What Congress Needs Now is Another Folk Singer
A President who demonstrates a good understanding of International Relations and Foreign Policy has always been an important consideration for me when I judge Presidential performance. Familiarization with Gunboat Diplomacy, the Marshal Plan, the Japanese surrender at Pearl Harbor along with the role America played in Japan’s and Europe’s reconstruction efforts, world history and, specifically as it relates to today, the history of the Middle East (both ancient and current), I feel is an absolute requirement for any office holder of the Presidency. A comprehensive grasp of the importance of the idea that order and security cannot be accomplished without the threat of calculated and effective enforcement also needs to be a demonstrable attribute of any President.
But, I also think it is important that all our leaders, notably congressional leaders, have a good understanding of the history of Foreign Relations. They should have a good understanding of the protocol used in our own form of government as it pertains to International Relations. So, whatever I might think of the President’s foreign policies, how I might question them, I would not, for one instance, assume that, if I were a ranking member of congress, say for instance, the Speaker of the House, it would be OK for me to invite a head of state from another country to speak in front of congress without informing the President nor would I do so without first seeking his approval. That is just not the message we want to send to other countries and it is certainly not a wise precedent we would or should ever want to set.
While America is a free country where free speech is an honored, sacredly held component, we should also use a certain amount of common sense. But, instead, what I see in congress today: a whole lot of people running around without a whole lot of common sense or good judgment rattling around in their heads. Apparently, this observation of mine now extends to the Speaker of the House who, until this most recent event, I considered one of the few members of congress possessing some measure of this most needed commodity.
The Polarity Resistance 