International Law Meets National Sovereignty

The International Criminal Court based in The Hague, Netherlands plans to try Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta next month on a series of serious offenses including crimes against humanity that involve illegal deporting of a group, murder, rape, and persecution for political purposes.

While the ICC claims jurisdiction, its intended defendant can only be tried if he allows it.  Mr. Kenyatta currently serves as the President of Kenya.  Although the court would like for him to appear at the scheduled date in November, it is likely to defer to an African Union request to postpone the case until Kenyatta leaves office.  AU member Sudan's president also faces criminal charges.

Kenyatta faces accusations over violence in the post 2007 elections against the Orange Democratic Movement.  In turn, he asserts that the ICC's charges come from neo-imperialist mechanisms of manipulation.  Kenyatta called it "a toy of declining imperial powers."

Although 34 of the African Union's 54 nations signed up for the ICC, calls have increased lately for individual African nations and the AU itself to leave the international convention that established it.

Established in 2002, the ICC is meant to prosecute crimes against humanity when national courts and prosecutors refuse to act.

Under Obama, the United States has assisted the ICC, but has not moved to join.  With American military and diplomats operating in controversial fields throughout the world, serious concerns have prevented full US participation. African Union leaders call the US stance hypocritical, ignoring the constitutional divide between presidential action and the near impossibility of Senate assent.

African Union leaders specifically oppose the idea of prosecuting sitting presidents.  They believe that the ICC could be used as a diplomatic weapon to attack sovereign states.  This is similar to American concerns.  The fact that the leaders of Sudan and Kenya are likely guilty does not change the fact.

Another problem is that Kenya plays a key role in regional peacekeeping, disarmament, anti-terrorism, and stability efforts.  Kenya is a front line state fighting Islamicist terrorism. Its rapidly expanding population of Roman Catholic and Pentecostal citizens forms a faith bulwark against the infiltration of radical elements farther south.

Rule of law should be promoted and political rights defended.  On the other hand, pressure on Kenyatta could weaken Kenya's prestige in the region.

In any event, Kenyatta will likely not face trial and prosecution in Europe now, if ever.  The people of Kenya ultimately must make that decision on their own.

National Democrats Convince Cannon Fodder Candidate

By all accounts, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant will enter the US Senate race to take on presumed Republican nominee Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito.

On the surface, it looks like an appropriate move for a popular young statewide officeholder with definite ambitions to rise higher.  She has a strong background as an elected secretary of state with experience as a Charleston television news figure.  Even in a loss, Tennant can use the campaign to reintroduce herself to voters across the state in preparation for a run at the Governor's Mansion.

It is this ambition most threatened by her Senate run. A deeper look shows how dicey this campaign could be for Tennant.

Images like this one have already reappeared.  Standing in front of a sparse crowd of Obama supporters will not win Tennant any support in a state whose Democrats preferred a prisoner in 2012.  Obama has only lost popularity since then.  She struggles to argue that coal jobs have slightly ticked up, but cannot defend the power plant closings that are coming.  Or the dramatic rise in health insurance costs from Obamacare.

In a race for governor in 2016, Obama matters less.  Tennant will have difficulty shaking the perception that she will be anything but a water carrier for the presidency and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Senator Joe Manchin learned that even piecemeal support for Obama policies can take a drastic toll on polling numbers.

Capito's fundraising prowess, formidable campaign team, and popularity have vanquished all comers since 2000.   Few major donors outside of the Democratic Party will seek to invest in a race that has little chance of success.

Tennant's run only makes sense in the national Democratic big picture.  A viable candidate forces the Republican Party to spend resources and raise money in a race that they should ultimately win.  Those resources will not go to tighter races with less chance of success.

She will also have to tie herself even more securely to the highly unpopular national Democratic Party agenda.  A gubernatorial race allows her to stand aloof as Earl Ray Tomblin did.  Tennant cannot erase images from a Senate run that will place her even more strongly into the camp of individuals heartily disliked across West Virginia.  She also cannot haul out the well worn liberal "War on Women" card against a respected, accomplished, and popular female candidate like Capito.

This serves the purposes of the West Virginia Republican Party nicely because it will weaken an individual who was expected to make a strong run  for governor in 2016.

Carol Smith For US Senate!

Yup, Carol Smith. She is a very attractive woman on the right side of middle aged. Smith is an acceptably good speaker with good taste in clothes. Smith also has a lot of money that she did not earn herself.

What has she done? Nothing, nothing at all. But look how pretty she is!

Most people would reject this woman out of hand as a suitable candidate for United States Senate. I mean, really. Anne Barth is more qualified. But this woman is not being rejected because her name is not Carol Smith. It is Caroline Kennedy.

Good Lord, the Democrats want to subject us to another Kennedy. At least John F. Kennedy was a war hero. Each generation brings a more vapid and less substantial group of Kennedy's. The idea that she is even a consideration for Hillary Clinton's seat should be insulting to the Democrats of New York. Is New York so bereft of political talent that a woman with zero experience can swoop in and take over?

The House of Representatives is the place for social butterflies and comedians to get their feet wet in serious politics. The Democrats propose to make one of each US Senators while at the same time booting their own most experienced committee chairs to the curb. It will be fun to see the chaos that ensues.