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REPORT ON THE OUTCOME -- after publishing our story and call for action
HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED...
The effort LOST in the House of Representatives to defeat the sneaky "rule" that was, in effect, a self-destruct mechanism added into a bill that was originally intended to END U.S. support for the war on Yemen. The lame-duck outgoing Speaker of the House won his effort to protect the militarists of the warconomy, so they can continue to profit by supplying bombs, missiles, and other deadly ordnance to the Saudi regime for its continuing slaughter of civilians in Yemen.
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Akbar Shahid Ahmed summed it up clearly:
@AkbarSAhmed
"Republicans have succeeded in their two-day effort to kill an attempt to debate Yemen in the House. Focus now goes to the Senate, where a similar bill is up later this month, and to what Dems do once they take charge in January."
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Tweeted by Rep. (Representative, as in Congressman) Ro Khanna:
@RepRoKhanna
"It’s shameful that @SpeakerRyan and House Republicans denied Congress the chance to do our constitutional duty while millions of lives are at stake in Yemen. History will remember this abdication of duty."
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Bennett Clark wrote:
@BennettGClark
Yemen: bombing + blockade = famine
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The Guide will inform our readers, either through additional original reporting, or links to trustworthy coverage, when or if any progress is made in ending America's illegal (by international law) and unconstitutional (by the supreme law of the U.S.) participation in the war and war-caused epidemics of diseases and massive famine in Yemen.
We wish it could have come out better and we express our thanks to our readers who joined us in calling their Member of Congress.
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Here is our original report...
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No,we are NOT converting our arts & music publication into a politics or foreign policy site. BUT, so many in the arts community are frequently expressing concern over Yemen, and this is a SINGULAR AND URGENT OPPORTUNITY TO END THAT WAR. BUT now, in a last-minute act of subterfuge, the pro-war lackeys are trying to sabotage things overnight. (Literally, OVERNIGHT.)
How can you and I make a difference and STOP THEM? EASY. IMPORTANT, BUT EASY: Phone your Member of Congress WEDNESDAY MORNING. The vote is Wednesday afternoon, D.C. time, and noon Eastern is 9 am Pacific. So you need to do this first thing Wednesday morning.
Because of miserable political shenanigans, a "rule" vote is set to protect the blatantly illegal US war funding and support of Saudi Arabia's brutal war on the civilian population of Yemen.
So, in Congress, a vote against the rule is a vote against the war, and we need to tell the Members of Congress,
"VOTE NO ON THE RULE - and END THE YEMEN WAR!"
CALL 202-225-3121
Here's the whole story:
Just a short while ago, Tuesday evening D.C. time, there was a classic Nixonian-dirty-tricks maneuver of the Washington swamp. Though voted-out last Tuesday, Paul Ryan is still the House Speaker through the end of the year, and his GOP big shots still rule all the committees.
And they're in rare form with a baffle-the-people-BS-game. Ryan's House Rules Committee just approved a rule for turning something good into something that would do exactly the opposite. That rule would "alter consideration" of H.R. 6784, the “Manage our Wolves Act.”
Specifically -- and Here's where they're trying to undo the good -- that "rule" would “de-privilege” H. Con. Res. 138, the Khanna-Massie-Smith-Jones-Pocan. That "138" legislation, the "Yemen War Powers Resolution" would END unconstitutional U.S. participation in the Saudi regime’s war-blockade-famine-genocide in Yemen. The full House is still expected to vote on the floor Wednesday afternoon on this rule. BUT... it now includes the Speaker's "rule" that would kill it. Meaning, if this rule for the consideration of the “Manage our Wolves Act” passes, then H. Con. Res. 138 would be stripped of its “privilege” -- and that means it would be stripped of its War Powers Resolution guarantee of a clean, up-or-down, vote on the House floor.
Yes, It's complicated. But remember that lawmakers are mostly all lawyers who go to school to learn how to do these things.
The bad news becomes obvious when you know that.
Here’s the good news: a vote against the rule is a vote against the war, and although it won’t be easy, it’s possible that all of us who want the war against Yemen STOPPED could influence enough Members of Congress, and win the vote against the rule. And that's not a far-fetched hope.
All or almost all Democrats will almost surely vote against the rule. A handful of Republicans will almost surely vote against the rule. All that's needed to defeat the rule is for two handfuls of Republicans to vote against the rule.
By comparison, the last time the House took a clean, up-or-down, vote on U.S. participation in the Saudi regime's war in Yemen, it was June 2016. It narrowly lost, 204-216, on an amendment to prohibit the transfer of cluster bombs to the Saudi regime. 40 Republicans voted for the antiwar amendment, and 200 Republicans voted against the antiwar amendment. 164 Democrats voted for that amendment, and 16 Democrats voted against it.
In other words: if we can get all House Democrats to vote "no" on the self-destruct rule -- which should be relatively straightforward, if they simply do what they always claim they're doing -- then we only need about 15% of the House Republicans to oppose the rule, and that is enough to defeat the rule. Yes, getting 15% of House Republicans to oppose the sneaky rule will be the hard part. Hard, but after the election just went the way it did, this is not impossible.
HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO STOP THE WAR IN YEMEN: call your Member of Congress tomorrow morning when the House offices are open (beginning at 6 am, Pacific time) and urge your Representative -- regardless of their political party, or yours -- to VOTE NO ON THE RULE, because you want them to END THE WAR IN YEMEN. If you can’t call in the morning, then CALL NOW and navigate the Capitol's voice mail system.
The Capitol Switchboard is 202-225-3121.
If you agree with us, call tomorrow morning or call now. When you reach a staffer or leave a message, you can say something like:
“I strongly urge you to VOTE NO ON THE RULE for consideration of the Manage our Wolves Act. A yes vote on the rule for consideration of the Manage our Wolves Act is a vote to continue helping the Saudi regime starve children in Yemen. A no vote on the rule is a vote to restore our Constitution, which assigns Congress, not the President, the sole power to decide when to take our country to war. End the Yemen war. Vote NO on the rule.”
Call tomorrow morning or call now if you want to end US participation in a war that is causing the greatest famine of our time.
Our thanks to Robert Naiman of the "Just Foreign Policy" organization. (That's "Just" like in justice.) You can learn more on this issue and other points of US foreign policy that either deserve support or opposition at their website, which we are happy to recommend. It's http://www.justforeignpolicy.org
Yes, you CAN make a difference in ways you never think about. You know that's true, because YOU DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE when you learn what's at stake and you choose to take a part!
If anyone tells you "Don't bother! They're gonna do what they want, anyway," just mention to them that the House flipped because of last week's election. And invite them to watch you and learn, because,
THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!
Whether the rich interests of the warconomy like it or not.
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The Guide waives our copyright on this edition, provided it is shared intact. We do that to encourage sharing, with the available time so short, after the House Speaker's last-minute Tuesday night shady deal.
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