The liberal congressman who famously said “Republicans want you to die quickly” during the original Obamacare debate has launched a website to try to rally opposition against intervention in Syria.
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) launched dontattacksyria.com, which surpassed its original goal of 15,000 signatures and is now shooting for 25,000.
“The Administration is considering intervening in the Syrian civil war. We oppose this. There’s no vital national security involved. We are not the world’s policeman, nor its judge and jury,” states the petition. “Our own needs in America are great, and they come first. The death of civilians is always regrettable, and civil war is regrettable, but no Americans have been attacked, and no American allies have been attacked. The British Parliament understandably has voted not to join in any attack. Notably, defense contractor Raytheon’s stock is up 20% in the last 60 days. It seems that nobody wants US intervention in Syria except the military-industrial complex. I oppose US military intervention in Syria. Join me.”
Grayson said today on CNN that he hasn’t heard anything at administration briefings on Syria to change his mind.
“It’s not our responsibility. It’s not going to do any good. It’s dangerous and it’s expensive. Nothing the president says changes any of those facts,” the congressman said.
“Actually, there’s only four countries in the world that have chemical weapons. The largest of the four is the United States. So are we trying to send a message to ourselves? That’s not logical,” he continued. “I’ve heard that theory before somehow one country’s actions will affect another country’s and another country’s and another country’s. It’s just the domino argument again. We’ll call it the bombino argument. It’s not logical, doesn’t make any sense.”
Grayson said the first 10,000 signatures on his petition flowed in within the first 24 hours.
“We’re not the world’s policeman. We’re not the world’s judge, jury or executioner. No one else in the world does things like this, and there’s no reason why we should. We have 20 million people in this country who are looking for full-time work. Let’s tend our own garden for a change,” he said.
Grayson said that in the ultimate vote on the authorization of force, lawmakers will vote according to “what makes sense for them representing their districts.”
“In my district if you ask people where does Syria fall on your list of concerns, it wouldn’t even be in the top 100,” he added.
In July, Grayson vowed that he’d be more bipartisan this term while calling Republicans “callous, bigoted tools.”
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