On Monday, Republicans again exemplified why Congress has gone completely FUBAR. Tom Cotton, R-Sen., and his 46 senatorial cohorts, sent a letter to the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran to “educate” them about how international treaties work under the U.S. Constitution.
Because when dealing with a country, which is in the process of developing nuclear weapons, the best plan of action is to write, “you may not fully understand our constitutional system,” followed by two threats aimed at undermining any diplomatic efforts made by President Barack Obama. These senators seem to forget that politicians around the world do not act like whimpering Democrats in this country.
The issue with the letter isn’t the pick-and-choose attitude of applying constitutional powers. Instead, the problem lies with the domestic implications that flow from this Fox News style prank.
First, there is no impact on the negotiations—at least not the way these senators appear to demand. Even Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif dismissed what he called a “stunt” as nothing more than a “propaganda ploy” to try and exert political pressure. Thank goodness that Zarif is not a knee-jerk commentator like Vice President Joe Biden, who called the letter’s message “dangerous.” In the non-campaign reality that these senators seem to have detached themselves from, their statement has no effect. Obama still has the power to make an agreement and, should he face lack of support from Congress, can veto efforts to block such efforts. And I will not even go into how if Democrat senators, trying to undermine a Republican president, had done this they would have been called “traitors” and accused of treason.
Second, the true goal of the letter is to rev up support for Republicans in preparation of the presidential race. This stunt is likely to backfire in the effort. Republicans have claimed that the political situation in America will improve once they take control of Congress. Yet, their accomplishments are contradictory to their party’s mantra, such as holding a Homeland Security bill hostage to get immigration amendments passed. The issue here is that these acts only polarize the voting blocs. What Republicans need to do—if they want to pose a real threat to Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid—is to find a way to win over moderates and conservative Democrats. All these Kanye techniques of generating negative press might work in the short term to get people talking about the GOP, but have and will continue to hurt its future as a respectable political party.
Which brings me to the true problem underlying all of this: That Cotton and his buffoons are still in office. As they penned in their letter, “senators may serve an unlimited number of 6-year terms.” How about…no. Americans need to start holding their party representatives accountable when they are willing to threaten this country’s safety.
Good thing you now have a list of 47 names to vote out of office during the next election cycle.
