The LuLac Edition #2857, March 18th, 2015
WRITE ON WEDNESDAY
Our "Write On Wednesday" logo.
THE TREASONOUS 47
INDICT THEM!
Our friend Wil Toole penned one of his famous letters to the Editor this week and he graciously shared it with us. Wil and I disagree on the path to negotiations with Iran and their desire for atomic hardware. But we are in total agreement with the fact that what the 47 Senators did was beyond the pale. Here is his letter but first two videos crystallizing this really stupid effort. First Bob Schieffer's question to Senator Tom Cotton and then Secretary of State John Kerry's response to the controversy.
March 15, 2015
Dear Editor. Just days ago, 47 Republican members of the US Senate broke from the Senate's roll of Advise and Consent and wrote a letter to Iranian leaders that has all but destroyed the ability of the United States president, present and future to conduct any kind of negotiations with foreign leaders. Their message was that leaders of other countries are wasting their time negotiating anything with any president of the United States because any terms negotiated on any subject can be overturned by Congress. As the New York Daily News asked in a recent article,
“are these Senator's traitors?” I think, yes they are. That letter does push us closer to war with Iran and it was absolutely an attempt to undermine the President's efforts along with the efforts of our fellow allies to kill any negotiated terms with Iran. This was made very clear by Sen Tom Cotton (R-AR) that the goal was to make talks with Iran fail.
We seem to forget that the Shah of Iran was a strong friend to the US until the Ayatollah Khomeini came into power in 1979 just as Saddam Hussein was a friend to the US. The only stable friend the United States has had in that region of the world is Israel and the Republican Congress has driven a wedge into that relationship with the recent snub to the president via the invitation offered to Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel to address Congress.
We also seem to forget that the Republican Tea party forced our government to shut down at an approximated cost of 26 billion dollars and also threatened to cause us to not meet the obligations of our national debt. The fact that the economy of the entire world would have been turned upside down meant nothing because it was all about the hatred of president Obama. The Tea Party followed the lead of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell when during the first week of Obama's first administration said that his only job for the next four years was to see to it that Obama would not get reelected. Really? That's why he was elected?
It is long past the time for American citizens to stop the Congressional nonsense and send a message to Congress that they have over stepped their authority and there only job right now is to work with the president and help resolve the problems we face. If they refuse to become part of the solution then they are without a doubt, part of the problem.
The White House needs to fight fire with fire and join the Republican leaders in their game of power control. It is time for the tail to stop wagging the dog and I strongly urge the US Attorney General to file charges against the 47 Republicans as traitors. Then and only then will these foolish and dangerous legislators take their responsibilities to heart and begin to do the work of the people. They are more concerned with trying to undermine president Obama and take from the working class to give to the wealthy. Please keep in mind that Senator Toomey who represents Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate was one of the now infamous gang of 47. Rather than impeach the president, we need to indict the traitorous gang of 47.
Thank you
Wil Toole
posted by David Yonki @ 8:39 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
I think the Senators overstepped their bounds. We need to have a united front against these enemies abroad and the Executive branch is responsible for putting forth the policy of the US.
That said, what about John Kerry going to talk with the Sandinistas behind Reagan's back? Where's the difference between what he did then and what happened now? One might argue that what he did was worse, actually going to meet with the enemy when he, by his own words, had no constitutional authority to do so.
http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/12/kissinger-slammed-kerry-for-negotiating-with-sandinistas-in-1985-video/
This might be the only time John Kerry sounds like Kissinger.
So, ask your friend Mr. Toole when Kerry comes up on treason charges.
Are you ****ing kidding me?
This was done by Pelosi, Wright and many others.
The Congress is a separate and equal branch of government. They do NOT work for, nor answer to, the President.
Senators John Sparkman (D-AL) and George McGovern (D-SD). The two Senators visited Cuba and met with government actors there in 1975. They said that they did not act on behalf of the United States, so the State Department ignored their activity.
Senator Teddy Kennedy (D-MA). In 1983, Teddy Kennedy sent emissaries to the Soviets to undermine Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy. According to a memo finally released in 1991 from head of the KGB Victor Chebrikov to then-Soviet leader Yuri Andropov.
House Speaker Jim Wright (D-TX). In 1984, 10 Democrats sent a letter to Daniel Ortega Saavedra, the head of the military dictatorship in Nicaragua, praising Saavedra for “taking steps to open up the political process in your country.” House Speaker Jim Wright signed the letter.
Senator John Kerry (D-MA). Kerry jumped into the pro-Sandanista pool himself in 1985, when he traveled to Nicaragua to negotiate with the regime. He wasn’t alone; Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) joined him. The Christian Science Monitor reported that the two senators “brought back word that Mr. Ortega would be willing to accept a cease-fire if Congress rejected aid to the rebels…That week the House initially voted down aid to the contras, and Mr. Ortega made an immediate trip to Moscow.” Kerry then shilled on behalf of the Ortega government.
Representatives Jim McDermott (D-WA), David Bonior (D-MI), and Mike Thompson (D-CA). In 2002, the three Congressmen visited Baghdad to play defense for Saddam Hussein’s regime. There, McDermott laid the groundwork for the Democratic Party’s later rip on President George W. Bush, stating, “the president of the United States will lie to the American people in order to get us into this war.” McDermott, along with his colleagues, suggested that the American administration give the Iraqi regime “due process” and “take the Iraqis on their face value.” Bonior said openly he was acting on behalf of the government.
Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). In 2002, Rockefeller told Fox News’ Chris Wallace, “I took a trip by myself in January of 2002 to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and I told each of the heads of state that it was my view that George Bush had already made up his mind to go to war against Iraq, that that was a predetermined set course which had taken shape shortly after 9/11.” That would have given Saddam Hussein fourteen months in which to prepare for war.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). In April 2007, as the Bush administration pursued pressure against Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went to visit him. There, according to The New York Times, the two “discussed a variety of Middle Eastern issues, including the situations in Iraq and Lebanon and the prospect of peace talks between Syria and Israel.” Pelosi was accompanied by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Tom Lantos (D-CA), Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY), Nick J. Rahall II (D-WV), and Keith Ellison (D-MN). Zaid Haider, Damascus bureau chief for Al Safir, reportedly said, ‘There is a feeling now that change is going on in American policy – even if it’s being led by the opposition.”
@ 6:04
The Constitution of the United States delegates commander-in-chief power to the president of the United States. Section 2 clearly states, “He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur…”
Professor Jack Goldsmith of Harvard Law School writes, Senators have a good argument that “the President lacks the authority under the U.S. Constitution to negotiate a pure Executive agreement in this context. Almost all major arms control agreements have been made as treaties that needed Senate consent, and the one major exception, the Salt I treaty, was a congressional-executive agreement.”
One who might agree: former Senator Joe Biden, whose White House profile explains, “then-Senator Biden played a pivotal role in shaping US foreign policy.” Among other elements of that role: decrying President George W. Bush’s surge in Iraq as “a tragic mistake” and vowing, “I will do everything in my power to stop it.” As Tom Cotton clarifies, “If Joe Biden respects the dignity of the institution of the Senate, he should be insisting that the President submit any deal to approval of the Senate, which is exactly what he did on numerous deals during his time in Senate.”
#Am Dem, Will Tool
Geez, I never realized you had such hard hitting Conservative Republicans so tuned into your blog. The first guy is upset about Kerry talking to the Sandinistas behind Reagan's back but seems to forget that there was communications by Reagan with Iran with regard to the hostages and do these people forget Ollie North standing before Congress in his Marine Uniform swearing to tell the truth and then lying through his teeth about his actions on the Contra arms deal. Apparently it is true that history is by those who write it and these guys both seem to hold poison pens. Ronald Reagan through Ollie North was making deals with Iran before he beat Carter so where does that place him?
And thanks for pointing out that Congress has official duties to perform but please note that those duties stop at the shores of the United States. Congress does not negotiate for the US, the president does through the Secretary of State.
I couldn't agree more with Mr. Toole. Can't wait for Toomey to go.
No doubt, Reagan and Col. Ollie were both traitors and should have been hanged for knifing our brave Marines in the back.
Some Commander in Chief he was!!!
How can anyone defend what the gang of 47 did. Posters want so badly to rip Mr. Toole's letter apart that they bring Biden into it and then make Toole's point. Biden used his position as a Senator to "advise and consent" but they don't see that as playing within the rules. Those who went to Cuba made it clear they were not there speaking for the United States while the gang of 47 made it clear that they will destroy any negotiations completed by Obama. Somebody please wake these dead heads up. Thank you.
Post a Comment
<< Home