Dammit, Dammit, Dammit, Holy Cow Dammit
Okay, so here’s the deal.
Forty seven Republican Senators are pen pals with Iran. And they threatened them if they deal with President Barack Obama.
But the letter takes an even more outrageous approach when the group reminds the Iranians that “the president may serve only two 4-year terms, whereas senators may serve an unlimited number of 6-year terms.” Later adding: “President Obama will leave office in January 2017, while most of us will remain in office well beyond then – perhaps decades.”
The message is clear: Don’t you dare think about dealing with the president, because we will spend the rest of our lives (in some cases, quite literally) destroying you, if only out of spite.
Talk me down, people. Why is this not treason?
They are damn and determined to start another war.
Thanks to everybody for the hollering.
Ok, I would call this treason.
And haul all 47 before a tribunal.
1Or maybe just deport them all.
At some point….The President of these United States, who has bent over backwards…… to not appear …. Partisan, and to show that he is a President for ALL Americans….. regardless of Race, Creed, or Color….
Is going to absolutely have to stand up to this treasonous activity, and make a “LEGAL EXAMPLE” of somebody.
It’s past time.
We cannot continue to NOT prosecute people who are trying to destroy our country.
JJ…. it is…. sedition…. and treason….. and should be held accountable….
JMHO.
2mad here too, about lots of stuff. steaming out ears.
3They are NOT empowered to conduct foreign policy. Looks like treasonable activity to me.
4Can you imagine if Democrats did this to Bush?
Democrats are too nice. We need to stand up to these traitors!
And what makes them so sure a republican POTUS will be elected in 2016? Are they so sure of the election? If so, why?
The only good republican is a non voting one.
5They’re also telling people to ignore the law– Mitch McConnell had an op-ed in the Lexington paper urging states to ignore EPA regs (which have the force of law) on greenhouse gas emissions. Not to mention the cries to ignore gun laws and anything else they don’t like.
It’s Okay If You’re A Republican. Otherwise those same thugs would be howling about treason.
It goes back a ways– remember Nixon undermining LBJ’s negotiations with the North Vietnamese, so that the war lasted another seven years before ending with a treaty very much like the one LBJ was working toward?
6I really really don’t think Iran needs these guys insinuating that some American conservatives will “spend the rest of our lives destroying you,”. That message from some of that political stripe has been crystal clear to the Iranians, as well as the rest of us, since at least November 4, 1979.
7Somebody please tell me that this is one more example of the implosion of the Republican Party. That they are actually well on the road to destroying themselves. I just don’t see how this society/supposed civilization can survive with the kind of policies and philosophies running rampant right now.
8Has the pendulum at least stopped swinging to the crazy right and is poised to swing back, at least a little?
I just don’t understand how people can be so devoid of sense.
Actually, when ya think about it, what a bunch of amateurs!!!
9Their alleged logic is flawed from start to finish and frankly, this should be the finish of them. This ain’t politics as usual. This is conspiring and attempted extortion of another sovereign nation which whom we are not at war (currently). Another question: how the hell can they insist that they will last out their terms? They have already hidden so much baggage under the table its about to spill out all over the place. This is rather reminiscent of the office predator threatening a female staff member. No what I mean? But for damn sure this should definitely distract small minds from personal e-mail accounts, which, incidentally, exist in my part of the world ad nauseam. Hell! Even Collin Powell had at least one. And I would wager every governor, Senator and Congresscritter as well. And if one private email account holder is forced to reveal everything, so should they all have the same fate!
Everyone of those Republican traitors who signed that letter should be arrested and hauled off to federal prison.
10The Netanyahu debacle was bad enough, but this stunt has to be prosecuted. Anything less and foreign nations will no longer negotiate in good faith with our country.
Under the Logan Act, The Logan Act (18 U.S.C.A. § 953 [1948]) is a single federal statute making it a crime for a citizen to confer with foreign governments against the interests of the United States. Specifically, it prohibits citizens from negotiating with other nations on behalf of the United States without authorization.” The Logan Act was updated circa 1994 as well. The original was 17xx.
Their “open letter” skirts treason, but would certainly qualify as sedition. It’s obvious their Koch masters do not want peace and the boys in Congress are doing what they can to scuttle negotiations with Iran.
11Proving yet again that there is no level to which some Republicans will not sink when it comes to maligning and undermining our duly elected president. This shameful behavior must cease. I do hope President Obama will stop trying to play nice with these clowns.
12You can’t arrest half the Senate. Just as half the Senate can’t impeach the President. This is just dirty politics and a vicious power struggle. The solution is at the polls.
13Back in Raygun’s kingdom where foreign policy ran amok,Dems correctly used oversight to rein in some of the excesses and nutjob rightwingers bitched about Dems micromanaging Raygun’s illegal activities.
These thugs today need to be shackled and tried for treason and then shot in a joint meeting of both houses of Congress to clear the air about executive and legislative functions.
14It is certainly a violation of the Logan Act, as was Boehner’s invite of Netanyahu.
15Did I miss something or did this source not name the 47? Is there any more specific information out there anywhere about who these senators are? My computer is all fired up and ready to whip out e-mails, but it doesn’t know where to send them.
16Ralph, I am not sure that we CAN’T arrest half of the Senate. The are not acting in accord with the Constitution, that’s one, and two, they are NOT acting in the best interests of this country. I live in Virginia, it’s not that far to the domed citidel of crazy talk …
17You are right on the mark Polite Kool Marxist.
18§ 953. Private correspondence with foreign governments.
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
‘Directly or indirectly commencing or carrying on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government, or any officer or agent thereof, with the intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States.'”[8]
Logan Act
19What is going on here is down right treason. What about the Logan Law (I think it’s called). I think its about time we split this country into 2 countries. This isn’t a democracy any longer. Shame on the republicans for the hate towards a president that is only trying his best to keep us out of another war in the middle east. But the religious right won’t be happy til we have that war. They are waiting for the rapture. Shame of the republicans. If any of these things that they are doing to dems happened to republicans they’d be screaming holy bloody hell.
20“The solution is at the polls.”
The formula is in voter suppression, shutting down voting hours, redistricting, and challenging legal votes.
21Mary R, this is the list of 47:
Tom Cotton
David Perdue
Joni Ernst
James Inhofe
John Cornyn
Mitch McConnell
Marco Rubio
Roger Wicker
John Hoeven
Richard Shelby
Thom Tillis
Richard Burr
Steve Daines
Jeff Sessions
John Boozman
Cory Gardner
Shelley Moore Capito
Ron Johnson
Mark Kirk
James Lankford
Chuck Grassley
Roy Blunt
John Thune
Mike Enzi
Pat Toomey
Bill Cassidy
John Barrasso
Ted Cruz
Jim Risch
Mike Crapo
Deb Fischer
Ben Sasse
Orrin Hatch
Dean Heller
Pat Roberts
John McCain
Rand Paul
Rob Portman
Lindsey Graham
Mike Rounds
Our idiot Dean Heller is on the list and has received my e-mail.
22All 47 idiots should be charged under the Logan Act and spend the next 3 years in jail and never again allowed to run for office! I cannot believe these people.
23You know..I was all for the Speaker being exempt from the Logan Act when it was Reagan waving it around at my beloved Jim Wright over the Iran-Contra madness. So I was biting holes in my tongue last week when it came to the Netanyahoo speech. But I really think there ought to be a line drawn somewhere above Junior Senators from Arkansas as to who can or can’t be authorized to speak for us in International affairs. Chalk up another reason that we must re-gain control of Congress asap.
24http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026337497
Iran responds to the GOPers: “It has no legal value…” Iran understands our Constitution better than the GOPers!
25PKM, thanks for the listing. Without looking, was sure that both Texas senators were among the signatories. Siiiiigggghhhh. Oh, Lordie.
Just as I read this posting, I saw a promo for Chris Matthews interview with Kevin Spacey in which the actor said “If someone does something that is dastardly and diabolical, is it worth it in the end?”
“Dastardly and diabolical” describes these guys perfectly.
26Does that mean I can write to the Iranians and urge them to ignore 47 traitors (including BOTH sens from Texas, to my sorrow, but I VOTED DAMMIT) and continue their talks in pursuit of peace in good faith with the President of the United States of America, one Barack H Obama?
27Tom in Plano, Iran went even further:
“…and is mostly a propaganda ploy.”
OH, SNAP! lol
28WAPO also has a good piece about foot stomping Rs and the fact that the letter is wrong. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/03/09/the-misguided-condescending-letter-from-republican-senators-to-iran/?tid=trending_strip_1
29http://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2015/mar/09/part-ii-iran-responds-gop-letter#.VP35OFRtJKV.facebook
30Wonder how Scalia, Alito and Thomas feel about the legality of this action?
31PKM: Thanks very much. My computer also thanks you.
32One of my senators, Mark Kirk signed that letter. I wonder how he feels about being schooled by an Iranian.
kirk the jerk
33hippie, that’s a beautiful slapdown:
The [Iranian] Foreign Minister also informed the authors that majority of US international agreements in recent decades are in fact what the signatories describe as “mere executive agreements” and not treaties ratified by the Senate. He reminded them that “their letter in fact undermines the credibility of thousands of such ‘mere executive agreements’ that have been or will be entered into by the US with various other governments.”
34Senate Democrats are speaking out. Harry Reid smacked down the ‘author’ of that treasonous open letter, Tom Cotton. Bernie Sanders had a few choice words, too
“It appears that for most of my Republican colleagues in the Senate, a war in Afghanistan and a war in Iraq were not enough. They now apparently want a war in Iran as well. President Obama is working with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China to try to negotiate a peaceful means to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. These negotiations must be allowed to continue and, hopefully, will succeed. It is an outrage that my Republican colleagues are trying to sabotage that effort.”
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/03/09/iran-letter-backlash-grows-bernie-sanders-accuses-senate-republicans-sabotage.html
Too bad the Tea Bag buffoons are too st00pid to fully appreciate the spanking given to them by the Iranian Foreign Minister, Dr. Javad Zarif. Hint boys, he wasn’t impressed by your amateur attempt at ‘propaganda.’
BTW What’s up with the bogus 62% number of Americans supporting American ground troops in Iraq? In what universe do Charles and David Koch with 60 of their best paid friends add up to 62%?
35Despicable, treasonous sunabitches…
36Have you read the Iranian Foreign Minister’s response? It is worth the effort. He apparently has greater knowledge of the US Constitution and international law than any of these bozos.
Hard as it is to believe neither one of the Republican Senators from my state…TN..signed it. I had no idea they were that smart.
37https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/file-charges-against-47-us-senators-violation-logan-act-attempting-undermine-nuclear-agreement/NKQnpJS9
38Thanks for the petition link, epo. Let’s get this thing going!
39e platypus onion, more than 800 signatures added, since you posted the link. Busy spreading the word, until the desired 100,000 signatures are reached.
40The Iron Sheik just layed down an Iranian Bitch Slap on Tom Cotton.
41Mary R, if you want to read the letter, Bloomberg has it posted online here:
http://go.bloomberg.com/assets/content/uploads/sites/2/150309-Cotton-Open-Letter-to-Iranian-Leaders.pdf
IMHO, this letter and its signers show us who got the most money from AIPAC and the Koch brothers.
42I just signed the petition. It’s up to over 6,500 signatures now.
43Sounds like good motivation for the Iranians to deal with the sane guy in the room.
As for the future, perhaps President Obama should return to the Senate after 2017. Odds are he will out-live most of the people who signed that letter. (Frankly I’m not convinced that all of those people are actually alive as of now; a lot of them sure don’t look it.) (Not sure Cruz ever looked alive.)
44I am no longer surprised by these fools and their stupidity — I’m just thoroughly disgusted and embarrassed for our country. The only good I can see in this stupid letter is that 47 idiots finally figured out that President Obama will not be the President in 2017. It’s only taken them 6 years to realize that.
45This discussion is a wonderful example of the polarization of the USA.
The right wing says that the President has violated the Constitution and the laws and they want him arrested.
The left wing says that the Senators have violated the law and the Constitution and they want them arrested.
ECHO, ECHo, ECho, Echo, echo.
We have a judicial system and an election system that are meant to resolve such issues. I trust those systems.
46And if you want to have some fun, call the FBI and report the crime, or visit your friendly neighborhood Federal Prosecutor and ask him to file charges against a sitting Senator.
That ought to be good for some laughs.
47I sent emails to both of the illustrious Senators from Texas outlining how they may be in violation of the Logan Act and U.S. Code § 953. Am waiting anxiously for their staff’s replies.
48Perhaps if they hadn’t spent so much time being traitors, they could have done something about this:
“”It has been a winter of discontent, starting when Congress cut military retirement benefits before being pressured into reversing course,” IAVA Founder and CEO Paul Rieckhoff said in a statement. “Then earlier this week, Congress forced the Pentagon to make budget cuts that increased living costs for our service members. And now the Senate can’t pass a critical and transformative bill that includes priorities that have garnered bipartisan support for years.””
http://www.businessinsider.com/veterans-groups-gop-2014-2
49Despicable, seditious, treasonous, traitorous, m’fk’n bastards of sonsabitches…including Cornyn and Cruz.
50Clap these 47 hubristic, unctuous, oleaginous, bedwetting chickenhawk Rescummies in Gitmo and sweat ’em for a few years incognito.