Where Senator Lugar was yesterday and why the attacks are unwarranted

[karynnj]

Yesterday, there was a Huffington Post article (posted on DU) and criticism from people like Rachel Maddow of the fact that Senator Lugar, who was invited to fly on air force one chose to decline. The spin was that he was being partisan. This in spite of the fact that he worked closely with Obama on the bill to control nuclear proliferation which was Obama's main Senate accomplishment - and a continuation of Nunn/Lugar. Lugar has also almost always shown respect for the Democrats on the SFRC committee.

So, where was he? He and Senator Kerry were at a meeting in DC on the role of forests in global warming. This is important as the SFRC will lead the effort on global warming in the Senate. This was likely scheduled long before the invitation was issued. It would be nice if people like the author of the Huffington Post or Rachel Maddow had bothered to ask Senator Lugar's office for a reason or his schedule - assuming a sitting Senator has no potential conflicts is silly. ( The following article is stolen from a Tay Tay post on DU JK - thanks Tay Tay)

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0209-avoided_deforestation.html

Kerry, Lugar: U.S. has opportunity to lead on climate, forest conservation


February 10, 2009

Bipartisan support for including forest protection as a solution to climate change

The United States can reassert itself as a global leader on the environment by supporting an initiative to fight climate change by protecting forests, said leaders from a broad range of political, environmental, development and business communities at a meeting on Capitol Hill Monday. Joined by senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar, the "Avoided Deforestation Partners" coalition called for Congress to include "strong tropical forest protection measures in U.S. climate change legislation" ahead of this December's climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"Deforestation is a critical national security challenge because of its connections with threats from climate change and food security," said Lugar (R-Indiana), the senior-most Republican in the United States Senate. "I hope the United States will show leadership in elevating these issues during the upcoming international climate negotiations."

"Tropical deforestation must be a part of the debate on both climate change and national security," added Kerry (D-Massachusetts), who currently serves as the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. "Around the globe, millions of people have seen their land and livelihoods degraded by deforestation, increasing instability in already troubled regions. At the same time, deforestation continues to release billions of tons of carbon dioxide, accelerating the worldwide climate changes already occurring. America must set the tone for the rest of the world by including smart, effective forest protections in our own climate legislation this year and working to include international forestry provisions in the next international climate change agreement."

Now, there are PLENTY of Republicans that deserve every brickbat thrown at them and you can criticize Lugar for his vote - but the fact is that he did not "diss" Obama and he was not likely being rude turning down the flight on air force one.

[patrice]

1. not cool, that!

[Mass]

2. Also, he had the common sense not to go support a bill he voted against afterwards.

Makes sense, does it not. If I was going to blame Lugar, it would be for his vote. My guess is that people from Indiana need this money as well.

[patrice]

4. Okay, but I don't understand what you're saying. The invitation was to go get

his "arm twisted" (as he flew with President Obama to Indiana) to vote for the bill, not "to go support a bill..."

[Jennicut]

3. I knew Lugar would not turn down Obama without a good reason

He may differ from Obama on some things philosophically but the man is not a typical Rethug. He has been very nice to Obama since he came to the Senate and worked well with Biden on the SFRC. Thanks. I just wish he would change his mind on the Stimulus Bill.

[Raven]

5. Maddow should correct the record.

[FSogol]

6. Huffington Post has been very reactionary lately and seems to prefer

sh*t stirring in lieu of actual reporting.

[PretzelWarrior]

7. He and Obama could have worked this out in prvt. This is intentional

Meaning I believe the White House and President Obama are even putting Lugar out there in this way to prove if they don't figure out how to moderate their behaviors they can even paint an old fool like Lugar as a harsh reactionary who is "dissing" the president.

It's a nice bookend to stupid Newt Gingrich whining way back when that his seat on AF1 with Clinton wasn't good enough.

[karynnj]

9. I hope this is not the case

I think there was no intention to criticize Lugar. All they did was to mention that Lugar was invited and declined. they might simply have been saying that they did not exclude the very senior Republican. It was not that statement that was the problem it was the spin.

Lugar, by the way, is not an "old fool". On the SFRC, he has been very good and in the worst of times, he was better than some of the Democrats on foreign policy. You may remember that in 2004, Kerry quoted Hagel and Lugar pretty often to criticize Bush on Iraq. When he chaired the committee, he was very respectful of the Democrats on the committee - except for one John Bolton hearing where he tried to silence everyone and just vote. He GAVE Obama his biggest legislative accomplishment - the Obama/Lugar bill on nonproliferation. Given that it was a continuation of Nunn/Lugar, it was very likely a continuation of work the staff and committee worked on for years. (I'm not saying that Obama did not contribute, but that Lugar was clearly the senior person here and he likely could have played politics and delayed the bill once Obama became a major candidate.

Lugar was one of the people rumored as Secretary of State - and given his views as an internationalist, I would be at least as comfortable with him as with Clinton.

[jefferson_dem]

8. There are heaps of totally worthless piece of shit scumbag repukes...

Senator Lugar is not one of them. I don't often agree with him but think he's a rather principled fellow.

[IsItJustMe]

10. One of the few Republicans that have more than one brain cell.

[karynnj]

11. I agree - he even held hearings on the role of oil in middle eastern politics

This at a point where very few Democrats were willing to speak of the destabilizing effect of our need for oil. I also liked him because he almost always gave Senator Kerry extra time when he was grilling people - telling him to continue when his time was expiring because it was productive. As Kerry was the most effective at questioning the Bush officials, it was remarkable that Lugar did so. It shows remarkable respect for the opposition party.

Here are links to the oil hearings:

http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings/2006/hrg060330a.html

http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings/2006/hrg060607a.html