Republicans and Democrats disagree about everything, but at the center of any argument there’s usually some central idea that transcends the spin. I try to keep my eye on that ball, the core issue, ignore the partisan hype, and then take a rational position. But sometimes one party (or the other) does something where ‘partisan’ is the only rational way to see it. Which brings us to the recent letter to Iran by the US Senate Republicans…
Just in case you haven’t heard, Senator Tom Cotton led a group of 46 Republican-only Senators to write an unprecedented open letter to the leaders of Iran schooling them on the idea of our divided government, pointing out that treaties need Senatorial ratification to be more than a “mere executive agreement”, and cautioning them that Congressmen will be here long after President Obama is gone. These probably weren’t new ideas to the professional Iranian negotiating team and they certainly weren’t to Javad Zarif, US-educated Iranian Foreign Minister, who pointed out that “…the authors not only do not understand international law, but are not fully cognizant of the nuances of their own Constitution when it comes to presidential powers in the conduct of foreign policy”.
If the Pubs weren’t generously trying to protect Iranian negotiating interests, then what purpose could this letter possibly serve? These talks (and the extensive sanctions) are intended to limit Iranian nuclear technology to commercial use and cut off their ability to create nuclear weapons. A deal seems imminent, but wild-eyed zealots on both sides think any deal is a bad idea. The only conceivable purpose of Cotton’s letter is to scuttle such a rapprochement; regardless of the fact that it’s negotiated by the people (and President) we sent to negotiate exactly that.
Iran’s nuclear program has been under negotiation with the P5+1 (US, Russia, China, France, UK, and Germany) for over 2 years. Even if the Pubs assume Obama’s a “secret Muslim” who is either “naïve about Iran” or even “actively seeking ways to allow Iran to gain a nuclear weapon”, it’s still not about him. The Iranian deal may indeed be bad on the facts (since we don’t even know for sure what it says yet) but if Obama’s being conned, then so are the leaders and negotiating teams from 5 other countries. And it still wouldn’t justify this ham-handed, condescending, unauthorized interference from a bitter political party.
It’s all too easy to keep my eye on the ball on this one, but what’s the rational response? There have been calls for prosecution of these clowns for violations of the Logan Act, sedition, or even treason, but in a world where Darth Cheney can openly brag about committing war crimes yet remain free, legal proceedings against half of the US Senate seem unlikely. Indeed, Cotton’s letter might not rise to the level of lawbreaking, but it undeniably points out other violations… violation of the basic respect of Americans for their President, violation of the trust placed in Senators by their constituents, violation of the tradition that our internal disagreements “stop at the water’s edge”. These 47 irresponsible Republican Senators (Bob Corker, Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, Lamar Alexander, Lisa Murkowski, Dan Coats, and Thad Cochran declined to sign the letter) have shown, starkly and inarguably, that they hate the president more than they love the country. Maybe that’s not a legal repercussion, but in the mind of rational people it’s something that should continue to dog them. And who knows? Maybe Cotton was wrong… maybe he and his colleagues won’t be in office for as long as they seem to think.
Take Care and Make a Great Day!
