FLASHBACK: Pat Buchanan, John Boehner Backed Speaker Gingrich's Involvement In Foreign Policy

[babylonsister]

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/04/flashback_pat_b.php

FLASHBACK: Pat Buchanan, John Boehner Backed Speaker Gingrich's Involvement In Foreign Policy
April 06, 2007 --

As Glenn Greenwald notes, House Speaker Newt Gingrich traveled to China in March of 1997 and was treated quite respectfully by the media. He notes a marked contrast in the tone of the coverage between that trip and Nancy Pelosi's current trip to Syria.

So let's get to work. What did conservative commentators and Republicans say about the proper role of the House Speaker in foreign affairs around the time of Gingrich's China trip?

Here's Pat Buchanan. Back in 1997, though he differed with Gingrich on China policy, he very clearly stated that Congress had a proper role in foreign policy and indeed should "run" it. From the Associated Press, March 18, 1997 (via Nexis):

Speaking at a news conference organized by the conservative magazine "Human Events," Buchanan said the Clinton administration's policy of constructive engagement with the Chinese was a failure...

"It's now up to Congress to run foreign policy and it has the power to overturn the president's decision" on China's trade status, expected in June, Buchanan said. "There is time to organize a campaign" to influence Congress, "and this is a battle we can win."

Here's Buchanan criticizing Pelosi's trip and the idea of a Congressional leader meddling in foreign policy on the Kudlow and Company on April 3, 2007:

Mr. BUCHANAN: Well, Condi Rice has been working on the Palestinian account and that hasn't come out very well. But you're right there. But let me say about Nancy Pelosi, I think it's a mistake for her, unlike these Republican and Democratic back benchers, who nobody really cares about. She's a major, major figure in American politics now. And this is thumb in the eye of the president of the United States, and it does send a mixed message. I remember going abroad with Richard Nixon in 1967. Every country he went to, we went to the embassy and he would say, `What do you want me to say and how can I help the president?' And the country, in its foreign policy, in talking to these leaders, foreign ministers and others. And this idea that we've got--America's got a couple foreign policies, I think, some Americans, it certainly bothers me that she's there.

Okay, so that's one.

Next up: GOP House leader John Boehner. Here he is in the Columbus Dispatch on April 5, 2007, frowning on the idea of a Speaker trying to upstage the President on the foreign policy stage:

In a meeting yesterday with Dispatch editors and reporters, Boehner her stature gave the visit an imprimatur it didn't deserve.

"It's one thing for other members to go," Boehner said, "but you have to ask yourself, 'Why is Pelosi going?' She's going for one reason and that is to embarrass the president."

But it turns out that Boehner as a Congressman in 1997 went along on Gingrich's trip to China and praised the idea of it. From a press conference on April 9, 1997 (via Nexis):

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH): Well, let me just say that the speaker, Mr. Dingell, and the rest of my colleagues, were diplomatic; they were respectful of the countries that we visited -- but I think very clear in terms of our interest; the role of democracy that should in more of these countries -- the issue of human rights. And I know from my own background, it was a very educational trip.

The parallels aren't perfect, but the hypocrisy here couldn't be clearer.

[H2O Man]

1. The parallels

are pretty darned good. Thanks for this!

[NoodleBoy]

2. the party of manly men are always reduced to whining toddlers when anything happens that they don't

like.

[rodeodance]

3. yes thanks.

[DemReadingDU]

4. interesting

K&R