Earl Blumenauer Quotes
At a time when 2500 American soldiers have given their lives for the cause of bringing democracy to Iraq, it is sad and frustrating to watch the Republican establishment disgrace the exercise of democracy in our own House of Representatives.
United States, Congress, House. Congressional Record. Government Printing Office, 16 June 2006.
Thompson’s son was serving with U. S. forces in the Iraq War at the time.
The George W. Bush Administration had gone to war against Iraq for reasons that turned out not to be true, and then after a military victory with few casualties, botched the occupation of the country and a vicious insurgency developed bogging down the nation in its longest war in history. The major burden fell on the armed forces and their families. The hearings were in part examining the Bush Administration policies.
The “old” writing to which he was referring was a quotation from Roman Poet Horace. See {589060}.
The Centograph is a war memorial monument in London. On Remembrance Day, a British Patriotic Holiday, veterans march past the Centograph. The quotation is text uttered by one of her characters.
The Congress had applauded his message vigorously.
No one knew whether he was doing this as a joke, as a protest about the role of money in politics, or if he was seriously thinking of running for office or any combination of the three.
He was reacting to the protest of professional football player Colin Kaepernick—Quote 643305. Instead of standing and saluting as professional athletes have done for decades before games, Kaepernick had kneeled and refused to stand as a protest about the large number of unarmed Black young men who had been killed by police. . This caused great public criticism but also some initial support. Athletes who did this were potentially risking their multimillion dollar salary as this technically violated their contract to avoid anything embarrassing to the team. He also donated $1 million to programs in the area that were working to enhance Black/white understanding. Even those who disagreed with his choice of protest defended his right to do so, and after the initial furor, public opinion, while not in agreement about his method, tended to support him for having the courage of his convictions and using his celebrity for a worthy cause. Barnett was critical without appearing to denigrate the cause for which Kaepernick had protested or his right to protest.
The "It" referred to the fact that when he won the Gambian Presidential election, his predecessor refused to step down and had enough control of the military to prevent anyone else in the Gambia to force hium out. However a few neighboring Afriucan States sen troops into the Gambia. The Army did not want a way and so they stopped supporting the ex-president and he left the country in disgrace.
Earl Francis Blumenauer is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Oregon's 3rd congressional district since 1996. A member of the Democratic Party, his district includes most of Portland east of the Willamette River. Blumenauer previously spent over 20 years as a public official in Portland, including serving on the Portland City Council from 1987 until 1996, when he succeeded Ron Wyden in the U.S. House of Representatives, who had been elected to the U.S. Senate following the resignation of Bob Packwood.
