Neocons Must Go Now

I am glad the New York Times invites different voices to express themselves on the Op-Ed page but do I really have to be subjected to John Bolton and John Yoo, two neoconservatives who preach the gospel of American exceptionalism.

 

Today, they write in their piece that the Senate should have its Treaty power restored, whereby any treaty signed must be approved by two-thirds of the Senate, and that President Obama should not allow treaties to pass by the other common method used by modern presidents, called an Congressional-executive agreement by them, and also known as joint resolutions.  Texas joined the union by joint resolution back in 1845, not by treaty.

 

Now all of this sounds good and fine.  The Constitution is our sacred document.  As Americans, it is the one thing we all agree is a paramount document.  But that is all noise to distract the reader into buying what they are really selling: that America is the exception to every rule that the international community wants to put forward.

 

Remember John Bolton, he who was appointed to the UN during a recess and had at one point as a stated goal to destroy the institution.  And John Yoo, a guy who believes in the Unitarian executive theory, and, save for this article, would just as well see the Capitol fall into the reflecting pool and disappear forever.

 

These guys simply don’t want the United States to consider the Kyoto Accord and its successor agreements.  They don’t want the United States to be subjected to the International Criminal Court, which could find that some folks working in the name of this country actually committed war crimes (see Dick Cheney; se also Henry Kissinger).

 

These guys simply want the United States to play by its own rules and never have to yield to international pressure.

 

America is an exceptional country.  It is the land of opportunity.  It is a beacon of freedom.  It is a place where dissidents and dissonance are welcome.  But that doesn’t make it more equal than everyone else in the world.  If we stand for equality in this country, then we must be compelled to accept equality in the world community.

 

Some might say I am naïve in thinking this way; that we must protect this country from entangling alliances and follow those sacred words of George Washington.  Well, President Washington was addressing the notion of taking sides.  Kyoto and the ICC are about collaboration and accountability to make this world a better, safer, and cleaner place.