When the President of the United States says he wants to address Congress, it is not normally up for discussion but then again, these are far from normal times in Washington DC.
Barack Obama is taking heat for agreeing to reschedule a major economic speech, because Republicans effectively told him they had other plans.
Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane reports.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Democrats Urge Weiner to Resign, New Photos Emerge
REUTERS: New lewd photos emerged of Representative Anthony Weiner on Sunday as Democratic party leaders renewed calls for him to resign over an Internet sex scandal that prompted him to seek a leave and treatment.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee, said party leaders including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi decided to make a coordinated push for Weiner to step down once it was clear he did not intend to do so.
"At the end of the day a member of Congress makes their own decision and that's certainly going to be up to Anthony Weiner," Wasserman Schultz said on NBC's "Meet the Press".
"But we have made clear that he needs to resign, he needs to focus on getting his own personal issues in order, focus on his family and do the right thing for his constituents." » | Deborah Charles | WASHINGTON | Sunday, June 12, 2011
Rep. Weiner Seeks Treatment; Leave of Absence
June 11 - U.S. lawmaker Weiner seeks treatment and leave of absence after sex scandal. Deborah Lutterbeck reports
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Netanyahu Addresses US Congress
Monday, January 03, 2011
How Republicans and Tea Party Will Use Congress to Bash Barack Obama
THE GUARDIAN: The phoney peace is over: US right plans to tackle healthcare reforms and federal budget
John Boehner, the Republican leader who is expected to replace Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. Photograph: The Guardian
The Republican party is to use the new Congress, which begins on Wednesday, to mount a guerrilla campaign aimed at destroying Barack Obama's healthcare reforms, slashing the federal budget and preparing the ground for his defeat in the 2012 White House race.
When the Senate and House convene at noon, both will be awash with Republican members elected in November's crushing victories over the Democrats, many of them backed by the Tea Party movement.
In a political shift comparable to the Republican takeover of Congress in 1995 and the Democrats in 2007, the Republicans have a strong platform to harry Obama, having won control of the House and reduced the Democratic majority in the Senate.
The handover of power in the House will take place on Wednesday after a bipartisan prayer service at St Peter's Catholic church. Members will vote in the House for a new Speaker, and Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to hold that post, will pass the gavel to the Republican leader, John Boehner.
Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues are to meet behind closed doors in Washington tomorrow to discuss strategy for coping with the shift in power and how to protect the gains they have made over the last two years. Read on and comment >>> Ewen MacAskill in Washington | Monday, January 03, 2011
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
German Chancellor Speaks in US Congress
Angela Merkels Rede vor dem US-Kongress am 3. November 2009
Angela Merkel: Rede vor US-Kongress
Angela Merkels "bewegende Rede" vor dem amerikanischen Kongress
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Congress Shows Its Commitment to Freedom of Expression by Welcoming Geert Wilders. Americans Have More Backbone Than Craven Brits
It is a nonsense to imply that only Geert Wilders claims that Islam inspires terrorism. It is a fact that it does so; and anybody who knows anything about Islam knows that. It should come as no surprise to those at the top. In fact, if they were on top of their jobs, they wouldn’t need people like Geert Wilders to tell them the facts!
It is shameful and idiotic for the British government to have turned Geert Wilders away at Heathrow. In doing so, Brown & Co have shot the messenger. Always a stupid thing to do! In doing so, they have shown that they are not committed to freedom of expression, and not committed to liberty, either. The Brown government, with its craven Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, and Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, a woman of manifest incompetence, has disgraced Great Britain. She has destroyed Britain’s image of being the mother of all democracies. I can think of no action this government could have taken to do more damage to the freedoms Brits have enjoyed over the centuries, and nor can I think of any action it could have taken to demean the reputation of this once proud nation. Churchill will surely be turning in his grave!
But, of course, anyone with a few grey cells knows why this government banned him: Out of fear of Muslims, fear of Islam, and fear of losing the Muslim vote. Far more Muslims vote Labour than Conservative. Furthermore, Lord Ahmed, the Muslim peer, wields far too much power in the House of Lords. He should be cut down to size.
For anyone who thinks that Geert Wilders is showing double standards by wanting freedom for himself to warn the West of the dangers of Islam and Islamofascism whilst wanting to ban the Koran at the same time, divest yourself of the notion. There are no double standards there at all. Even in a free society, if you find that there is a growing ideology out there which wants to destroy the freedoms you enjoy, then you’d be a fool not to ban it. After all, this is not without precedence, is it? Nobody can form a Nazi party in the United Kingdom; and as Geert Wilders says, Mein Kampf is banned in the Netherlands, as it is in Germany and Austria. Yet these nations still enjoy freedom.
THE TELEGRAPH: Republican Senator Jon Kyl is hosting a film screening at the Capitol building in Washington for a [sic] the controversial Right-wing Dutch politician who claims that Islam inspires terrorism.
Mr Kyl is sponsoring the Thursday event for Geert Wilders, who was denied entry to Britain earlier this month after British officials said he posed a threat to public order.
The Home Office refused him entry on the grounds he "would threaten community security and therefore public security".
The elected Dutch MP had been invited to the House of Lords to show his 17-minute film, Fitna, which criticises the Koran as a "fascist book" and compares Islam to Nazism.
Mr Wilders' 15-minute film, Fitna, juxtaposes verses from the Koran with images of violence and compares Islam to Nazism.
Mr Wilders has defended himself against accusations of "double standards" over his own demand for freedom of speech alongside his calls for the Koran to be banned.
MAIL Online: Now Dutch MP Who Was Banned from Britain for His Anti-Islam Film Is Welcomed in the U.S.
Jon Kyl, host of the American film screening of Fitna, Geert Wilders’ amazingly accurate depiction of Islam. Photo courtesy of the Mail Online
A controversial Dutch MP banned from Britain for his fair right views will be allowed to screen his controversial anti-Islamic film in United States.
Geert Wilders, who was last month refused entry into Britain, will screen screen his anti-Islam film Fitna in Washington in two days time.
Republican Senator Jon Kyl will host Thursday's film screening for the far-right Dutch lawmaker who claims that Islam inspires terrorism.
The 15-minute film sparked controversy after it juxtaposed verses from the Koran with images of violence by Muslims. Wilders had been invited to Britain by a member of Parliament's upper house, the House of Lords, to show his film.
But the British government refused his entry into the country, saying he posed a threat to 'community harmony.' The Dutch MP also called Koran a 'fascist book' and said it should be banned.
But Kyl agreed to hold the event because he said 'all too often, people who have the courage to point out the dangers of militant Islamists find themselves vilified and endangered.'
Thursday's event is being sponsored by the International Free Press Society and is headed by Danish activist Lars Hedegaard, and the Center for Security Policy, a think tank in Washington led by Republican Frank Gaffney. >>> Mail Foreign Service | Tuesday, February 24, 2009
VIDDLER: Fitna
DIE PRESSE: Islam-Kritiker Wilders zeigt seinen Film im US-Kapitol
Der niederländische Abgeordnete Geert Wilders wird am Donnerstag seinen umstrittenen Kurzfilm "Fitna" auf Einladung des republikanischen Senators Kyl vorführen. Ein ähnliches Vorhaben in London scheiterte wegen eines Einreiseverbots.
Der niederländische Abgeordnete Geert Wilders wird am Donnerstag seinen umstrittenen Anti-Islam-Kurzfilm "Fitna" im Kapitol, dem Sitz des US-Kongresses in Washington, zeigen. Eingeladen hat ihn der republikanische US-Senator Jon Kyl. Das teilte Kyls Sprecher Ryan Patmintra am Montag mit.
Mit einem ähnlichen Vorhaben in Großbritannien war Wilders Anfang des Monats gescheitert. Auch dort wollte er auf Einladung eines Mitglieds des Oberhauses den Film zeigen. Die britische Regierung belegte den Rechtspopulisten jedoch wegen Islam-feindlicher Äußerungen mit einem Einreiseverbot. Er sei nicht willkommen, weil er eine Bedrohung für "die Harmonie der Gemeinschaft und damit die öffentlichen Sicherheit" darstelle, erklärte die Regierung. Film-Vorführung nicht öffentlich >>> Ag | Dienstag, 24. Februar 2009
Muslim Congressman's Hajj Paid for by Muslim Brotherhood Front Group
JIHAD WATCH: The Muslim Brotherhood "must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions." -- "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America," by Mohamed Akram, May 19, 1991.
What does that have to do with Congressman Ellison? Everything. The Muslim American Society paid for his Hajj. And what is the Muslim American Society? The Muslim Brotherhood. >>> Robert Spencer | Friday, December 19, 2008
