- and the corporate media knows that . . . that's why we won't be seeing any extended discussions of this release or of what may well be THE most critical issue facing us at the moment -- a potential attack on Iran, possibly (probably?) including the used of nuclear "bunker buster" weapons . . .

most people will never even see this release . . . those who get their news from tv and newspapers especially won't be able to read it, consider it, and decide for themselves how Iran should be handled . . . and who should do the handling . . .

but this release MUST be widely distributed, widely read, and widely discussed . . .

and if the so-called MSM won't make it happen, we'll have to . . .

or it won't happen at all . . .

This might need some kicking during the day shift.

is will bush* pay attention to it? will a REPUBLICAN congress follow through with it or will they continue to abdicate their responsibilites and continue rubber-stamping

who signed onto it. Bipartisan! I doubt Bush will read it, or if he does, that he will heed what it says. But it does give me some hope that if Bush decided to drop bombs on Iran, these people will kick his sorry fucking ass from here to Georgia and back.

:applause:

a couple months ago, and was totally impressed.

he was plain-spoken, funny, and had total command of the facts. he had the talent of explaining complicated issues in a simple and entertaining way.

He's got a political future if he wants it...

I just had the pleasure to vote for him again in the Oregon primary.

nothing stops George Bush from doing what he wants. Until the majority in Congress reclaim their oversight role and begin to work for the people instead of the party, Bush will probably continue behaving like a dictator.

Congress needs to start performing their duty as they swore an oath to do.

...that our government has already been compromised by foreign interests. The people who pay for access here don't recognize our rule of law; and therefore -- the leaders they buy don't acknowledge it either. Business is business.

Some folks "Do-buy" a port contract.

If it were actually asked to do so again, I do not doubt that such authorization would get wide bipartisan backing.

How many voted against the "Iran Freedom Support Act"? Only 21 House Members. I expect Only 40 or so would vote against actually going to war.

It is "a steppingstone to war," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, during the debate over the so-called Iran Freedom Support Act, and if this vote is any measure of the degree of congressional opposition to the looming prospect of war with Tehran, then we have a lot to worry about.

The idiocy of our government scares me more and more each day.

get this out to the American people . . . if this release were widely disseminated, we'd have a lot more people calling and writing their representatives and demanding that BushCo be stopped . . . the reason it's not happening yet is that people don't know! . . .

because of his respect for the constitution. GWbabyshit has already declared his opinion of the constitution, he considers it something to wipe his often punched ass with. These "leaders" don't give a hoot what anyone thinks or what the law is, or what jebus says.
Lookit, GWbutwipe is out of control and will do whatever he sees fit, he is the "decider" after all.

this letter is directed more to us than to Bush . . .

DeFazio no doubt KNOWS that BushCo will ignore him . . . that's why he constructed this as a civics lesson -- to educate/re-educate Americans about their Constitution and who has the power to do what . . .

because we're the ones who have to stop BushCo . . .

it's up to us netroots to find ways to get it out there for people to read, however . . . because you can be damned sure Russert won't be making it the topic of the week . . .

ment saying that he's above the law and he's the commander in thief and he's the decider and he can do what he wants, nyah nyah.

Time to go way past impeachment with this little fucker.

Execute him for treason.

Oregon is ON FIRE right now.

I've been preaching the DeFazio line on here for four years. He's the real thing.

I will pass it along to other people and hopefully they will do the same. We have no media, they work for the traitors, so we must be the media.

Thank your this post ~

Bush may decide to do what he wants, but in the end, he is violating the Constitution he swore to protect and defend. I have no doubt that one day soon, he will be held accountable for this. Too many people have grave concerns about the way this country is going.

That this letter is necessary demonstrates how bad things are, and why has the entire Congress, also sworn to defend and protect the Constitution, not signed this? I am going to check and see if my Rep. has signed it and if he has not, I will be calling him and telling others to do the same tomorrow.

edited to add the list of those who signed, and yes, our Rep. is on there, Tim Bishop.

Rep. Peter DeFazio
Rep. Ron Paul
Rep. Pete Stark
Rep. Jerrold Nadler
Rep. Marcy Kaptur
Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Rep. Bobby Scott
Rep. Jay Inslee
Rep. Lloyd Doggett
Rep. Tom Allen
Rep. Bernie Sanders
Rep. David Wu
Rep. Maxine Waters
Rep. Jim McDermott
Rep. Louise Slaughter
Rep. Sam Farr
Rep. Barbara Lee
Rep. George Miller
Rep. Joseph Crowley
Rep. Maurice Hinchey
Rep. Rosa DeLauro
Rep. Bill Pascrell
Rep. Luis Gutierrez
Rep. John Lewis
Rep. Mike Thompson
Rep. Jan Schakowsky
Rep. Timothy Bishop
Rep. Grace Napolitano
Rep. Jose Serrano
Rep. Leonard Boswell
Rep. Lynn Woolsey
Rep. Bob Filner
Rep. Darlene Hooley
Rep. James McGovern
Rep. Neil Abercrombie
Rep. Mike Honda
Rep. Rush Holt
Rep. Tammy Baldwin
Rep. Betty McCollum
Rep. Donald Payne
Rep. Carolyn Maloney
Rep. John Conyers
Rep. Earl Blumenauer
Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald
Rep. Major Owens
Rep. Hilda Solis
Rep. Jerry Costello
Rep. David Obey
Rep. Bennie Thompson
Rep. Chaka Fattah
Rep. Barney Frank
Rep. Jim Leach
Rep. Lois Capps
Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson
Rep. Raul Grijalva
Rep. John Larson
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee
Rep. Cynthia McKinney
Rep. Diane Watson
Rep. Sherrod Brown
Rep. Marty Meehan

:)

Thanks for that list.