The Republican fury over the release of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl has more to do with the current state of the GOP than anything Obama did.
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The big political news of week has to be President Obama’s announcement of new aggressive rules governing the release of greenhouse gases from America’s power plants. As Jonathan Chait pointed out the new rules, along with previous rules reducing power plant pollution and increased investment in renewable energy, have the potential to both reduce American carbon emission but also make a global agreement requiring other industrializing economies like India and China to promise to reduce theirs as well. Something that appears quite possible now that the new rules have been announced.
But you’d hardly know any of this if you’ve been watching Fox News, where it’s been “all Bergdahl, all the time” as of late. In case you missed it, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was the American soldier who had been held captive by the Taliban for five years and was finally released this weekend in a deal that in exchange also released five prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay into the custody of the government of Qatar.
Republicans have been up in arms over this development for a variety of reason. Some Republicans have criticized the deal as being a bad one, others have claimed it breaks the law because Congress wasn’t informed 30 days before hand, and others have objected to the whole idea of negotiating with an organization like the Taliban. Indeed, some Republicans are now calling for the president to be impeached.
Personally I think these complaints are pretty weak tea. To begin with since Bergdahl was the only member of the US Armed Forces held prisoner by the Taliban it’s pretty obvious a one to one exchange wasn’t going to happen. Especially since a group like Taliban, which uses tactics like suicide bombing and the use of human shields, probably doesn’t put as high a value on their people as we do. Secondly it’s possible that the president broke or at least skirted the law here, I’m not a lawyer so I really don’t know, but as Kevin Drum pointed out Congress and The White House often disagree with how to interpret the law, and if there is a fight here it’s a matter for the courts to sort out.
Finally there’s the question of if this breaks Jack Bauer’s rule of “never negotiating with terrorists.” Well maybe, I guess, but we’ve negotiated with all sorts of unsavory groups in the past to get back American military and intelligence personal. Indeed the Reagan Administration sold all sorts of weapons to the Iranians to do just that back in the 80’s. And if this really is some terrible crime it would be nice if some conservatives also denounced the Israelis for doing the same thing but on a much larger scale. The fact of the matter is if we wanted Bergdahl back we have to either cut a deal or hope that the special forces got lucky. Since they’d hadn’t been lucky for five years and there are reports that Bergdahl’s health was in serious decline the former choice makes a lot of sense.
So while I guess the Republicans could impeach President Obama over this, it probably wouldn’t go much better than it did last time they did that sort of thing.
Which brings up the question of why the big conservative focus on Bergdahlgate, and so little on the new pollution rules that could have an effect on American energy policy for years to come? As I see it the culprit here is our old friend the conservative information feedback loop. What it looks like is Fox News and such just latched on the Bergdahl story first and got their talking heads to run with it till they took it to the impeachment end zone, while the new climate change rules just sort of slipped through the cracks. Which doesn’t make much sense for conservatives in the long run. The new pollution rules are going to be around for a while and will likely have a huge impact on policy. And while it’s possible Bergdahl will get in trouble, the events surrounding his capture are murky, the story will probably go away pretty quickly and this latest row will be like so much Benghazi Sturm und Drang that ultimately doesn’t amount to a whole lot.
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Important note here: it’s typical for members of Congress, of either party, to apply the broadest possible interpretation to their powers under the law. That’s what’s going on here. Meanwhile the Obama administration has always contented that the president’s role as commander in chief trumps the most recent law about informing Congress that was passed. Not unlike how every president has ignored or just paid lip service to the War Power Act since it was passed. If the GOP really thinks the president broke the law they should take the administration to court and prove it. But it’s a lot… Read more »
John, senate republicans are already seeking open hearings. You’re just making things up now.
I’m not saying they aren’t, I’m saying that it won’t matter at all. (For review the courts decided these constitutional issues not hearings).
Again it’s common for Congress and the White House to disagree on interpretations of the law. Saying “the president broke the law!” is little more than a political talking point if you aren’t going to try and change the law or take it up in court, which it appears the GOP isn’t doing.
John, as Tom so ably demonstrated, you’re ignoring half the noise on this in order to push your agenda. Many Dems have come out and said they weren’t informed. Many media sources have confirmed with experts that the law says they must be informed. QED- the law as it is written was broken. Yet all you say is the Republicans (evilnastybadracists) are only ones who care. It’s not even a remotely intellectually honest take on this situation. I’ve seen you try to explain away some pretty egregious things over the past year (the deficit article was a peach) but this… Read more »
You know what CW? I start a long drawn out response to John and then I thought about what you said. I will spend my time on something better.
Republicans??? “Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said the administration violated the law by failing to address serious concerns they had about the deal to swap Bergdahl for five Taliban detainees. Chambliss said he had not had a conversation with the White House about a possible exchange for at least 18 months. “”It comes to us with some surprise and dismay that the transfers went ahead with no consultation, totally not following law,” Feinstein told reporters following a closed door meeting. “And in an issue with this kind of concern to a committee that bears the oversight responsibility, I think you can… Read more »
One can go on Mediaite alone and find many, many interviews from McCain, Graham, Palin and Co that POTUS wasn’t exhausting All Options to save Bergdahl- including POW Swaps. SINCE this is War, as Commander in Chief, POTUS has the Powr and Authority to make exchanges; GWB did with 520 GTMO prisoners if I remember correctly.
Congress, particularly the GOP and tea party, can’t Grant Power to the Presidency and then Complain when that power is used- especially when Congress- mainly the GOP and TP, REFUSE to Work w/ POTUS on Anything
Wait so when congress doesn’t agree the president should do whatever he wants? Welcome to the imperial presidency. Sheesh. Screw that balance of powers.
Tom, I read the relationship columns here because they tend to be really informative. I read the parenting articles because they tend be be pretty decent when they aren’t treating our sons strictly as vehicles for women’s self esteem. But, I read the politics section for straight up entertainment. The selection of topics and the spin are usually hilarious.
We gave up too much to get a deserter back. That being said it’s not rational to walk over to the enemy side and expect to be embraced with open arms. This may be a mental health issue as much as anything. Which could bring us to recruit screening issues and mental health treatment in the field. If he’s found to be mentally sound it’s time for the court martial.
Kind of an echo chamber in here. Interesting that you focus on those evilnastybad republicans instead of the broad swath of skepticism coming from multiple news sources including CNN (total Republican mouthpieces amirite?)
Still not a word on the VA scandal, nothing on the IRS (more than a smidgen)…
At least you didn’t call them all racist this time.
CW, ummmm, think about it. With this happening, who’s talking about the VA any more? I would say ask who is talking about the IRS but main stream never did much talk about it. The thing is this may be backfiring and isn’t the warm and fuzzy that they expected it to be? Oh, I just found this “Ms. Feinstein noted that when conversations between the Obama administration and Congress about the potential swap were held 18 months ago, “there were very strong views, and they were virtually unanimous against the trade.” and this ““It doesn’t look good, it doesn’t… Read more »
Diane Feinstein is a racist Republican obviously!
John, well said. A few things FWIW: 1. We declared ‘war’ on Terror, and now we’re ending the war. Typically we exchange prisoners during this period. That is what we did. 2. There is no caveat to ‘leave no soldier behind’. ZERO. When Chris Hayes interviewed the Rear Admiral, he was told, “When someone goes overboard we do not wonder if they were pushed, or if they fell, we turn the boat around.” If this dude was wrong in any way, we’ll find out. 3. I find it curious, as well, that we haven’t heard all of this about him… Read more »
Exactly, ALSO, the SAME GOP/Tea Party crowd- including John McCain Palin, Hannity, nd others were saying POTUS wasn’t Doing Enough to get him back…………
Yes, I also think this a great time to point out with the modern media environment a political party can make an issue, any issue really, into something that gets talked about if all their members, allied interest groups, and partisan press outlets make a fuss. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to have a big impact. Remember for all the sound and furry over Benghazi, it didn’t really effect the 2012 elections, let alone cause any real problems for the Obama administration. So yeah the GOP can get the media to speculate and such about how Bergdahl was captured.… Read more »