Did anyone watch JK in the Foreign Relations Committee yesterday when

[_dynamicdems]

he spoke about the appointment of the Ambassador to Armenia?

Whew, did he seem angry! He was speaking about the appointment of the Ambassador to Armenia. Kerry spoke in favor of a no vote on the nomination of Richard Hoagland as a protest of Bush's recalling John Evans because Evans had the audacity to use the word "genocide" when talking about the genocide of Armenians. Voinovich spoke after Kerry and he almost hung his head in shame when he tried to justify his "no" vote. It was very telling. When JK heard the vote 13 yeas to only 5 votes, he stood and walked out. It was immediate and he seemed more than just in a hurry. Like maybe disgusted, perhaps?

It was odd: Feingold voted for the nomination instead of with Boxer, Sarbanes, Dodd & Kerry. But the biggest surprise was Coleman: he voted NO with the Dems!

In his dissenting vote, Sen. Norm Coleman cited the Bush administration's refusal to classify the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as "genocide."
http://wcco.com/national/local_story_250225036.html


Here is some back history on this for anyone who hasn't followed this (I hadn't):

http://www.anca.org/press_releases/press_releases.php?prid=985

and another link about the vote

http://www.dailycomet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060907/APN/609070872

Is there a video or a transcript of this anywhere?

[wisteria]

1. I actually caught some of that. He did seem angry.

I didn't understand what was going on since I caught maybe 10 minutes of it. Now I know why he walked out like he did. I thought he seemed in a hurry.

[_dynamicdems]

2. It was kerry at his best. I just wished the camera was in front of him

instead of at his side. Dodd's fidgeting was distracting. I really want a transcript of this. I happened to tune in just as Kerry started speaking (talk about luck).

He's always so honest and he doesn't play games. He won't lie about the deaths and displacement of millions of people just to appease Turkey. Bsh is such a bonehead. I'm actually proud of Sen. Coleman for showing backbone on this. Each time a Republican votes against his party it becomes a little easier for the rest of them. Pretty soon the Prezint will have no control whatsoever over them. Can you imagine that day: Republican senators actually thinking for themselves? That could tear the fabric of reality as we know it. :7

[ginnyinWI]

3. I saw it, thanks to you!

(I have a DVR with a "rewind real time" option that goes back up to an hour, and it happened to be on C-span 2 so I reversed it and watched. :))

He was pissed. It was like the ambassador got screwed for simply telling the truth, and I can understand JK wanting to stand with him. He recounted a brief history of our relations with Turkey and made a very good case for not allowing them to rewrite their history. He said that this administration has a habit of "talking tough and acting WEAK", and he certainly emphasized the word "weak"! That's it in a nutshell, isn't it? All talk, and only a record of failure to act competently. And he's fed up along with the rest of us. More than fed up, I'd say!

[_dynamicdems]

5. I'm so glad you got to see it!

Nobody could accuse him of politicizing this issue because it's not one of the hot button issues. And here you could see him at his best: doing what is right and telling the truth. He's sure right about this administration being weak. All bullies are weak.

[beachmom]

4. People go to jail in Turkey for saying it was a genocide

Until they get over their denial, they have no chance in HELL of being admitted to the EU. Good for Kerry.

[_dynamicdems]

6. I agree! But Bsh has never been big on free speech. And Bsh himself

is denying the genocide, or he was last I heard. He may have changed his mind (if you can call it that) again.

[sandnsea]

7. Thanks for posting this

That's a serious issue with Armenians and I think taking these kinds of stands when they don't mean a whole lot would improve our standing on the world stage. Instead, we have to pander to Turkey because of Iraq and the Kurds. It's pathetic. Kerry is exactly right of course, Bush talks tough to cover how weak he really is.

[WildEyedLiberal]

8. There must be a lot of Armenians in Minnesota Coleman wants to pander to

That's the only explanation I can think of for his sudden moral epiphany.

Kerry, of course, as well as Dodd, Boxer, and Sarbanes (and, Coleman too) did the right thing. Feingold's vote is curious at best. I like Feingold for the most part but his supposed "principle" about letting Presidents have all the appointments they want (which he doesn't even adhere to consistently, as he voted against Gonzales and Alito) makes zero logical, moral, or legal sense. It is pretty hilarious to listen to the dittoheads in GD justifying Feingold's vote for some of Bush's more odious appointees, however, when everyone knows good and goddamn well that they'd flay any other Dem - such as Kerry - had they voted for these clowns.

[rox63]

9. There's a sizable Armenian community in MA as well

Although I don't think Kerry was thinking about their votes when he did this. :)

[_dynamicdems]

10. Genocide Denial Bill Passes in France! Wow!

Check out this article:

Genocide Denial Bill Passes in France
By EMMANUEL GEORGES-PICOT (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
October 12, 2006 5:41 AM EDT
PARIS - French lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill making it a crime to deny that mass killings of Armenians in Turkey during and after World War I amounted to genocide.

Deputies in the National Assembly voted 106-19 for the bill, which has prompted outrage in Turkey and embarrassed the French government. The issue has become intertwined with Turkey's efforts to join the
European Union.

snip

The French bill would recognize the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1919 as genocide, and those who contest a genocide would risk up to a year in prison and fines of up to $56,000.


snip

French governing party lawmaker Patrick Devedjian responded at Thursday's session by saying, "Turkey has no lesson to teach us about the repression of opinion."

http://enews.earthlink.net/channel/news/print?guid=20061012/452dbdc0_3421_13345200610121617642734

This probably won't be signed into law but it sure sends a message about the genocide to Turkey. And we forbid our embassadors from saying it WAS a genocide. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

[beachmom]

12. Yes, but that's just another example of the hypocricy in Europe

of limiting free speech while letting the Danes publish cartoons offensive to Muslims. I believe in free speech period. Even denying the Holocaust or the Turkish genocide (that British Holocaust denier went to jail in Austria; absolutely nuts. It's not like people denying the devastating slaughter of American Indians go to jail in America.). They could have done a "sense of the French parliament" that said France recognizes the genocide and all new members of the EU must, too. But to say it's a crime just tells me that the French don't respect real free speech, as we have in the U.S. under the first amendment.

Sorry to take this off topic a little, but I am mad at Europe for a number of things and this is one of them.

(I think the Danes had the right to publish those cartoons, btw. Whether it was prudent is another question.)

[_dynamicdems]

13. I hear ya, but this hasn't been signed into law yet.

It seems doubtful that it will. My take on this was that they were trying to give the Turkish government a taste of their own medicine. It might be one of those things that they vote on knowing it will never get signed into law. Just MHO.

[blm]

11. This would be a good point to throw to GD and see what people think.

There are alot of Minnesota posters.

[_dynamicdems]

14. I'm heading out now. If you want to take the ball and run, be my guest.

Or I can tackle it later in the day. You'd probably do a lot better job than I would the way my mind has been a sieve lately.