In a rebuke to Trump, House votes to end support for Yemen war
THIS is the kind of jab at Trump that really MEANS something (as opposed to anything involving the words ‘RUSSIA!!!’ or ‘collusion’). I can even overlook the hypocrisy of it all. These guys, who have allowed presidents to bomb any country TPTB wants bombed for decades, are suddenly whipping out the Constitution and War Powers Resolution and acting like they deserve credit for fulfilling the duties of the positions we elected them to fulfill, as opposed to the idea that they’re in DC to rule and ignore us plebs until election time. WE know why they’re doing it. I’m sure the guys who have suddenly developed a conscience (ha ha) know we know why they’re doing this. Paybacks. It’s a chicken shit move but it brings sbout the absolute right action. Or inaction if you prefer. And I’ll take it, regardless the motivation.
In a rebuke to Trump, House votes to end support for Yemen war
The House on Thursday voted to end American involvement in the Yemen war, rebuffing the Trump administration's support for the military campaign led by Saudi Arabia. The bill now heads to President Trump, who is expected to veto it. The White House says the bill raises "serious constitutional concerns," and Congress lacks the votes to override him.
By a 247-175 vote, Congress for the first time invoked the decades-old War Powers Resolution to try and stop a foreign conflict.
"The president will have to face the reality that Congress is no longer going to ignore its constitutional obligations when it comes to foreign policy," said Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He said the humanitarian crisis in Yemen triggered by the war "demands moral leadership."
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This was the second time the Senate approved cutting off military assistance to the Saudis, as the same measure passed in December, but then-House Speaker Paul Ryan refused to bring it to the House floor. Several Republicans joined Democrats in passing the bill in the Senate that time around, resulting in a 56-41 vote.
Comments
Both houses of Congress
That's impressive.
No reason to celebrate unless the violence actually ENDS.
This is just more kabuki theatre in the silly season of politics, the worst sort of hypocritical sham. Trump is expected to veto it....
“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024
Exactly, this IS a hypocrticial political sham, and not just
"This joint resolution directs the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities in or affecting Yemen within 30 days unless Congress authorizes a later withdrawal date, issues a declaration of war, or specifically authorizes the use of the Armed Forces. Prohibited activities include providing in-flight fueling for non-U.S. aircraft conducting missions as part of the conflict in Yemen. This joint resolution shall not affect any military operations directed at Al Qaeda."
It doesn't say anything about the CIA, Blackwater, or any other US imperialist force and or course doesn't preclude drone strikes and other ops against the U.S. manufactured and aided enemy, Al Qaeda or affiliates.
So my opinion is that this is propaganda meant to take the heat off regarding US involvement in Yemen, which will continue because it HAS to (control of Yemen is crucial for US imperialism and Saudi oil), and a political ploy by the democrats to try to look good to their base. They sure didn't do this under Obama.
I told you I could even accept their hypocrisy
This opens up the first opportunity we have had to get a grip, or at least attempt to get a grip on presidential over-reach when it comes to how easy it is for the Executive branch to just make up some excuse and let the drones loose. (And that includes the barbarity of the Obama Administration and it’s Kill List Tuesdays.) We are (ugh) in the first days of another election. This is a perfect example of an issue (who gets to decide who what where to bomb) that everyone running for office should be made to discuss, reveal, or explain where they stand. They brought it up. They opened the door. Now the voters need to start asking their reps exactly where they stand in regard to who gets to determine when we get into these long, expensive, bloody escapades (that are so quaintly called ‘conflicts’). We we start one every time some government gets all uppity and doesn’t meekly accept US hegemony, or when we put troops jnto another country because i“FREEDOM”.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
I can't believe how many people still believe that we are tryin
to spread freedom and democracy. I'd think by now people would have waken from their stupor and see that we don't do anything close to that. Kinda hard to have more freedoms and democracy when ones country has been blown to hell don't you think? And if we had a functioning media people would learn that people in Libya are being sold into slavery by the groups that took it over.
If we can get people to see how we are sending men and women to die so that corporations can rape country's resources then maybe we can get them to fight back against our hegemony and see that money would be better spent on this country's occupants and infrastructure. Instead.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
In a comparatively insignificant legislative note,
the anti-constitutional right-wing thugs in the Senate consented to pass a resolution honoring recently deceased Ted Lindsay, who was an NHL superstar in the 40s and 50s. he played for Detroit. he accomplished all sorts of things on and around the hockey rinks over the course of his life, but he failed completely in the most important effort of his career. I was mildly surprised to see it listed in the roll of his achievements, not because he failed, but because many of the swine who voted him this honor have nothing but contempt for people who do what he tried to do:
If you're thinking, who the fuck cares about unionizing a bunch of millionaire athletes, I get where you're coming from, but here's the thing: in the 1950s, NHL players were damned near serfs. They weren't especially well-paid, they had no free agency at all, and they were treated as disposable -- a hard thing in a sport as physically punishing as hockey. A hockey player who took a puck in the face would leave the ice, go to the dressing room, get stitched up, and return to the game. A week later, he'd get the doctor's bill in the mail. There was supposed to be some sort of pseudo-pension funded by player contributions, but the team owners controlled the fund and gave the players no information about where their money was going. To get an idea of just how badly fucked up it was, consider Lindsay's linemate, Gordie Howe, the superstar of the era, who played for TWENTY-FIVE years in the NHL: In 1990, Howe was collecting a pension of a little over $1000/month. Canadian.
Even in the late 60s and early 70s, it was bad enough that one of the two greatest players of the post-Howe era, Phil Esposito, worked a summer job:
That year was 1971, Howe's final season -- and to put it in perspective, the previous record for goals scored was 58. At times, early in his NHL career, the money was so bad Esposito considered quitting to drive trucks full time. (Another NHL'er of the time once remarked that he might have to quit so as to focus on his growing restaurant business. Sadly, Tim Horton was killed driving home to Toronto after a game in Buffalo.)
One last note on the general cool-dudeness of Lindsay, taken from the resolution:
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
Important history. Thanks for this obscure story. n/t
it ain't obscure north of the border!
It was an ongoing national disgrace, even when the truth started coming out. There were lawsuits, one of which was decided by the Supreme Court of Canada (for the players, yay!)
At one point, Alan Eagleson, the most famous non-politician lawyer in Canada, ended up going to prison for fraud. Nobody was sad.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
Hooray, but no hooray...
... because the war will continue, Yemenis will continue to suffer and the US will continue to support one of the most monstrous regimes on the face of the planet. It'll be business as usual, and business is booming. Quite literally.