Congressional Representation Or Repression?

By Dallas Darling
Courtesy Of "World News Network"

When Congressman Allen West, Republican from Florida, reacted strongly against a bipartisan amendment to end the trillion dollar war in Afghanistan by declaring anti-war colleagues should "get shot" to understand the true threat of the Taliban, it showed how representation can sometimes turn into repression. Sadly, it also revealed a tyrannical past of how other anti-war members of Congress, starting with Jeanette Rankin, have been repeatedly bullied and even threatened.

Elected to the House of Representatives in 1916, Rankin was the first woman to serve in Congress. She believed in true representation, in that, she wanted to characterize to the best of her ability the men, women and children from the state of Montana. She also thought it was of vital importance to express clearly that the women in America were now going to hold Congress accountable in dealing with the nation's important issues like child labor, education, illegal monopolist practices, sexism, racism, and pacifism.

Initially, and when she took her oath of office, Rankin was greeted with cheers and loud applause from both parties. Congresses' euphoria over the first female representative was short lived, though, due to her pacifist views. Her pacifist views towards war would be severely tested when on April 4, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson appeared before Congress asking for a declaration of war against Germany. After a House debate over the war resolution, Rankin was called upon to vote.

Subsequent to having been pressured by other members of Congress to vote for "yes" for a declaration of war, Rankin recounts how "it was a different roll call from any I had ever seen from the gallery, and that "every vote was watched with intensity and scrutiny." Rankin finally stood and said, "I want to stand by my country. But I cannot vote for war. I vote no."(1) Immediately, some Congressional members booed and hissed. Others rushed over and tried bullying and threatening her to change her mind.

In Montana's "Helena Independent," Rankin was labeled a "dagger in the hands of the German propagandist, a dupe of the Kaiser, a member of the Hun army in the United States."(2) Rumors spread that she was crying while casting her vote and therefore, she was timid, weak, feeble-minded, and not fit to lead Montana or to be a Congresswoman. At the same time, verbal death threats abounded while hate mail poured in. This occurred despite many in the nation wanting to stay out of war too.

The war to end all wars and to make the world safe for democracy, just like the preemptive wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, was questionable at best. Not only did U.S. entrance into World War One prolong the conflict, but it allowed the Allies to punish Germany, taking territories away and forcing Germany to admit to the guilt of the war. It also led to political and economic upheavals in both Europe and the U.S. Meanwhile, Wall Street investments and American armaments industries grew dependent on Europe.

Over the years, Congress became a mascot for corporate warmongers and imprisoned by executive war powers. By saying that he would like to take his anti-war colleagues over to Afghanistan and let them get shot at a few times by the Taliban, so as to change their minds, West is merely mirroring years of repressing dissent and freedom in Congress. He also made disparaging remarks about Islam, claiming the Quran commands Muslims to carry out attacks against innocent people. He has yet to prove the existence a passage.

West, a Tea Party favorite and a retired Army officer who was discharged after beating an unarmed Iraqi and shooting at his head, finally won a seat in Congress by raising millions of dollars and by outspending his opponent nearly two to one. He initially appointed Joyce Kaufman as chief of staff. Kaufman had to resign, though, after she said immigrants who commit crimes should be hanged and that bullets sometimes work better than ballots. West has shared similar sentiments in Town Hall Meetings.

As West accuses Congressional members of "not fighting a smart war" for wanting to end the enormous military expenditures in Afghanistan, he might want to know that a majority of Americans believe the war in Afghanistan has been too costly. In truth, it is bankrupting the nation. With millions of people unemployed and without food and medicines, and with millions more, including children, slipping into poverty and homelessness, it appears West is the one not fighting a smart war.

Representative government is supposed to be a government authorized by the people to act on their behalf. Representation should always improve the public debate by causing ideas to be refined through a select body of citizens. It is obvious West is only serving his own narrow militant-like ideologies and interests, ones that have been bought with millions of dollars. He is also trying to demean and silence others, including the ability to think and question freely and to debate openly.

In a representative democracy, people are theoretically sovereign. But once they elect representatives, the people retain their sovereignty only in a passive sense until the next election. They remain passive, that is, only if they wait for the next election. In the face of West's austere repression and attempted purge of pro-peace Congressional colleagues, Floridians cannot remain idle until the next election. They should either petition West for his irresponsible comments or remove him from office.

If Floridians do not recall West, then, they are really only free at the time of the election. (Unfortunately, the same could also be said of most Americans wanting to end the war in Afghanistan.) Remember too, and like Rankin said, there are other ways to stand by one's nation other than being a soldier for needless wars and an imperial army. In this crucial juncture of American history, the true citizen warrior might be the one who rejects congressional repression and a police state and its wars.

Dallas Darling (darling@wn.com)

(*Note: At this moment, the U.S.-Afghan War is costing Americans $10 billion each month. Having lasted more than ten years and with no end in sight, the price tag of the war is, and will continue to be, exorbitant, even unaffordable.)

(Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' writings at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.)

(1) Boller, Paul F. Congressional Anecdotes. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 1991, p.207.

(2) Ibid., p. 207.