I know he's not in the race for president anymore. As a big fan of his I'm happy about that. Joe is the chairperson of the very important Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, one of the most important jobs in the US government, especially now. The Senate of the United States has a special role in foreign policy, approving all treaties and ambassadors, and the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Relations, whether it is occupied by J. William Fulbright or Jesse Helms, has an important voice in foreign policy.
Joe Biden has that voice now. He is the most qualified American, not just the most qualified Democrat, to use it for good. Let's all encourage him to do it. Specific reasons and suggestions are welcomed in comments.
1. We need Fulbright hearings
Public opinion about the Vietnam War was heavily influenced by the informative hearings that Senator J. William Fulbright held into American foreign policy in southeast Asia. As Senator Fulbright himself said about the hearings he held:
Under our system Congress, and especially the Senate, shares responsibility with the President for making our Nation's foreign policy. This war, however, started and continues as a Presidential war in which the Congress, since the fraudulent Gulf of Tonkin episode, has not played a significant role. [...] The purpose of these hearings is to develop the best advice and greater public understanding of the policy alternatives available and positive congressional action to end American participation in the war.If that was true about the Vietnam War, it is true exponentially now, during the even more fraudulent Iraq War, a war that has been even more damaging to American national interests than the Vietnam War ever could have been.
2. We were promised hearings
OK, OK, much as I support impeachment, I do remember that the Democrats who took over Congress in the last national elections did say that impeachment was "off the table." I can understand and respect that they want to keep their promise to the American public. It may be unusual in a politician, but it is not less, and probably more, laudable for being unusual.
I also remember that the Democrats who took over Congress promised us hearings. I thought that was OK, because I figured that if the truth came out about the W. Bush administration's lies and incompetence, then the American public would demand that W. Bush be impeached.
That didn't happen, because enough hearings weren't held. I do know that some hearings were held, but not enough to make an impact on public opinion. Most Americans didn't learn from Congress that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, because Congress didn't hold enough hearings. They learned about it because a reporter asked Bush, shortly before the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, what Iraq had to do with the attacks. "Nothing." Bush said, seemingly startled, perhaps because he had never said that Iraq did have anything to do with 9/11. Of course, when Helen Thomas asked Bush why we did invade Iraq he didn't have a coherent answer. However, the fact that Congressional hearings didn't inform the US public merits condemnation of Congress for dereliction of duty.
Isn't it about time that Congress ask why we invaded Iraq? Isn't it about time that Congress ask why our Middle East policy, indeed the entire foreign policy of the United States, is such a train wreck? The Annapolis peace process isn't even a policy, it's a Hail Mary pass. The Congress has subpoena powers. The Senate has a special role in foreign policy. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is the obvious committee to ask the hard questions that need to be asked so that the American people can finally find out and understand how our foreign policy became this balled up. We need to insist that they hold these hearings. Joe Biden is the person who must hold those hearings.
3. This is Joe Biden's real job
Joe Biden in the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Nobody else has that job. No one else has responsibility for Congressional oversight of foreign relations, except the corresponding chairperson of the House Committee, and the House does not have the powers in foreign affairs that the Senate of the United States does. It is Joe Biden's responsibility to hold these hearings. No one else can hold these hearings. If Joe Biden doesn't or can't see that we have to make him see it.
4. restore Constitutional balance
I know a lot of people here wanted Joe Biden to be president. Now some of them are saying he should be Secretary of State. I'm not saying he wouldn't be good in those positions, but putting him into the executive branch of government doesn't solve one of the most serious problems of the Bush administration: the growth of power of the "unitary executive" branch, and the damage it has done to the traditional American balance of powers.
This administration has concentrated too much power in the executive branch, going farther than Nixon did during Watergate toward a dictatorship, ignoring Congress and running the government by secrecy and signing statements. Even if the Democrats take over the executive branch that dangerous imbalance could persiste, and will persist unless the Congress itself acts to restore the balance. Impeachments would be a good way to start that, but impeachments are "off the table" according to Congressional leaders. The only alternative offered is investigations. Demand an investigation into Bush foreign policy. How did it go wrong and how can it be fixed. Such hearings will prove invaluable to whichever Democrat takes over the presidency next year. Even if some Republican takes the presidency (heaven forfend!) they will find it hard to ignore these hearings.
5. DEMAND HEARINGS NOW!
Please, everyone, write to Joe Biden and demand that he hold Fulbright style hearings about the train wreck of a foreign policy that got us into this counterproductive war in Iraq and which has poisoned our relations with nearly every other country on earth.
No one is as qualified as Joe Biden to hold those hearings. No one else is chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, so no one else can hold those hearings. It's Joe Biden's job to hold those hearings. It is his destiny to become one of the greatest chairpersons of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in American history. If he can't see it we have to make him see it.
We were promised investigations in the 2006 elections. Joe Biden must hold those investigations. Please write him and convince him that he has to do it. He could be the greatest chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since Fulbright himself. Now he's no longer distracted by his Quixotic campaign for president, so that he can fulfill his destiny as one of the all time great senators of US history.
Please write and call Joe Biden at:
Senator Joseph Biden, Delaware, (Chairperson)
U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-6225
Phone: (202) 224-4651
