Speaker of the House, Representative John Boehner, invited Prime Minister of Israel to address Congress. Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the offer, and addressed Congress on March 3, 2015. The White House would say only that this was breaking with protocol. For a party that heralds Constitutional standards at every given opportunity, that no one has yet addressed GOP violations of Article II, Section 3, Clause 4, both stuns and appalls me.
"The President shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he/she shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he/she may adjourn them to such Time as he/she shall think proper; he/she shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he/she shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States."
Nowhere in Article I, will one find that Congress has any duty or authority to receive foreign dignitaries. This is an explicitly enumerated duty of the executive, wherein Speaker Boehner has trespassed. So, where's the lawsuit, removal from office procedures, censure of Congress? Where's ANY mention of this violation on political shows, radio, TV, or otherwise?
I argue no such story or argument exists because liberals just don't think this way. We tend to first not offend, and accusing republicans of undermining the President is a very strong claim. Sure there has been scores of useless attempts to undermine his signature legislation, making this Congress the least productive in our nation's history, but that doesn't mean anything, right??
Liberal Democrats and progressives alike need to stand up, and say what is happening here...
Speaker John Boehner and his Republican Congressional backers are undermining our Constitution, and thus the Country. They should be brought up on charges and dismissed from office.
