From the DC Gazette:
State Senator Refuses “To Eat With Tahmooressi’s Captors” Declines Luncheon Invitation
Excerpt…
(Sen Joel) Anderson declined an official invitation to a luncheon honoring Mexican President Pena Nieto. The reason is simple; prisoner Andrew Tahmooressi. Anderson said in a statement, “I do not have an appetite for foreign officials who deny U.S. citizens their basic human rights. I am concerned that our military would feel betrayed if it appeared we condoned the harsh and unfair treatment of Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi.”
Former gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly, also a Republican, recently declined the same invitation.
Comments 11
By not attending the luncheon, did Senator Anderson help Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi in any way?
Correct me if I am wrong, but I would think that an ‘in your face’ confrontation with the Mexican President would be far more effective than not being there at the luncheon.
.
Am I wrong? your thoughts please.
Too bad Governor Brown didn’t have the guts to question the President about this. Here is Brown stating that he welcomes all to California, but he refuses to ask the President a simple question.
I applaud Anderson for his stance, and I condemn Brown for doing nothing. Yes, I would have preferred Anderson to have gone and confront the President on this issue, but Brown could have and should have done that, and didn’t.
Lee,
I am not sure it is ever appropriate to have “an in your face confrontation” with the President of a foreign country. I think Senator Anderson’s refusal to attend the luncheon sends the proper message especially if his rsvp included a note respectfully explaining his reason for declining the invitation.
thanks Hypocrisy for your reply
if our politicians (backed by San DIegoans) do not take a strong stand and start a pushback (ie boycott of Tijuana) I fear for Tahmooressi’s future.
In this politically correct world, we must be the squeaky wheel when it comes to our veterans
or
Tahmooressi could be spending years in a Mexican prison..
I would have had lunch with the Mexican President. How are you going to convince him to intervene with the Tahmooressi case? Sitting at the same table with him would have been best in my humble opinion. What a lost opportunity! Our State Assembly needs to rally together to plea for his release.
to my reply to ‘Hypocrisy questioned’
an ‘in your face confrontation ‘.will not work, I realize that now.
to the Mexican president, I would be calm and clear and say this.
I know the president and governor need to be politically correct on this issue of Tahmooressi.
But the fact is: The American people want their marine back. Whatever it takes.
I would like to give you an opportunity to see what you can do to get him released immediately.. .
However, if you do not have the power to accomplish that, just know that as they say ‘Politics is local’.
International trade is important but not necessary for our city to thrive. We intend to ‘stand down’ on trade and community relations. Also in the future, when your police come over our border armed or unarmed, we will prosecute them to the fullest extant of the law, not allow them to go back across the border as we have been. .
We take that military pledge seriously ‘ do not leave a fallen man behind. Do not take us for the same fools who gave that stand down order during ‘Benghazi’.
What say you?
=================
That is what I would say if I were at that luncheon. Meanwhile – Tahmooressi is still in prison with a court date in November? with his life savings gone – all to pay attorney fees. What say you?. .
“Do not leave a fallen man behind.”
I wish we would remember that when it comes to each of the thousands of homeless veterans who are not deemed important enough for a spot on the evening news or an “outrage speech” by a Congressman.
reply to ‘Hypocrisy questioned’-
you are so right. our freedom and liberty is ours because of them – the veterans – homeless or not
I challenge everyone to make the lives of our veterans more meaningful by taking 2 actions.
1 – volunteer 4 hours of your time (or contribute the same amount) to a veterans organization
2 – Remember their service and sacrifice by standing up and uniting against the president that promises to ‘fundamentally transform the United States of America’ (one of Obama’s campaign promises)
– sorry to be so preachy – but there you go. .
Lee,
I am with you on #1, but not on #2. No matter what you think of President Obama, or what you thought of any previous President for that matter, he is duly elected and he is the Commander In Chief. That fact alone should command your respect.
If this Country has lost some of its mojo in the last 40 years, it is due in great part to the lack of respect shown to our elected leaders and the offices they hold. Disagreeing with and debating policy decisions is healthy, treating our elected leaders as if they are the enemy is destructive.
in reply to Hypocrisy questioned –
“…the lack of respect shown to our elected leaders…”
we lost that respect when our elected officials publicly ignore the law or apply it selectively.
we lost respect when our politicians make the almighty dollar their goal vs keeping our constitutional republic intact. .
also when our gov’t can spend 30 million (or 3 million, I forgot) for a grant to sex workers in Brazil but unable to provide good medical care to our veterans – that is when we need to stop this unthinkable abuse of our system and make things right.
Lee,
“we lost that respect when our elected officials publicly ignore the law or apply it selectively.
we lost respect when our politicians make the almighty dollar their goal vs keeping our constitutional republic intact.”
Where have you been? Elected officials, as well as others, have been ignoring “inconvenient” laws for at least as long as I can remember, probably since 1776. I don’t know you so I could be wrong, but I would guess that even you occasionally “ignore a law or apply it selectively.”
The point is that if we as Americans do not respect our elected leaders and our government, why should the rest of the world? We can, and should, have our internal policy debates, but there used to be a time when those debates ended at our borders and we showed a unified resolve to the rest of the world.
It would be nice if, once again, Country came before Party.