Imagine this scenario. It is 1942, America is still in shock over the Pearl Harbor attack and the specter of fighting two superpowers (Japan and Germany) in the Atlantic and Pacific (a two front war). The Democratic President needs to engage anti-capitalist and adversary Stalin in order to convince him to join an alliance to fight both the Germans and Japanese.
The goal is to divert Axis forces away from Europe and to get them bogged down in the harsh climate and terrain of Russia in order to allow the American and British troops time and resources to mount counter offenses in Europe.
Then without the President’s knowledge or blessings, 47 Republican congressmen (lead by Cotton of Arkansas) send a letter directly to Stalin calling him a “pinko-b.a.s.t.e.r.d” and stating that any agreements between FDR and Stalin will be null and void at the end of FDR’s term. Hence there should be no Grand Alliance in 1942 unless Stalin capitulates to the demands of Republican backed anti-Stalin Russians.
If the GOP antics are successful, it would mean that the USA would have to fight the Axis powers by itself (since Britain and much of Europe are on the verge of collapse) thereby leading to higher American casualties or possible defeats.
How do you think the Public, FDR and historians would have reacted to such a letter specifically designed to scuttle the Grand Alliance and make FDR appear weak and illegitimate in the eyes Hitler and Tojo?
I think we would have had both Nuremberg and Pine-Bluff trials between 1945-1949.
The open letter sent by 47 republican senators (including Tom Cotton, Rand Paul and McConnell) to Iran is an obscene attempt by the GOP controlled congress to usurp and sabotage the constitutional powers of President Obama. Yet TPers/GOPers are trying to justify the highly seditious behaviors of 47 republican senators by claiming that the President himself is committing unconstitutional acts. These TPers do not seem to understand that negotiations of treaties on behalf of the USA are assigned (via the US Constitution) to the executive branch. And thus, Obama is fulfilling his constitutionally assigned duty (not going it alone as implied by the open letter).
It is the job of the Congress to give advice and then either reject or ratify said treaty. It is called advice and consent (Article II, Section 2, Clause 2). Dictating foreign policy to the executive branch is not part of the constitutionally assigned role of the Congress.
Like they do when citing the Bible, these TPer folks are picking and choosing the parts of the constitution that they like simply to justify their hatred and contempt for the democratically elected President.
This is a chilling event because these folks have demonstrated that they are willing do anything to obtain and to maintain power including undermining our constitutionally elected government as well as jeopardizing our international standing and national security.
It may seem like hyperbole, but this is the type of mindset that leads directly to coups. Mark my words, if they (GOPERS) cannot regain control through legitimate processes, this current crop of GOP politicians will continue to manufacture constitutional crises to justify future GOP takeovers through non-electoral means.
It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see these traitors and their ilk attempt to storm the WH with plans of evicting “that one” from the premises. Its troubling that more gopers aren’t condemning these actions and at the very least, purporting shame for their party and what it has become, who has taken control. Were these dems, I’d have denounced them long ago as my party. The silence is deafening. A few have voiced displeasure, but by and large…..silence!
NYPD were discovered tampering with the facts as outlined in Wikipedia. How one wonders will gopers attempt to spin history on their treatment of Obama if it only wern’t for that damn INTERNET!
Could NOT have said it better, confused! Very solid analogy, I must say.
The word that is left out of too many news reports is that sending the letter to a foreign head of state is an UNPRECEDENTED act. NEVER has happened in our long history of democracy and Constitutional powers. That is not an act of ‘creativity’ as the 47 would like you to believe. It is an act in defiance of both Constitutional and statutory law.
When they point fingers at Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Syria during Bush’s administration as ‘the same’ it is not. She and three Republicans plus a few other Dems cleared it with the White House despite Bush’s dislike of the effort, got State Department briefings, and worked with the US Embassy in Syria while they were there. Not just apples v oranges. It is day and night in difference, with the 47 being raiders of the dark.
This is sedition if not treason. It is almost impossible to think of a good way to prosecute them since that would set off unholy hell on the Right, and it would be as counterproductive as impeachment to doing ANY work of the nation. But the term ‘traitor’ must be pounded into voters’ heads – these people aligned with Islamic extremists in Iran to promote war against this president’s efforts to work out a multilateral agreement supported by European nations and upheld by them if not by us.
Diplomacy is always better for this country than sending our young people off to war. Always. To asset that is ‘weak’ and ‘dangerous’ is obscene when the second thing Tom Cotton did was to meet with defense contractors immediately after releasing the letter. That tells you what’s really at stake – war profits.
National security has been jeopardized. By the 47, not by this president. They need to pay for this major transgression. We need to keep it front and center in the public view.
Not all that surprising that Iran’s Supreme doesn’t know his arse from his elbow or his repub from a Democrat when it comes to who is leading the U.S. He just loves to moan about America, and is too busy writing new laws that allow old geezers to marry and molest eight year old girls.
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“Iran’s Top Leader: GOP Letter Points to US ‘Disintegration”
http://nytimes.com/aponline/2015/03/12/world/middleeast/ap-ml-iran-us-congress.html
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Then there is this that shines a bright light on the motive for Cotton to head this “open letter to Iran” abomination. Figures.
“GOP senators appear set on their own breakaway nation”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-set-up-their-own-breakaway-nation/2015/03/10/1618f6d4-c749-11e4-b2a1-bed1aaea2816_story.html
Hey Kailma. I must say, that this guy wasn’t too far off the mark in regards to America’s political disintegration. Our present Congress is the worst in US history. Their hatred of our president has caused them to lose all sense of duty to country and the office of president as well.
Some of these dicks have actually praised a scumbag like Putin and publicly wished Obama were more like him.
I can’t recall any time in US history when members of congress actually favored the actions of a ruthless dictator over their commander-in-chief. Appalling. I’m no fan of the Ayatollah, but when you’re right, you’re right. (in this regard)
Yes Congress is a bloody mess but these negotiations are between a Democratic Admin, Europe and the UN Security Council, so what those idiots did was not only against your President, but against all of us trying to find a peaceful solution. I can imagine that leaders in Europe were simply gobsmacked, I know that I was. I also know that President Obama and the other countries are on the right track.
How Different Countries Involved in the Iranian Nuclear Negotiations Reported on That GOP Letter
http://www.psmag.com/politics-and-law/gop-letter-world-reports
Well, no argument from me on what you’ve stated. I was referring to our present state of appalling disarray between our very republican House and Senate and our current president. The Ayatallah was not wrong about an apparent disintegration in American politics. How he wants to use such knowledge is yet to be seen.
I think Iran is actually ready to acknowledge a more diplomatic approach to the current problems that exist, not only between the US and them, but as you stated, the 5+1 that desperately want a peaceful solution. I think the heavy sanctions may just be having a positive effect.
Unless we have serious, diplomatic relations with Iran, nothing close to a solution can ever be reached. By “we,” I mean not only the US, but the 5+1 nations I referred to. This is really more of Europe’s problem than it is ours, in the long run.
That’s true enough about the Senate but highly hypocritical from a country that hangs people in the streets, especially young homosexuals. Forces false confessions they have to repeat on national TV before they hang them or stone them to death. Kill protestors as they march peacefully for change, and as I wrote in my first comment, allow child marriage and rape of girls as young as 8 because this Supreme arsehole made it legal to do so. People in glass houses should STFU.
Iran will never give up or dismantle their nuclear program, but talking to them as civil human beings will go that much further than openly threatening them. We can’t really know anything until it’s done. All this speculation is just fodder for a media frenzy, and really boring and pointless. The GOP don’t run the world. They only destroy and wear crowns in their red states. Thinking that they will get the WH in 2016, shows just how inflated their egos are. Not seeing that people are turning against them, will be their downfall in their small shrinking bubble.
Once again, I agree. I was simply responding to the accuracy of the Ayatollahs assessment of the sad state of affairs that is currently US internal politics.
There is no question about the very dismal human rights record of Iran.
This is a different issue, though. It would serve no one to combine issues here.
The good people of Iran have to take further steps to improve their government. That is not our place.
We do, however, have a great responsibility to keep nuclear war from ever happening.
As an American, I do feel a tiny bit hypocritical in telling other nations they can’t have what we have an abundance of.
I think the religious fanatics in our government actually want a global, nuclear war. Armageddonn, or whatever the biblical term may be. These crazy people can’t wait for the “End Times.” And their Jewish and Muslim counterparts feel the same way. Counterparts being the key word here.
I understood, KT, it’s just I don’t like to hear countries like Iran criticising anyone considering their own track record, even if they are right. The same with Putin, or any country that oppresses it’s citizens. I feel they have lost their moral right to do so.
We will see soon enough how this deal did or didn’t go, and find no point passing judgment on something that hasn’t even happened yet like members of a Doomsday cult.
I agree, Israel with their secretive stock of nuclear weapons, scream the loudest about not allowing Iran to have one, even if they don’t plan to produce one. If they treated the Palestinians as human beings, maybe they wouldn’t have to be so afraid all the time.
So funny that now, after being called traitors even by RW papers, these cowardly Repubs are all making excuses for why they signed and sent the letter to Iran!
Trying to blame Obama for it, claiming “I sign all kinds of letters all the time”, it was meant to be “cheeky”, on and on. This isn’t damage control, this is running the Titanic into an iceberg and jumping ship as it sinks.
Their stupidity and cowardice is simply unending. There are children with more smarts and courage than these simps.
I think their actions and blindness are symptomatic of Obama Derangement Syndrome.
KT, these latest acts of treason, bringing in Netanyahu to speak on the floor of the Congress against our President and sending a letter to our adversary to undermine our Constitution’s separation of powers and give aid and comfort to the hardliners in Iran who hate America most, have only alienated the GOP from all but the most blindly faithful.
I wrote about this before the 2014 elections, the worst thing that could happen to Repubs is to give them power because they’d only abuse it and destroy their image for the rest of the nation.
Who in their right mind would vote for any Repub President and take the leashes off of these anti-American mad dogs?
I hesitate to call what these morons did, treason. Treason is a very serious offense, it is one where there is an actual attempt to overthrow the government, or aid a foreign power in doing so.
This is not what those 47 idiots actually did. What they did was an act of sedition. I know it may sound like I’m arguing semantics here, but that is not the case. Sedition and outright treason are not exactly the same thing.
The simps tried to usurp presidential authority, and that is quite serious, but it is not the same as treason. There was no attempt to actually overthrow the government and replace it with another. Yes, it is a violation of the Logan Act, but nobody has ever been sent to prison for such a violation. On the other hand, many have been imprisoned and some even executed for the act of treason, which has historically been tied to espionage.
Rand Paul even said it was a clever ploy, meant to “strengthen the President’s hand.”
Really?
Since when was the meaning of the word “strengthen” changed to “bite”?
The Ayatollah said this is symptomatic of a “complete collapse of political ethics,” and as much as it pains me to admit it — when it comes to the GOP — he is right.
Agreed Homie. These nutters in the GOP have only made our system of government look weak an ineffective. For heaven’s sake, can’t these morons understand this?
Is their irrational hatred of our president so strong that it completely blinds them to reason and logic and duty? They swore an oath, if memory serves me. They have violated that oath, lock, stock and barrel. They should be fired, by whatever process it takes. These clowns do not deserve their titles or responsibilities. Who actually serves to police Congress? Whose responsibility is it to charge them with violating their oath of office? Is there even such a charge that exists, by any written law?
I know for sure, that if any member of our armed forces pulled a stunt like this, they would be court marshaled, forthwith!
Yes! Some people have even raised the question of whether or not Joni Ernst should be court martialed for signing the letter, since she’s still technically in the military.
http://news.yahoo.com/senator-warns-obama–don-t-skip-congress-for-u-n–on-iran-175835014.html
Wow! The balls on these guys far exceeds their brains. After what they just did, they’re going to school the president on proper use of powers?
Holy shyte!
This has nothing to do – absolutely nothing – with the Senate.
Any agreement will go to the UN Security Council.
If approved, it is binding upon all.
It is not a treaty.
Eager to jump on the bandwagon, Louie Gohmert sent a hastily scribbled note (in crayon) overnight to the mullahs advising them not to enter into any agreement with Obama over Laser Cats
These people are doing nothing to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. In fact, they are making it easier.
And, if the International Nuclear Organization makes an agreement with Iran, those people can do nothing about it.
The root cause of this is apathy on the part of Americans; they do not pay attention or study the matter. And, they do not vote.
Too true, Agrippa, too true.
Excellent post CD. The GOP has taken their clown car right over the cliff.
Perfectly said CD. To further the embarrassment by these 47 irresponsible fools, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
said he was astonished by the letter, saying it suggests the U.S. lawmakers “not only do not understand international law” — a subject in which he is a professor — “but are not fully cognizant of the nuances of their own Constitution when it comes to presidential powers in the conduct of foreign policy”.
Zarif, the Iranian minister also said that “in our view, this letter has no legal value and is mostly a propaganda ploy.”
To add injury to insult, “the 47” had their letter translated into Farsi! For goodness sake, these people are beyond ignorant. Zarif attended Drew College Preparatory School, a private college-preparatory high school located in San Francisco, California. He went on to study at San Francisco State University, from which he gained a BA in International Relations in 1981 and an MA in the same subject in 1982. Following this, Zarif continued his studies at the Graduate School of International Studies (now named the Josef Korbel School of International Studies) at the University of Denver, from which he obtained a second MA in International Relations in 1984 and this was followed by a PhD in International Law and Policy in 1988. His thesis was entitled: “Self-Defense in International Law and Policy”.
There must be consequences for this type of utter stupidity and may I say lies by these “47”. By their take, every executive action taken under any President can be rescinded by the next President without the approval of Congress. Wow, just Wow!
thank you for Fergie1 for your comments. But there will be no repercussions. The rabid TPer base will support this action. In fact Cotton may now become a GOP prez contender because he stood up to Obama. The mere fact Jindal and Perry almost broke their necks trying to put their signatures on the letter tells us that there is political and financial advantage within GOP circles.
Too stupid for words.
Othello, Act 1, Scene 1
http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=othello&Act=1&Scene=1&Scope=scene
“You are a Senator!”
CD, future historians are going to have a real adventure trying to sort out what the hell happened during this era, aren’t they? Thanks so much for a clear summary and analysis of just how far off the rails these 47 senators (not to mention much of the House) have gone.
I wonder if they have the slightest notion of how the rest of the world regards them? Their little letter comes across as patronizing, arrogant, juvenile and insulting. Iranian/Persian culture is ancient and deep. These are not ignorant, uneducated people the GOPers are addressing. But far be it from people like Rand Paul to recognize anything of worth outside of their “exceptional” borders.
While the President and John Kerry are trying to get some real, adult work done, the adolescents here are throwing spitballs and flipping their middle fingers at the world. They’re an embarrassment to say the least.
Hi Kessmarn, Historians will refer to this as the resurgence of know-nothing and the gilded age.
They may very well point to 2014 or 2010 as the start of the decline of the US democratic system.
I think that’s not in the least an exaggeration, CD!
CD, John Adams would have already charged them with sedition. The desperation of a dying breed of warmongers and grifters, not going gently into the night.
Hello sillylittleme, Unfortunately the reports of their impending demise is very premature. They are continuously coming up with new ways to seize power.
In Virginia, one of the legislators tried to construct a bill that would put stringent guidelines on serving as a member of the jury. And of course, he then added a codicil that only people eligible for serving on a jury (based on these new guidelines) would be eligible to become a registered voter.
This is the new strategy, since voter ID laws will not be enough.
These types of ploys will ensure the purging of voter rolls so that they can withstand demographic changes of 2020………..so we need to remain vigilant.
Ah, but that is the very definition of desperation and indicative of a dying mindset. I wonder if they realize that the way one gets eligibility for jury duty is by registering to vote. More proof positive that they keep putting the cart before the horse and can’t figure out why it’s not moving.
Well stated!
Again/yet/still… showing what petty, petulent ign0rant a-holes the modern days RepubliCons in Congress are!
: (
Reading comments on other sites, two items often come up describing how these RepubliCons are guilty of violating…
[1] The Logan Act
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/953
[2] The 1936 Supreme Court case, United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/capitalism/landmark_wright.html
The typical responses from the drones of the RepubliCons…?
[a] Well, um Ted Kennedy did it in the 80’s with the Soviets.
To which I could reply.. Really? How is that a true comparison?
— One person versus 47 is the same?
— Two wrongs make a right?
— Did Ted Kennedy CONTINUALLY pull such stunts as the modern day RepubliCons have been doing?
[b] Well, um, they are in their rights.. as per the Constitution?
To which I could reply.. Yes… but, not quite!
In my opinion, the Senate’s role is to “advise and consent” AFTER a negotiated deal has been drafted. These 47 RepubliCon Senators are clearly attempting to sabotage ONGOING negotiations in order to thwart
any potential resolutions between all parties involved — BEFORE any true progress has been made!
As you stated “Dictating foreign policy to the executive branch is not part of the constitutionally assigned role of the Congress”.
+++++
Even IF there is/are no legal infractions, these Repubs are STILL guilty of:
— undermining the office of the President by insinuating that any/all words/actions of the current administration are irrelevant and/or not to be trusted!
Stay classy, Repubs!
**sarc**
Hello UncleB thanks for your comments. The Rubes that constitute the GOP base don’t even realize they are being played. The more I think about it, the more I realize this is a huge economic incentive to scuttle the Iranian deal.
Cotton and GOP want a war with Iran. And it is about increasing defense spending and it is about Oil. Cotton is scheduled to meet with defense contractors. And we know that defense stocks and oil prices will soar with rumors of wars.
If Iran is attacked, it will threaten the strait of Hormuz which will lead to even more soaring Oil prices. The soaring oil prices will help the faltering shales oil industry which is now not very profitable given the fall in the prices of barrels.
It is a win-win for all the GOP backers, AIPAC gets the US to fight its proxy war, the defense contractors get new no-bid contracts and the shale oil industry makes a killing on rising oil prices.
Lastly, the 1Trillion+ war-debt that will accumulate will then be used to go after social programs (particularly medicare, ACA and SS)
Well done CD! I also think it is sedition on the part of the “GOPERS”! They are undermining the efforts of our President to use diplomacy to keep nuclear weapons from Iran. They hurt our chances of an agreement. I agree with you 100%.
Hello Nirek, not only does it hurt the US, but it undermines the US’ credibility among both friend and foe. Russia and China will then remove sanctions. Iran will become embolden to build faster.
And of course GOP backers (AIPAC, Oil companies, Defense contractors ) will profit from the chaos caused by destabilization of the region.