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COLORADO SPRINGS INDEPENDENT, CO
Lamborn's flip-flops
July 16 2008
LETTERS
It is imperative that candidates seeking public office, requesting the
trust and faith of the citizens they represent, uphold that pledge
with fortitude. First-term congressman Doug Lamborn has failed
that test. Months after being sworn into office in 2007, Lamborn
co-sponsored a resolution to reaffirm the Armenian genocide. Within
months, he floundered and withdrew his support. This was the first
in a series of flip-flops on an issue of conscience.
Historical records describe the 20th century's first genocide, the
Armenian genocide, as a campaign of race extermination. In all,
1.5 million Christian Armenians perished by order of the Ottoman
Empire. It was, in fact, the first "final solution" of the century
and Hitler, on the eve of his 1939 invasion of Poland, said, "Who,
after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
In May, under great public pressure to blunt criticism of his
withdrawal from the Armenian genocide resolution and facing the threat
of a vigorous Republican primary, Lamborn issued a Congressional
Record statement acknowledging the Armenian genocide. This was his
second flip-flop.
His third and final flip-flop came in his response to an
election-issues survey sponsored by a national American-Armenian
organization. He placed a stipulation -- a caveat, if you will --
on his support for future Armenian genocide reaffirmation resolutions.
Genocide is not an issue that allows for clarification or equivocation.
Lamborn's challenger, Jeff Crank, in contrast, has pledged
unequivocally to support congressional efforts to re-establish
United States foreign policy recognizing the Armenian genocide. If
he's elected, the American-Armenian community of Colorado will hold
Crank to his word. Isn't that what all citizens should expect of an
elected member of Congress?
Lamborn's flip-flops
July 16 2008
LETTERS
It is imperative that candidates seeking public office, requesting the
trust and faith of the citizens they represent, uphold that pledge
with fortitude. First-term congressman Doug Lamborn has failed
that test. Months after being sworn into office in 2007, Lamborn
co-sponsored a resolution to reaffirm the Armenian genocide. Within
months, he floundered and withdrew his support. This was the first
in a series of flip-flops on an issue of conscience.
Historical records describe the 20th century's first genocide, the
Armenian genocide, as a campaign of race extermination. In all,
1.5 million Christian Armenians perished by order of the Ottoman
Empire. It was, in fact, the first "final solution" of the century
and Hitler, on the eve of his 1939 invasion of Poland, said, "Who,
after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
In May, under great public pressure to blunt criticism of his
withdrawal from the Armenian genocide resolution and facing the threat
of a vigorous Republican primary, Lamborn issued a Congressional
Record statement acknowledging the Armenian genocide. This was his
second flip-flop.
His third and final flip-flop came in his response to an
election-issues survey sponsored by a national American-Armenian
organization. He placed a stipulation -- a caveat, if you will --
on his support for future Armenian genocide reaffirmation resolutions.
Genocide is not an issue that allows for clarification or equivocation.
Lamborn's challenger, Jeff Crank, in contrast, has pledged
unequivocally to support congressional efforts to re-establish
United States foreign policy recognizing the Armenian genocide. If
he's elected, the American-Armenian community of Colorado will hold
Crank to his word. Isn't that what all citizens should expect of an
elected member of Congress?