Jac VerSteegWhat do Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush and some Florida lawmakers have in common?
They’ve all said some pretty disturbing things recently about the use of military power.
Hmmm. I guess I also should add Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio to the list.
Start with Jeb. By now you’ve probably seen his latest cringe-worthy video.
Standing in front of a banner that promises “Trusted Leadership for a Stronger America,” Jeb Bush tells a New Hampshire audience that: “I won’t be out there blowhard, talking a big game without backing it up. I think the next president needs to be a lot quieter but send a signal that we’re prepared to act in the national security interest of this country to get back in the business of creating a more peaceful world.”
Pause. Silence.
“Please clap,” pleads Jeb.
No word describes it better than pathetic. I imagine Dr. Phil would say those words pierce to the heart of Jeb’s entire run for president. “Please clap.” Is he begging his Mom? His Dad?
Jeb’s pitiable plea overshadowed his saber-rattling message. The audience was right not to applaud. Jeb was promising the same interventionist policies his brother used to drag America into Iraq.
Rubio promises the same kind of thing, by the way. Trump and Cruz are even worse, offering idiotic suggestions about carpet bombing ISIS. The difference? Rubio and especially Trump and Cruz don’t have to beg their supporters to clap. They are better blowhards than Bush.
But then look at what Hillary said during last Thursday’s debate with Bernie Sanders. “I am against American combat troops being in Iraq and Syria,” she said. “I support Special Forces. I support trainers. I support the air campaign.”
As the AP noted in its fact-check on the debate, Special Forces are combat troops. The Obama administration has been quietly and incrementally increasing the use of Special Forces in its war against ISIS. “Trainers” might not engage in combat as a first priority, but they certainly can be swept up in combat. And since when is an air campaign that kills people not “combat?”
A promise not to send “combat troops” that includes a loophole for an unspecified number of “Special Forces” troops is not a promise at all. Hold your applause.
Any talk by candidates that suggests an escalation of military missions is of deep concern in Florida, which is home to so many military installations.
What has the Florida Legislature got to do with all this? A House committee has approved the so-called “Prevention of Acts of War” bill. Under the bill, the AP reports, “Florida’s governor would be able to use military force to keep out immigrants or refugees from certain parts of the world.”
The bill, CS/HB 1095, sponsored by Rep. Lake Ray, R-Jacksonville, passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee on a party line 9-4 vote.
This, like Jeb Bush’s “Please clap,” is almost funny. Almost. Governors appropriately have power to call out the National Guard in emergencies. It would be a terrible mistake — and most likely unconstitutional — to turn governors into mini-commanders-in-chief, able to unilaterally inject military force into events that properly rest with the president and Congress.
Article 1, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution, which the House bill cites as its authority, actually puts severe limits on the military powers of states and relies on definitions of “invasion” and “imminent danger” that the Florida bill most likely does not fulfill. A few terrorists sneaking into the state would be a bad thing. But it would not be an “invasion” under the Constitution.
Do we really want Florida’s governor, or any governor, to be granted powers that would allow him or her to initiate an act of war against Syria or Iran or whatever other country the governor decides is trying to invade the state? This bill doesn’t prevent “acts of war,” it promotes them.
Look at all these things our candidates and lawmakers are doing and saying.
They’re irrational. They’re frightening. So, please don’t clap.
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Jac Wilder VerSteeg is a columnist for The South Florida Sun Sentinel, former deputy editorial page editor for The Palm Beach Post and former editor of Context Florida. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
