October 2, 2009
Kerry Extorting DeMint?
To investigate the developing situation in Honduras, Senator JimDeMint, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, planned a congressional delegation trip to Honduras today (Friday).
At the last minute (on Thursday), John Kerry and Obama's State Department blocked Senator DeMint's fact-finding trip to Honduras.
Lefty bloggers are delighted:
"[DeMint] invoked Senate rules that allow a single Senator to "block" a vote on confirming various of President Obama's diplomatic nominees, including those for US Ambassador to the Organization of American States, US Ambassador to Brazil and Undersecretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, because he doesn't like the White House position against the Honduras coup. ...Good for Kerry for knocking DeMint on his ass with such a timely, karma-packed punch."
DeMint has issued the following statement:
"These bullying tactics by the Obama administration and Senator Kerry must stop, and we must be allowed to get to the truth in Honduras. Not a single U.S. Senator has traveled to Honduras to learn the facts on the ground. And the Obama administration won't allow Honduran officials or even businessmen to come to the U.S., either. While this administration has failed to act decisively in Afghanistan, it is has no problem cracking down on a democratic ally and one of the poorest nations in Latin America."Meanwhile, a thorough report from the Congressional Research Service directly contradicts President Obama's snap decision about the legality of then-President Zelaya's removal from office in June. Now, President Obama and Democrats' blind support for this would-be dictator and friend of Hugo Chavez will prevent members of Congress from learning the truth first hand."
Confirming the suspicions the lefty blogger quoted above, DeMint has indicated that Kerry's actions do indeed amount to retribution and extortion:
"They're telling me if I will just let a couple of their nominations go through without debate or a vote, then they will let me go on the trip," said Senator DeMint, speaking on the Mark Levin Show.