One of the dumbest things that Congress does is to issue ‘senses of the Senate’ and ‘resolutions of the House’. Just this week, the House voted on a resolution “Denouncing the practices of female genital mutilation, domestic violence, honor killings, and other gender-based persecutions and expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that participation, protection, recognition, and independence of women is crucial to achieving a just, moral and honorable society.” It passed 378-0. It has no legal effect whatsoever. Sometimes these resolutions do have some political effect. For example, I am a big fan of Rep. Patrick Murphy (PA-08), but he pissed me off this summer with H.Res 467.

Today, the House of Representatives passed Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Murphy’s (D-8th District) resolution that repudiates the University and College Union (UCU) of the United Kingdom for their boycott of Israeli academic institutions. This was Rep. Murphy’s first resolution to receive a vote on the floor of the House and it received unanimous bipartisan support.

All that vote did was make every member of the House vote to support Israel out of fear that they be targeted by pro-Israeli forces. That the vote was unanimous underscored that the resolution was unnecessary. It was just a cudgel to beat down any hint of debate over Israeli policy.

And it’s in the same context that I am unimpressed with the House Foreign Affairs Committee decision to ‘resolve’ yesterday that Turkey committed genocide against the Armenians in the World War One era. That decision caused Turkey to recall their ambassador for ‘consultations’. Military consultations have also been canceled, and American tourists in Turkey have been warned they might become targets. In addition:

About 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through Turkey, as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military in Iraq. U.S. bases also get water and other supplies by land from Turkish truckers who cross into the northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Did Turkey commit genocide against the Armenians? The historians’ consensus is ‘yes’, yes they did. Does it matter at all whether or not the Congress ‘resolves’ that the Turks committed genocide? No, no it doesn’t. All the resolution accomplishes is a rift with a vital ally at a very difficult time for our country.

The problem isn’t with Congress telling the truth about a historical tragedy. The problem is that these stupid resolutions are a waste of time and they almost never do anything positive.

I guess the Armenians are feeling a warm fuzzy feeling. Is it worth it?