One man is indeed an island on this one. Has there ever been a more lopsided vote? 97-1 in the senate. Arenaught senators given the same information as the president on this one? what makes him so staunchly opposed to this bill? his heritage? his strong ties to the Ayatollah ? his religion? Is he smarter than 97 senators?
maybe the scholars on this site can see if there was ever a more united veto override than the JASTA bill.
Has there ever been a more lopsided vote? 97-1 in the senate.
Yes, 95-0 in 1983.
Arenaught senators given the same information as the president on this one?
Most assuredly they are.
what makes him so staunchly opposed to this bill?
Apparently two things: the delicate nature of the US-Saudi relationship and the potential can of worms it may open re: diplomatic immunity. Diplomacy is a two-way street. Are we prepared to open up our own diplomatic corps to exposure to legal actions in other countries? Quid pro quo, all that?
his heritage?
The bill doesn't reference anything having to do with any particular country, so that's a bit of an odd question.
his strong ties to the Ayatollah ?
Well, this bill is in reaction to a situation in Saudi Arabia. There's currently no living Ayatollah in Saudi Arabia. If you are thinking of the religious/political rulers, those are typically in connection with Iran. Saudi Arabia is ruled by a royal family.
his religion?
Christianity? Not referenced in the bill.
Is he smarter than 97 senators?
How does that apply?
I think Pres Obama has a big perception problem with radical islaam and the middle east. He is cozying up to Iran, US is sending hard currency in cargo planes and now protecting the Saudis from an investigation and trial.
I think Pres Obama has a big perception problem with radical islaam and the middle east. He is cozying up to Iran, US is sending hard currency in cargo planes and now protecting the Saudis from an investigation and trial.
"The Saudis?" Which Saudis? The Royal Family? Their intelligence services? What kind of trial? International court? Set up a few folding tables in the back of Mar-A-Lago?
I think Pres Obama has a big perception problem with radical islaam and the middle east. He is cozying up to Iran, US is sending hard currency in cargo planes and now protecting the Saudis from an investigation and trial.
Perception problem among the haters, for sure. But as you said, it is perception not reality and he's on his way out anyway so whatever.
WHOOPSIE!!!!!
September 29, 2016, 11:30 am
McConnell opens door to changing 9/11 bill
By Jordain CarneySenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) opened the door Thursday to changing legislation that allows families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia in U.S. court.
"I do think it's worth further discussions, but it was certainly not something that was going to be fixed this week," he told reporters when asked about a push by some senators to tweak the measure.
Across the Capitol, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) agreed that Congress may need to "fix" the legislation, but said he wasn't sure when that would happen.
"We want to make sure the 9/11 victims and their families had their day in court," Ryan told reporters. "At the same time, I would like to think that there may be some work to be done to protect our service members overseas from any kind of legal ensnarements that occur, any kind of retribution."
The legislation, known as the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), was turned into law on Wednesday after Congress overrode President Obama's veto. It was the first veto override of Obama's presidency.
Despite the override, 28 senators sent a letter to Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) expressing concerns about the measure in the hope that the two senators, who spearheaded it, would be willing to amend the law in the future.
"We would hope to work with you in a constructive manner to appropriately mitigate those unintended consequences," the senators wrote.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Wednesday that he would like the Senate to take up changes to JASTA as early as the lame-duck session. The Senate is leaving town Thursday until after the November elections.
"There's a desire to amend what occurred yesterday to put us in a better place,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Though the Senate voted on Wednesday to overwhelmingly nix the president's veto in a 97-1 vote, some lawmakers said they had misgivings about the bill. They stressed, however, that any push to find an alternative was largely ignored by the Obama administration.
McConnell echoed that sentiment Thursday, calling the legislation "an example of an issue that we should have talked about much earlier."
"You know, that was a good example of — it seems to be a failure to communicate early about the potential consequences of a piece of legislation was obviously very popular," he said.
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/298486-mcconnell-opens-door-to-changing-9-11-bill
So...to review.
A piece of legislation is proposed to take political advantage of the 15th anniversary commemorations of 9/11. The timing of the vote ended up being too close to 9/11/16, so no one wanted to look bad by appearing as if they were disrespecting the families of 9/11 victims.
So it passes and Obama vetoes. Oh noes! How dare he! We'll show him! Override!
But, wait a second...
Given the endless narratives from the GOP in the last couple of years, is not the safety of American diplomats abroad one of their, if not their primary issue of concern? Is there nothing else more important?
Let's say that the spirit of this bill turns into action, and America starts bringing lawsuits and subpoenas to foreign diplomats as they are representatives of their respective countries. Alrighty then. Open legal season on embassies!
It's kind of odd that people that can't go through a day without making "Benghazi" every fifth word spoken are so supportive of the creation of chaos in the diplomatic community.
Think of it this way...how about in every country around the world where the United States has ever conducted a military operation that resulted in the death of a citizen in that country, those countries start taking in our diplomats into their legal system?
So, now there's some second guessing and regret...and, of course, it's actually Obama's fault for not making the downsides of the law more clear to the guys that wrote, read, and voted on the law. How shocking is that?
Lots of parallels here to NC's HB2 fiasco. A bunch of politically motivated muscle flexing politicians make a bone-headed move and then have to suffer the consequences.
Yet another thread fail by Goober.
Yet another thread fail by Goober.
Regular as clockwork.
Yet another thread fail by Goober.
Regular as clockwork.
He claims it's due to a faulty keyboard. Maybe it was rigged. Sad.