Tuesday, March 10, 2015

GOP Hates Obama More Than a Nuclear Iran


As noted in a prior post, The New York Daily News called the 47 Republicans who signed a letter to Iran "traitors."  It might also have called them "idiots," "short sighted" and any number of other terms implying idiocy and low mental prowess. Among the many things not contemplated by these mental midget totally focused on prostituting them selves to the racist and war hungry GOP base - can we mandate that their children are the first to be sent to the front in a war with Iran? - are (i) the damage on America's future ability to negotiate international agreements and (ii) how Democrats may repay the favor when a Republican again occupies the White House.  A piece in The Daily Beast looks at the short sightedness of these morons.  Here are excerpts:

That letter to Iranian leaders from 47 Republican senators could well destroy critical bipartisanship in U.S. foreign policy for years to come and treacherously undermine the bargaining power of the person constitutionally authorized to conduct American affairs abroad—the President of the United States. . . . this letter seriously points to one terrible conclusion: a formidable number of Congressional Republicans hate President Obama more than they love America. 

These acts go entirely beyond legitimate criticism of presidential actions abroad.

It could well affect possible Iranian concessions in the end game. The ayatollahs could well conclude from that letter that concessions they might have made just aren’t worth it politically, as the agreement would go nowhere anyway. They’d be taking political risks for nothing.

Beyond these negotiations, the effects on our national security may well be profound and lasting. Just look at the future implications of what these Republican senators said in their letter. They maintained, in effect, that this thing a President of the United States has been negotiating will either be thrown out by Congress or discarded by the next president, so don’t waste your time. Did the 47 even consider how future Congresses would apply such words to future presidents?

For one moment, did these senators think about how their actions could affect the ability of President Barack Obama to protect the safety of America? Did they consider how their insistence that he doesn’t matter affects his power to protect American interests and lives in the Middle East or NATO countries? These noble legislators were saying Mr. Obama doesn’t speak for Congress or the American people, and bad guys of the world, you can defy him and thus the United States however you wish.

And don’t think for a second that Democrats will forget these acts of near treachery to a sitting president of their party when a Republican president takes the helm. . . .  At some critical time, in some critical place, Democrats will exact revenge on a Republican in the White House and, alas, on US national interests. At some point, the Republicans will reap what they have sown.

 Seven sitting Republican senators fully realized the consequences of what their colleagues were doing and refused to sign the letter. Those with such good sense merit mentioning: Bob Corker, Lisa Murkowski, Jeff Flake, Lamar Alexander, Susan Collins, Dan Coats, and Thad Cochran. At least some senatorial Republicans put their country above partisanship, blind ideology, and hatred of the duly elected President of the United States.

The White House was right on the mark in saying that the only ones who rejoiced at the Republicans’ unintelligible rant were the hardliners in Tehran. They don’t want the agreement either. Have these 47 Republican senators ever wondered if they might be green-lighting those in Tehran who yearn for Iran to be a nuclear power?

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