Bloomberg: Did 47 U.S. Senators Just Commit Treason By Attempting to Sabotage Iran Deal?

[steve2470]

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-03-09/did-47-u-s-senators-just-commit-treason-by-attempting-to-sabotage-iran-deal-

News that 47 Republican senators sent a signed letter to Iran's leaders warning them against cutting a deal with the Obama administration had many Americans on Twitter openly questioning whether the action constituted treason.

The letter, organized by Senator Tom Cotton, a freshman from Arkansas, warned Iran that "...we will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is not approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei. The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time."

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the letter's goal was to "undermine" negotiations with Iran, but also noted that if the Obama administration reached an agreement over Iran's nuclear program that it would not be a treaty subject to congressional ratification.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, meanwhile, said it was highly unusual for a political party to insert itself into a foreign policy negotiation in opposition to the president.



IMHO, the article author should have bypassed the whole treason debate and focussed on the Logan Act.

[BeyondGeography]

1. They think they can do anything they want to the black guy

and get away with it. There is no limit to the indignities they will try to impose.

[steve2470]

2. yes you are correct

Blatant political ploy to the base back home, "stick it to that black man in the White House".

[TNNurse]

15. He is black and a Democrat

How dare he get elected twice and have more authority than they do. They simply cannot get over that. I am pretty sure if you asked some of them they would be ignorant enough to admit that everyone in this country should be white, "Christian" and Republican. They really are not Americans in my opinion.

[CincyDem]

3. It appears that they CAN do anything they want to the black guy...

...and get away with it.

Who is holding these folks accountable ?

The Judiciary? You have got to be kidding. They've been bought and paid for already.
The Voters? No way - they're off celebrating that "real men" have finally taken a strong stand.
The non-Voters? Who cares - they're non-voters.

So yeah - they can (and will) do anything to the black guy. They've only got 18 months left and no matter what you think about the candidates for 2016, it appears today that America will be able to breath a sigh of relief on Jan 20, 2017 when *we* put the white back into the White House. Gawd I hate rethugs and what their money worship is doing to this country.

Need.

More.

Coffee.

[Cha]

7. As a tweet said with Senator Reid's quote..

Sahil Kapur ✔ @sahilkapur
Follow
.@SenatorReid says Republicans refuse to accept that Obama, “this man with the unusual name, was elected twice.” http://bit.ly/1aXUHea
9:24 AM - 9 Mar 2015 81 Retweets 43 favorites

http://theobamadiary.com/2015/03/09/how-hate-can-lead-to-destruction/

[BeyondGeography]

10. It's that simple and that ugly

Thanks, Cha.

[Cha]

11. You're Welcome, BG. Thank you.

[Myrina]

12. It's because they are ignorant of the Constitution, politics and foreign policy ...

... the GO/TP are nothing but a bunch of lowbrow idiots who think they can govern better than 'those pointy headed scholar types in expensive suits' ... so they get elected by fellow ignoramuses and prove their idiocy at every turn.

[cynzke]

25. They are ignorant of history!

This is not the first or will it be the last time there was (will be) hostility between Congress and a President. Not once has anyone from Congress or the Senate pulled a stunt like this, no matter how much animosity a Congressman or Senator held against the presiding President. This stunt was an affront to not only the Office of the President but it was an egregious affront to the COUNTRY.

[DrDan]

28. so you think that Clinton, if elected, will get cooperation?

I think it is simply a juvenile repub stunt that could have happened to ANY D president. They would have pulled the same thing with Biden, Kerry, any-D in the WH.

[BeyondGeography]

31. Disagree

Of course they will go full kamikaze with any Democrat, but unannounced congressional speaking invites to foreign leaders and mass letters like these are extra credit assignments in the humiliation department. If you don't think they feel more comfortable treating a black guy like their personal fire hydrant than they would a white President you and I aren't seeing America the same way.

[DrDan]

33. they would have treated ANY Dem pres in the same disrespectful manner

tell me how they would have handled this Iranian incident any differently with Hillary C, Joe B, or John K in office.

[BeyondGeography]

34. I was on board with your POV until this latest chapter

The Netanyahu secret invite was an unprecedented breach of protocol. This letter is another first. They are looking for the bottom and they apparently haven't found it yet. They suspect it's deeper because of who this President is, imo.

We won't know the answer to your question until another white Dem is President. Until then, we'll just disagree.

[Cha]

4. Glad this is getting ink or bandwidth.. mahalo steve

[steve2470]

6. mahalo Cha, hope you and your family are well! nt

[Cha]

8. Backatcha!

[bemildred]

5. Why yes, yes they did.

It's a debate long overdue too, the abdication and corruption of Congress in foreign policy. I only wish the Congress was pulling for peace, not war.

[cynzke]

27. It is especially OUTRAGEOUS considering

the motives of the skunks who did this. They don't want ANY kind of PEACE. Cotton and his gang aren't concerned about the technicalities of deal, whether it is an agreement or an official treaty approved by Congress. These bastards want REGIME CHANGE and they think a war is the answer.

[bigwillq]

9. I think they did

they need to be charged.

[salin]

13. Guess they felt left out of all of Boehner's negative national and international press

per the Netanyahu invite - so the senate GOPers worked to top it. Guess we are going to have a year or so of such fiasco's of over-reach by the GOP congress.

Fiasco at best, treasonous at worst.

Who the hell is advising these fools?

[asiliveandbreathe]

14. Disgusting

Cotton actually is an embarrassment to the Military forces who are put in harms way whenever they are asked. To think that this POS wants to do harm to US - is beyond my comprehension...

I would love to see the DOJ open an inquiry - and issue all 47 subpoena's and make them come before a commission and explain themselves.....WE THE PEOPLE should demand it....make every days headline read REPUBLICAN TREASONOUS BEHAVIOR CONTINUES TO BE INVESTIGATED>>>>>>every day! Maybe voters will wake up and kick these bums out of OUR government...

Big mistake - HUGE!

[eaglecries]

24. Cotton is an embarrassment to many of us here in AR also.

However it seems that here in the south smart choices are not always made when so many TP followers are very much racist and full of ignorance and bigotry. Sadly almost all of my own extended family fall into that category and trying to find any common ground is impossible. One can only hope that someday it will change.

[Chipper Chat]

26. Dear Arkansas,

PLEASE RECALL TOM COTTON

[Dont call me Shirley]

16. Of course Bloomberg, in the final paragraph of the article, let's the gop off the hook...

"While Iran has been a U.S. enemy for some time, no official war declaration exists. It's hard to see how the negotiation of a nuclear deal, or the opposition to one, would rise to the level of treason. What has been perfectly clear since the start of the year is that Congress and the president see the Iran issue through different lenses. From the invitation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak in the House of Representatives without first consulting Obama, to the letter sent to Iranian leaders on Monday, the level of distrust between the two parties has reached new levels."

Par for the media course.

[Romeo.lima333]

18. that's correct it's not treason but it is a logan act violation

but then again the gang of psycos want to bomb iran and you only bomb enemies during war so the gang of psychos think we are in some kind of war with iran so aiding them with a letter of constructive advice would be treason - imho

[Dont call me Shirley]

19. The gop already called the Democrats the opposition (Newt Gingrich) after Obama's election in 2008

So in gops eyes anyone who works with the Democrats is aiding the enemy. The gops create enemies out of anyone who does not think like they do. The gop is the war party, and has been since they assassinated Lincoln and took over the Republican Party. They are recreating the civil war to win, this time. These are some truly sick vengeful creeps.

[yellowwoodII]

17. Follow the Money

Without even looking, I can predict that Senator Kirk from Illinois was one of them. He is the top recipient of contributions from "Friends of Israel." $687,569
But our friendly Democrat Senator Dick Durbin also received a lot of money. He was the 18th on the list of 50 senators. He also attended Netanyahu's speech out of "respect for Israel." He said.

Meanwhile, here is an article from "The New Yorker" regarding political influence:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel

"For AIPAC, the tension with the Obama Administration over Gaza comes amid a long series of conflicts. Perhaps the most significant of these is over the question of Iran’s obtaining a nuclear weapon. Last October, Iran and the consortium of world powers known as P5+1—Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States—met in Geneva to begin talks. For two decades, AIPAC has been warning that if Iran acquired nuclear arms it would pose an existential threat to Israel, which has had a nuclear capacity since the late sixties. Netanyahu has insisted that the United States—or Israel alone, if necessary—must be prepared to take military action against Iran. The Obama Administration, too, has said that a nuclear Iran is unthinkable and that “all options”—including military options—“are on the table.” But Netanyahu fears that Obama is prepared to settle for too little in the negotiations, and, when they began, he launched an uninhibited campaign of public diplomacy against them. In early November, after meeting in Jerusalem with Secretary of State John Kerry, he proclaimed a tentative proposal “a very, very bad deal. It is the deal of the century for Iran.” A photo op for the two men was abruptly cancelled, and Kerry returned to Switzerland."

[tomsaiditagain]

20. The world is really losing it

Signs of coming disaster are all around us. To me it looks as if the war hawks are going to do as they dam well please. These people with minds set on the end times only see bombs and dollar signs. "Jesus made them do it" is what they say. "Jesus says bomb them."

Jesus loves war?

[samsingh]

21. good question. did they commit treason or sedition?

[marym625]

22. K&R!

Agreed. We are not doing ourselves any favors saying that committed treason.

The Logan Act
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Logan+Act

Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

We need to let each signer know they're done. I posted all their names if you want to see if your Senator is among them.

[world wide wally]

23. If more than one person thinks that it's treason,.... It's probably pretty treasonous

So, now is the time to go for the kill of the GOP and constantly refer to them as the party of treason. It would be hard for the to defend at this point.

[Half-Century Man]

29. As far as I can see, the argument that this is treason should go

During a international attempt to halt the proliferation of the most destructive weapons known to man; the signers of this letter admitted a premeditated intent to void international law and strongly hinted at a later attempt by the United States to overthrow or destroy a sovereign government or nation state.

If we have such a plan and they exposed it, they provided aid to a government perceived as the enemy by our government. That is treason.
If we have no such plan; then their efforts to build a nuclear armed adversary with both the means and the motivation to kill vast numbers of us are treasonous. They are providing motivational aid, the comfort of a righteous cause, and material in the form of the absolute necessity to move ahead to protect themselves to an enemy of the future. The argument that any potential future enemy will be the result of this action ignores 90% of US history in the region.
If their intent was to discredit and hinder the current standing President; then they are currently actively engaged in treason, they are providing aid to and comforting countless enemies of the United States across the planet.




I am a complete lay person in these matters, however I think my arguments are sound. Might they be a starting point for a real legal argument?

[Man from Pickens]

30. haven't heard such loud cries of "treason!" since...

... I was called a traitor for not buying into the second Bush's second war

[NuclearDem]

32. I remember when treason used to have a definition.

Now it seems to be going the way of "fascist"--just a general epithet.

[nichomachus]

35. Besides the treason, there are a couple of problems with the letter

Iran doesn't have a "nuclear program." The only one claiming that is Nutty-Yahoo from Israel. No atomic agency or intelligence agency has said that they do.

Second, and most important, Iran is not negotiating with the US. It is in negotiations with the P5+1 group, in which the U.S. is joined by Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. If an agreement were reached, it would be an international agreement.

[cstanleytech]

36. The author is either a liar or an idiot because

it does not say we have to be a declaration of war for it to be treason as the author claims.

Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

And Iran has been a well known enemy for decades.