Slate: GOP candidates mobilize against the Law of the Sea (Treaty)

[Up2Late]

(Although completely ridiculous, this is NOT a joke, links to sources at link below)

GOP candidates mobilize against the Law of the Sea

By Christopher Beam and Chadwick Matlin
Updated Friday, Oct. 26, 2007, at 5:02 PM ET

All aboard: The Republican presidential candidates may have found the perfect enemy: the Law of the Sea Treaty. The treaty, a U.N. convention ratified by 150 countries in 1994 but not by the United States, sets rules for navigating international waters, governs economic activity therein, and also establishes certain environmental standards. And, if you ask the GOP candidates, it must be stopped.

Mike Huckabee told Slate's John Dickerson that the Law of the Sea has "damaging and dangerous implications for our national sovereignty." Fred Thompson said earlier this week that the law "gives a U.N.-affiliated organization far too much authority over U.S. interests." John McCain and Duncan Hunter have spoken out against the treaty as well.

The candidates know they can get mileage out of the treaty. For one thing, it just sounds silly. Who wants to submit to something called the Law of the Sea Treaty? If you violate it, do they make you walk the plank? (Also note the acronym: LOST.)

But more to the point, it gives them an opportunity to rail against international law. Ronald Reagan rejected the treaty in 1982 because of a provision about mineral mining, but since then the United States has followed the treaty in practice (minus the mining part). President Clinton signed it, but the Republican Congress didn't pass it. President Bush currently supports it, as do the U.S. Navy and the oil industry. (It gives the United States a seat at the table on issues like the Arctic's oil resources, which has enjoyed a resurgence ever since Russia planted its flag there.) In other words, there's very little reason for a Republican not to support the treaty, except to show his general opposition to international law....

(more at link) <http://www.slate.com/id/2176386/fr/rss/>

I swear, you can't make crap like this up (well, I guess the ReThugs can.)

[Kagemusha]

1. Guess the only law they want is that of the warship.

How noble.

[TwilightGardener]

2. I've noticed that the Freepers have all been up in arms over this, and it hasn't

even been on our radar. Joe Biden and Dick Lugar support LOST, so it can't be too bad.

[Up2Late]

3. kick n/t

:kick: