Misleading our state's military families
I have just watched Hampton Dellinger's latest ad, which you'll find posted at Under the Dome. Hampton claims as lieutenant governor, he will bring our National Guard troops home. He won't.
That's because the lieutenant governor has no say as to when our troops come home. Neither does the governor. Hampton's outrageous claim is pure pandering.
As a retired lieutenant colonel in the National Guard, I am always glad to see candidates acknowledge our military members and their relatives, who worry every day when their loved ones are away. But we don't need misleading statements and empty promises. We need real solutions, and someone who has the needed understanding of the military and state government to put them into action. Those of us who gather here understand it takes more than lip service to get things done.
I hope you will join me in continuing to demand our candidates speak honestly and forthrightly. I appreciate your support.
With best wishes, I am sincerely,
Pat Smathers
www.patsmathers2008.com
- PSmathers2008's blog
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I pray
for the day when honesty and forthrightness are hallmarks of North Carolina's political leadership. I fear we have a long, long way to go on both sides of the aisle.
Good post, Mayor Smathers
Can some of the Hampton disciples please explain to me how he's going to bring troops home from Iraq?
Hampton's Response to Pat
Pat, I appreciate your concern and I hope that together we can draw more attention to the role of state government in bringing the National Guard home. And I am very grateful for your service in the National Guard. But I believe you are wrong when you say that neither the Governor nor the Lt. Governor has a say in how and when the Guard is deployed. Politics is known as the art of the possible, and strong statewide leadership most definitely can help bring our National Guard back home where it belongs.
Although responsibility for the war ultimately rests in Washington, the war won’t end until the people who have the loudest voices use them to speak up, and I firmly believe that North Carolina’s #2 elected official—who serves a state with a military tradition like no other—can speak with a booming voice if necessary. Rather than just wringing my hands in frustration and saying that nothing can be done, I’d use the power of the office to point out some things that you left out of your post.
First, the President can only send the National Guard to Iraq when he has authorization, and I just don’t think he has it anymore. The 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force gave the President power to use the Armed Forces to defend the country against the continuing threat posed by Saddam Hussein, and to enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq. Saddam is dead and there are no Security Council resolutions left to be implemented in Iraq. In the absence of any authority to keep the Guard in Federal service abroad, that authority over them should revert back to the states.
Recognizing the absence of authorization for the war, legislators in lots of other states, including Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin are considering legislation, referenda, or other ways of bringing their Guardsmen home. As Lt. Governor, I would work with the Governor and the state legislature to put North Carolina among that group. Putting pressure on Washington is the very least we can do.
And here’s the most important thing: political pressure from state leaders is already working. As part of the 2006 defense appropriations act, Congress effectively gave the President almost unfettered control over the National Guard, despite the unanimous objection of all 50 governors. In January of this year, the Governors were able to get that law repealed, restoring their control over the militia during times of domestic emergency. The repeal of the 2006 law shows that coordinated efforts from state leaders can shape the laws that govern the Guard. http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/gns_guardcontrol_080130/
As Lt. Governor, I also plan to use the office to fight for veterans—including the Guard—in every way I can, starting with bringing them home.
I agree with you that candidates should speak honestly and forthrightly, and I think that for the most part everyone in this race has done so. That’s why it is disappointing to me that you to continue to wrongly challenge me with faulty facts. Earlier this week, you said, “there’s been no teachers organization that’s endorsed raising the dropout age.” http://yesweeklyblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/candidates-for-lieutenant-gove...
In fact, one of the items on the legislative agenda for the North Carolina Association of Educators, the teachers’ union with some 70,000 educators, is “Change compulsory attendance to 5-18.” http://ncae.org/gr/legagenda/agenda0708.pdf I think we’re all in agreement that raising the dropout age will not be a magic bullet that solves our dropout problem, but it’s clear that teachers around the state believe that it is an important step to take.
The Charlotte and Raleigh newspapers have looked at two television ads so far in our race. They found my first ad to be “accurate” http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/claims_dept_dellinger_re... and that Walter Dalton’s 30-second ad was “a 30-second exaggeration.” http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1050587.html I invite them to look at my latest ad as well.
You and others have often said that the office of Lt. Governor is what you make of it. Personally, I think that being North Carolina’s #2 elected official gives the Lt. Governor not just the right but the responsibility to speak out for the North Carolinians who are currently fighting overseas in a needless war. Promising to use the power of the office to fight for the things that matter most is what strong progressive leadership is all about.
Back to the polls....
Hampton Dellinger, Democrat for Lt. Governor
www.HD08.com
Follow-up
Hampton, this proves to be a flirtatious legal argument, but does not stand up to reality. The Governors were successful in maintaining control of their National Guard units for “domestic disturbances” as required by the Constitution including natural disasters such as Katrina. However, Iraq is a foreign conflict. It is just plain wrong for you to flirt with the truth to gain votes by providing false hope. Our veterans and their families have already been misled enough by the Bush Administration. I encourage you to live up to our state motto: Esse Quam Videri. To be rather than to seem.
And my reply
Pat, this just reinforces my point. The governors didn’t “maintain” control of their National Guard units for domestic disturbances—they went to Washington and successfully fought to get that power back after Congress took it away. You don’t have to take my word for it - here’s an article about how they lost it http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=170453 - and here’s one about how they won it back: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/gns_guardcontrol_080130/
As I said clearly in my post, war is the prerogative of Washington. But the longer we stand on the sidelines, abdicating our responsibilities as voices for North Carolina and its veterans, the longer we give Washington the political cover to draw out this needless war.
False hope is wrong, but so is false defeatism. I haven't engaged in the former, and I don't think you should embrace the latter. I welcome any substantive explanation of why sustained political pressure from state leaders is destined to fail. But unless you or anybody else can show me why it’s a lost cause, I stand by my pledge to work to bring North Carolina’s National Guard home from Iraq.
Regards, Hampton
Well, go ahead and sue the government then
Let me know how it works out for North Carolina, especially when it's time for the next round of BRAC.
I think advocating for NC's National Guard troops to come home
is an admirable thing. I think promising something you have no power to deliver is - well - wrong. Just plain wrong. I'd like for Hampton to come here and explain what he meant. Because he knows just as Pat and just as the rest of us do that neither the Governor nor the Lt. Governor has that power, or Kathleen Siblelius would have done it in Kansas a long time ago. And one hopes that Governor Easley would have done it a long time ago, too.
Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi
Pointing at Naked Emperors
please watch the ad, because he doesn't promise
He says he'll work for better jobs throughout the state and to bring our National Guard home from Iraq.
I think Hamp's post above is spot on.
"Hampton Dellinger WILL be a great Lieutenant Governor." - Al Gore.
naysaying is not what politics is about
Politics is about creativity and leadership. It is not just about institutional power, but about the ability to persuade. I believe a LG can lead on issues by by using numerous tools: bureaucratic levers, persuading law makers and speaking DIRECTLY to the public--who then put pressure on legislators. I believe Hampton could lead on the National Guard issue. Why not?
Optimism is a good thing in politics. Cold cynicism is the LAST thing i want in our leaders. Some people are saying Obama is promising a bunch of stuff he can't deliver on. Rubbish. Leadership is about doing what others thought impossible.
leadership
It is worth pointing out, I think, that there is nothing in the NC Constitution or Statutes which empowers the Lt. Governor to stop the federal government from closing military bases in our state, but our current Lt. Governor makes no small amount of hay over her pivotal role in influencing the BRAC process.
If the next Lt. Governor sits in that house on Blount Street and does only what is strictly within the bounds of the Constitutional description of the job, I hope he has a nice deck of cards available, and lots of variations on solitaire. The Nintendo Wii is a nice diversion, too. Super Mario Galaxy takes weeks to finish.
The kind of thinking that Dellinger lays out above is exactly why the Observer said his ideas were "bold, but rooted in our state's traditions." Like the Independent said, what Hampton is running on may have little to do with the official responsibilities of the office, but they have EVERYTHING to do with being a state-level Democratic leader.
"Hampton Dellinger WILL be a great Lieutenant Governor." - Al Gore.
YES
Right on, Dr.
P.S. everyone
that's EXACTLY why Hampton has hundreds of volunteers across the state running an incredible grassroots campaign. People are genuinely excited. I had a women come up to me at the poll and say she voted for Hamp. She did her own research online and became excited about him. She said he is the only candidate this year, aside from Obama, that she is truly thrilled about. No lesser of the two evils in this race.
I don't like politicians making empty promises
I can't believe the lieutenant governor is going to be successful at all in bringing our troops back, and I think it's irresponsible to campaign on that kind of an issue and raise the hopes of wives, children, etc., that their mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, etc., can be brought back early if we elect the right person as lieutenant governor. That kind of promise would be okay for a candidate running for Congress, but I just think it's a bad case of pandering myself.
it's funny (but actually sad) how everyone is trying to
squeeze all the hope out of Hampton*. Seriously, guys, give me a break.
*Obviously being a little tongue-in-cheek with the Obama allusion, but I stand behind the gist of the statement.