Good afternoon, Patriots.
It's almost old news now, but the saga surrounding Army service member Bowe Bergdahl and his release from Taliban captivity is still ongoing and is likely to remain so for some time. At this point, there figures to be plenty more media coverage and no small amount of speculation regarding every aspect of the entire ordeal. Topics ranging from the timeline between Bergdahl's disappearance to when he was released, whether or not he actually was a deserter, why he did so if he did, and the release of five previously incarcerated Taliban members have already been covered ad nauseum and that's not likely to change anytime soon.
I've often complained in the past that when a major scandal or other news story breaks, the media (and hence, many of the American people) tend to ignore what I believe should be front and center concerning the news story. For example, on the minimum wage debate, few people talk about inflation. In my estimation, however, inflation is the main driver of higher costs and the subsequent need for higher wages in the first place. Concerning Benghazi, the focus has usually been on what the President knew and when he knew it, or what he did or did not do. My argument, in contrast, has been that our presence and meddling in that region of the world in the first place is the root cause of atrocities like Benghazi.
You get the idea. There is a disturbing tendency to ignore what matters most in many news stories that break every day across America and the world.
Thankfully, however, that doesn't appear to be entirely the case concerning the Bergdahl story. Recently, it came to light that President Obama and his cabinet failed to properly and lawfully notify Congress ahead of his brokering the deal with the Taliban for Bergdahl's release. This was a direct violation of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014, specifically with regard to Section 1033 concerning Counterterrorism. This section specifically mandates that the Secretary of Defense notify Congress at least thirty (30) days ahead of any prisoner transfer from Guantanomo Bay, Cuba; where the prisoners were being kept. The President's cabinet did not do that.
Once the story broke, I was pleasantly surprised to see not only the media shining a bright light on the entire sordid subject, but also plenty of outrage on both sides of the political aisle from several key members of Congress; most notably from Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). Sen. Graham has even gone so far to threaten impeachment proceedings if the President repeats his actions in this manner again.
Once again, the story here is not Bergdahl, his dereliction of duty, his beliefs, his family, or even the five Taliban prisoners who were released from captivity. The issue here is the rule of law and the fact that the President clearly broke it in pursuit of his own unilateral agenda. President Obama and his Secretary of Defense are bound by the rules found in Section 1033 of NDAA, yet when it came time to pose as a hero for the cameras, all of that went out the window. The President broke the law to which he was bound, and in doing so, put the nation's security at risk.
Of course, if we really want to broaden this topic, we could frame the question like this: why do we, the American people, keep putting up with it? Why don't we take a stand against tyranny by either 1) voting OUT of office the very tyrants who keep pursuing actions like this, and/or 2) resisting with an armed response if necessary? Why are we often all too happy to go right along with whatever unconstitutional action or law the government takes or imposes upon us minus any effort to say "hell no!" on our part? Where is our breaking point?
Bowe Bergdahl will soon be yesterday's news, but the propensity for wealthy politicians in the highest offices of power to basically thumb their nose at the very laws meant to constrain them and their power will likely never be.
It is our duty to resist such tyranny at every turn.
Praesent Libero!
-Warren Brisbane
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