Why Congressmen Needs To Advise Constituents Regarding Syria

Congressman Ruiz constantly reminds us that he is a physician. Well, he is. However, he seems to forget first and foremost he is a Congressman. Now when he doesn't make a diagnosis he effects not just the members of one family he effects thousands and possibly millions of people. In this story and the accompanying video Dr Ruiz or is it Congressman Ruiz knows the diagnosis. Yet, when asked about the treatment he is still unclear on what he might do. At this point if I were his patient I would ask for a new Doctor. Ruiz begins his comments by drawing analogies. My favorite amongst them is Afghanistan. This tells me that the doctor needs a history course on why we went into Afghanistan. I am not debating whether we could have left earlier. I am only saying our move into Afghanistan was for completely different reasons. Dr Ruiz, we went into Afghanistan because we were attacked by people that were trained in that country. Dr. Ruiz, how could you forget one day after a memorial for all those people we lost on September 11, 2001. I am not addressing here whether we should have gotten out sooner I am only addressing a comparison the Dr. makes that doesn't relate to any of today's reality. Diplomacy is wonderful when it works. However, weren't we negotiating with Japan when they bombed Pearl Harbor. History has shown us we knew it was coming. However, the American people didn't want to go to war. Then we were attacked as we were on 9-11 and the American people rallied to get even. This raises issues. When should a leader with supposedly more information than the general population do what is right rather than what is politically expedient. I am not saying that we should or shouldn't attack at this point. More importantly I am calling upon the Congressman to tell us at least which way he is leaning if negotiations fail. To say things change daily on this is true. But the facts go beyond just gas. They go to a fact of a government killing over a 100,000 of its own people. It is a fact that the Dr. fails to discuss. He doesn't discuss the feelings he has for other allies in the area that could fall victim to attacks themselves. Lets start the list with Turkey, Jordan and Israel. Sometimes the elements that go into making a decision are as important as the decision itself. Do we have a right to know? We do not need to know the when, where or how of an attack. We do have a right to know our Congressman's thought process and leanings if negotiations fail. The question here is one of whether the doctor is willing to give us the diagnosis and the options for our treatment. One question I keep asking myself is why the Congressman has not shared his leanings? Here is one possible observation that may have great credibility when one does not share his thoughts. Is the Dr. waiting to see how everyone else is going to vote? Then he will take the popular side and not necessarily the right or wrong side in making his decision. Let me make it clearer. Is Ruiz waiting to make his decision so he can be on the winning side of a vote if taken? For those of you who say one lone Freshman cannot make a difference: I suggest that you look at history and some of the votes that have been decided by one vote. One vote can show how courageous a person is. One vote is what our Congress is about. One vote does make a difference. So like the congressman that ran a get out to vote campaign to get elected, I suggest your vote does count. How can we continue to support a Congressman that finds a plethora of excuses not to tell us his thoughts on such an important issue. He may never have to vote on this issue but I will never vote for him if he cannot make a decision when the chips are down. If he is telling us he has no leanings at this time, I have to say give me a break.