Republicans tout Governor Sarah Palin's experience as commander-in-chief of the Alaska National Guard as preparation to be commander in chief of the United States.
Let me tell you what a Governor who is commander-in-chief does -- or more accurately, does not do. She does not command.
I was commander-in-chief of the Vermont National Guard when I was governor of Vermont from 1985 to 1991. I flew in a helicopter when I visited the troops at Camp Drum where they were doing their summer training each year. I attended ceremonial events and had my picture taken with the troops, just like Governor Palin. That was it.
I had zero authority over the troops. I even tested my power during my term of office when I objected to the Vermont National Guard being sent to Honduras for training. I was responding to many of my constituents who objected to the guard being deployed there because they feared it would heighten U.S. participation in the strife in Nicaragua.
I was promptly told, "No way." To make certain that no Governor tried to be "commander-in-chief" of the national guard the Congress passed a law in 1987, called, the Montgomery amendment which states "that a governor cannot withhold consent with regard to active duty outside of the United States." In 2007, governors' powers were whittled down further by the John Warner Defense Administration Act: "the Governor of a state is no longer the sole commander-in-chief of the National Guard during emergencies within the state. The President of the United States will now be able to take control of a state's National Guard units without the governor's consent."
Governor Palin may have some qualities that would enable her to perform as Vice President, but being commander-in-chief of the Alaska National Guard is not one of them.
Madeleine M. Kunin is the former Governor of Vermont and was the state's first woman governor. She served as Ambassador to Switzerland for President Clinton, and was on the three-person panel that chose Al Gore to be Clinton's VP. She is the author of Pearls, Politics, and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead from Chelsea Green Publishing.
Republicans are big supporters of the 2nd Amendment in regard to gun rights. But the 2nd Amendment more specifically gives states the power to control their citizen militias.
Yet the Republicans supported the Montgomery Amendment in 1987 because the California Governor was attempting to refuse to allow his National Guard to be trained in Honduras. And Republican John Warner passed the Warner Act in 2007 removing power of Governors over their Guard even during times of State Emergency.
But of course, like most issues, Republicans are only for State's rights except in cases, like the Guard, when they are against them.
She actually had to make a choice and unlike Obama (sp?) she could not play it both ways until the answer played out.
Like the Surge Ogoya (sp?) said it did not work and when everyone including Dems said it did. His statement mysteriously vanished from his website.
As a real leader like a Mayor or Gov of a state you have to make the tough choice and stick by it.
Like drilling for Oil. Let me check out side to see which way the winds blowing so I can write what Osama's (sp?) position is right now
So why not just vote no? Sometimes a present vote is used to show a willingness to comprimise on the messure if modifications are changed. Sometimes it is used if there is an agreement in principle, but a beleif that it is unenforcable or unconstitutional. Sometimes it IS used to not take a stance. But you need to do more that read the "talking points" of the Republicans spin to know how he actually stood on any of the issues they question.
Your excerpted quotes are quite troubling. The laws you cite ALL deserve to be challenges on constitutional grounds. The founders most certainly did NOT want to see a standing army at the command of the President. They most distinctly wanted the powers to raise, and command, the army to be separate. What you describe is a de facto work-around. So much for the "states' rights" crowd.
She would ask them to pray.
That's the 'unitary executive theory' thinking in action, right there.
I wonder if Palin knows what the unitary executive theory is?
Thanks for trying with regard to Nicaragua. We can always count on Vermonters to do the right thing.
(Huffpo censors: I am serious with this comment. I admire Vermont as a state, and I thought our C American foreign policy during the Cold War was absolutely shameful. Pls. read the comment before deleting. This got deleted the first time).
This "Commander-in-Chief or the Guard" meme just really gets my dander up. First, as you point out, it's meaningless. Second, bleeding McCain was CAREER MILITARY. He KNOWS it's meaningless, and is lying to the American public with a straight face. I'd really like to see the media be put in a position where they have to report that.
You may know this, but the National Review Online published a piece (which I think came from blackfive -- a mega-military blog) suggesting that Palin may have exotic security clearances, because one of the units in the AK NG is the 49th Missile Defense Battalion. Now, the 49th is our toy Star Wars deployment, which probably does have some heavy classification -- if only to conceal the results of tests -- but it is also permanently on active duty. NRO (or blackfive) seems to think this is a cool feature, but I believe wahat it actually means is that the 49th is permanently Federalized; ergo, the Gov is totally out of the chain of command.
I think it would be a really good idea to get the truth out there. I don't mind a little political spin, but I really hate it when people just lie, when they know they're lying.