Sleeping with the enemy

As they say, politics makes strange bedfellows. Some Republican senators have stripped naked to the bone and jumped under the covers with the most militant anti-American Iranians. These Iranians want Iran to have a nuclear weapon regardless of the cost and are doing all they can to keep their government from reaching an agreement with the United States and five other nations. This agreement would hault Iran from continuing to develop a nuclear weapon.

The most militant Iranians now have 47 United States senators as allies. They are comrades with the most treacherous, treasonous Republican U.S. senators the world has ever seen. Apparently their hatred for President Obama, has blinded these senators and led them to commit an outrageous act against their own country. They are unfit to hold public office. That’s this columnist’s opinion, and that of many others.

The Logan Act is a United States Federal Law that forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments. It was intended to prohibit unauthorized United States citizens from interfering in relations between the United States and foreign governments. The act was passed and signed into law by President Adams in 1798 following George Logan’s unauthorized negotiations with France. Violation of the act is a felony.

These 47 senators should be made to stand trial for violating the Logan Act. They violated the act when they sent a letter to the Iranian government telling them any agreement with the United States and its allies was useless because they would not enforce an agreement signed by Obama and a future president would not be bound to support any agreement.

They will do anything to keep Obama from reaching an agreement with the Iranians to cease the pursuit of a nuclear weapon. Heaven forbid Obama from getting credit for anything.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton correctly said these Republicans either seek to align themselves with the most extreme Iranians or undermine their Commander-in-Chief. She was too kind when she said they were out of step. They’ve stepped in it, I would say. The author of the letter, Senator Tom Cotton, R- Ark., seemingly not playing with a full deck, quoted from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech numerous times as he attempted to justify the 47 Senators’ letter urging the Iranians not to agree to a peaceful agreement. He doesn’t seem to know that Netanyahu is not the president of the United States. Just as Netanyahu, these Senators did not articulate any plausible plan to deal with Iran other than war.

Cotton was elected by the people of Arkansas. He speaks for them. President Obama was elected by the people of the United States. He speaks for all of the people; whether you agree or disagree with him is immaterial.

As well as violating the Logan Act, these 47 Republicans seem ignorant of the role of the Senate, which is to advise and consent. They can’t act as the executive branch. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said, “They are ignorant of international law.” He added, “The letter has no legal validity and is just a propaganda scheme.”

Republicans want even stronger sanctions against Iran right now, knowing full well it will end negotiations and eventually lead to war, where Israel may be our only ally. More sanctions will not be approved by Russia or China in any event, and will do nothing to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

War with Iran would be bloody and costly. It would turn the entire world against us. No telling what countries might enter the war on the side of Iran. Do these 47 nitwits want to go to war with China, Russia, Iran and half the Middle East? It’s the very last thing the vast majority of the American people want.

We already knew most Republicans don’t care about 47 percent of Americans. These 47 Senators obviously don’t give a damn what most Americans want. They are just itching for another Middle East conflict.

“I cannot recall another instance in which Senators wrote directly to advise another country- much less to a longtime foreign adversary- that the President does not have the constitutional authority to reach a meaningful understanding with them. This letter sends a highly misleading signal to friend and foe alike that our Commander-in-Chief cannot deliver on America’s commitments — a message that is as false as it is dangerous.” Vice President Joe Biden

Well said. But author Fred Kaplan said it best: “The letter is as brazen, gratuitous and plainly stupid an act as any committed by the Senate in recent times.”

Glen McAdoo, a Fallon resident, can be contacted at glynn@phonewave.net