US: GOP tries to undercut nuclear deal with warning to Iran

[Johpa]

The Iranians have nuclear capabilities and there is nothing the US or Israel can do to change that fact. Neither country is capable of limited military action that would significantly impact the Iranian nuclear program. Netanyahu lives, at least publicly in the past, say circa 1981, but I can't believe that a former Matkal commander would not, in his heart, recognize that military options simply do not exist. Thus the only way to bring Iran into the MAD (mutually assured destruction) world is to engage them diplomatically either by agreement or, perhaps later, by treaty. The current crop of Republicans live partially at least, even further in the past, circa 1950s but without the progressive tax features of that era, and are a danger to the entire planet by keeping the Iranians isolated and also by demeaning the executive branch of the US government. The distance between Pennsylvania Avenue and Ferguson is not that great.

[up-country_sinclair]

From a purely domestic, political standpoint, this letter was an huge miscalculation. More than 200,000 US citizens have a signed a petition calling for charges to be filed against the 47 senators for violating the Logan Act. Of course charges are not going to be filed, but this is a distraction we didn't need at this point in time. Can you imagine all the attention that would be focused on Secretary Clinton's emails if this silliness wasn't dominating the headlines and chatter around the water cooler.

These extreme right-wing hyperpartisans are experts at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. First it was attempting to shut down the DHS even though the matter was addressed by the courts, and all that resulted from it was an embarrassing vote in the House. After that they were discussing abolishing the filbuster even though we might lose the Senate in less than 2 years. When I saw our resident knuckleheads proposing this nonsense, I nearly couldn't believe their ignorance of the US politics.

Did the left wing hyperpartisans act this stupidly when President GW Bush was in office? They may have, but the foolhardiness we've witnessed in the last few months seems particularly egregious.

[up-country_sinclair]

By the way, It's interesting that several posters have suddenly stopped posting in the various threads on this topic.

[chuckd]

Funny how the State Department is siding with the 47 Senators by saying since the agreement is not subject to Congressional approval, it is "non-binding".

Did you miss me?

Edited March 13, 2015 by chuckd

[Publicus]

By the way, It's interesting that several posters have suddenly stopped posting in the various threads on this topic.

And it is also interesting to see the low quality or the no quality of the johnnie come latelies to the topic who do try to deflect from the letter of sedition and the subsequent full retreat of its signers.

McCain is leading the retreat after the Ozarks senator Tom Terrible Cotton bailed from his having been put out front to introduce the public to the subversive letter and to try to explain it to the media. Terrible Cotton has shrunk from the public view which was predictable given how the sagging senate sages deputized him and sent the rookie newman out front to take the first bullet.

All that has come from Tehran to date is an accurate lecture indeed to the tea party driven Republicans in the Senate about the American Constitutional System to include how it relates to modern international law, state to state relations, national sovereignty in international negotiations, multinational agreements vs treaties, and their references to domestic US political groups meaning the (tea party) partisans in the Senate who see politics only while failing to recognize the US president is head of state so s/he has sovereignty in international diplomacy and in international agreements.

Three months into the new 114th Congress we have the 47 Ozarks Republicans of the United States Senate put in their place by the Iranian elites not to mention the P5+1 which of course includes Prez Barack Obama. It's the Republican party versus the UN Security Council and the elected reformists of the governing party in Iran who are the ones in Tehran that have the upper hand there in these negotiations.

[Chicog]

Uh the Constitution requires any treaty be ratified by Congress. Then Senator Joe Biden said as much in 1997. Nobody trusts this President as he had sold out America at every turn and has proven over and over he is incompetent.

A Sole-Executive Agreement is not a treaty and needs no ratification.

As the Iranian FM pointed out.

And is not binding to the next president.

If it's a Republican, I think you'll have more things to worry about than an agreement.

[Publicus]

Funny how the State Department is siding with the 47 Senators by saying since the agreement is not subject to Congressional approval, it is "non-binding".

Did you miss me?

Nobody is sweating it so why should a few stragglers be so concerned about it.

The November 2016 general election will more than take care of it.

Chill.

[up-country_sinclair]

the State Department is siding with the 47 Senators by saying since the agreement is not subject to Congressional approval, it is "non-binding".

Is anyone debating that point? The White House? The other 53 US Senators? The Iranians? Anyone on this forum? Anyone, full stop?

No.

[Ulysses G.]

By the way, It's interesting that several posters have suddenly stopped posting in the various threads on this topic.

Sometimes it's easier to let the Jew-hating apologists for radical Islam have enough rope to hang themselves. Not many normal people are going to be convinced by the loony rhetoric on threads like this one.

[NeverSure]

By the way, It's interesting that several posters have suddenly stopped posting in the various threads on this topic.

Sometimes it's easier to let the Jew-hating apologists for radical Islam have enough rope to hang themselves. Not many normal people are going to be convinced by the loony rhetoric on threads like this one.

Some of us have better things to do than read long OCD rants from Muslim apologists all day long.

[Publicus]

By the way, It's interesting that several posters have suddenly stopped posting in the various threads on this topic.

Sometimes it's easier to let the Jew-hating apologists for radical Islam have enough rope to hang themselves. Not many normal people are going to be convinced by the loony rhetoric on threads like this one.

I get a strong sense of national identify from the people so severely criticized and a clear nationalism in their posts.

Iran is no model of a society or a country. Neither is the Republican party and its tea party directorate the exemplar of good government, politics, civil relations.

The defensive-offensive post is understandable however given the new alliance between the Likud and the Republican party. Gallup btw has found Bibi's approval in the US after his declaration of war in our Congress is down overall by 7% while his disapproval is up 14%, so it's all downhill from here anyway.

Benjamin Netanyahu Approval Rating Plunges to 17% Among Democrats

Gallup Poll Shows Overall Drop to 38%

Read more: http://forward.com/articles/216484/benjamin-netanyahu-approval-rating-plunges-to-/#ixzz3UIgUzb8f

This can't be very good news to Bibi with voters going to the polls in just three daze.

Edited March 13, 2015 by Publicus

[Pinot]

This shameful episode is just more of the ongoing effort by the Republicans to outdo one another in their efforts to display their disrespect for the President, without regard for policy, protocol, the law, or even their own dignity.

The general run of Republican criticism of the President has become so predictable and banal that they almost have to resort to outrageous behavior to establish their nihilist (I won't say conservative, because they aren't that) bona fides.

This whole thing in one word...pathetic.

[Ulysses G.]

The Republicans are trying to keep the lawless president from allowing Iran to get nuclear weapons to further his own political motives and democrats can't vote in Israel's election, so who cares if they approve of Netanyahu or not.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[Chicog]

The Republicans are just trying to make Obama look bad, as they've been doing since he got elected.

[up-country_sinclair]

The Republicans are just trying to make Obama look bad, as they've been doing since he got elected.

That's just politics. At least it used to be.

But what's happened recently goes beyond the pale and is destructive to the national fabric. Nearly shutting down the DHS even though the issue was addressed by the courts because they "wanted to make a statement". And assuring us all that it could be done "simply". Then they advocated abolishing the filibuster even though it might be the only thing saving us from another liberal on the Supreme Court in 2017, for God's sake! And now they're sending letters of advice to Iran. They've gone too far and something needs to be done. The first step should be rooting out AIPAC.

[phrodan]

By the way, It's interesting that several posters have suddenly stopped posting in the various threads on this topic.

Sometimes it's easier to let the Jew-hating apologists for radical Islam have enough rope to hang themselves. Not many normal people are going to be convinced by the loony rhetoric on threads like this one.

That's just out-and-out trolling.

By dint you are suggesting that anyone that takes a dim view of this letter and has posted and objection to it is -

"A Jew hating apologist."

So very American that objects to this letter is a Jew hating apologist?

That's a ridiculous position to take.

There's something wrong with you.

Edited March 14, 2015 by phrodan

[BKKBobby]

By the way, It's interesting that several posters have suddenly stopped posting in the various threads on this topic.

Sometimes it's easier to let the Jew-hating apologists for radical Islam have enough rope to hang themselves. Not many normal people are going to be convinced by the loony rhetoric on threads like this one.

Some of us have better things to do than read long OCD rants from Muslim apologists all day long.

"Jew-hating"

"Apologists for radical islam"

"Muslim apologists"

So people that consider this letter and its signers to be idiots are considered to be what is written in the quotes above?

Come on! My six year old English Cocker Spaniel is better at deflection.

Edited March 14, 2015 by BKKBobby

[BKKBobby]

By the way, It's interesting that several posters have suddenly stopped posting in the various threads on this topic.

Sometimes it's easier to let the Jew-hating apologists for radical Islam have enough rope to hang themselves. Not many normal people are going to be convinced by the loony rhetoric on threads like this one.

That's just out-and-out trolling.

By dint you are suggesting that anyone that takes a dim view of this letter and has posted and objection to it is -

"A Jew hating apologist."

So very American that objects to this letter is a Jew hating apologist?

That's a ridiculous position to take.

There's something wrong with you.

Everything anti-Saudi or anti-Israeli or going against the "interests" of Israel and Saudi Arabia is considered by some to be "un-American"(I dont even know the meaning of un-American) or anti-American.

It makes some peoples brain start smoking, and they cant help themselves so they start trolling and ranting nonsense.

Edited March 14, 2015 by BKKBobby

[Chicog]

By the way, It's interesting that several posters have suddenly stopped posting in the various threads on this topic.

Sometimes it's easier to let the Jew-hating apologists for radical Islam have enough rope to hang themselves. Not many normal people are going to be convinced by the loony rhetoric on threads like this one.

Some of us have better things to do than read long OCD rants from Muslim apologists all day long.

"Jew-hating"

"Apologists for radical islam"

"Muslim apologists"

So people that consider this letter and its signers to be idiots are considered to be what is written in the quotes above?

Come on! My six year old English Cocker Spaniel is better at deflection.

Perhaps it's a three year old labrador offering this argument then?

[Asiantravel]

I have lost count of the number of times I have seen Netanyahu on the podium at the United Nations and in other places trying so hard to convince the world that Iran is not only Israel’s problem but the rest of the world also.

Even though I’m definitely not an Obama supporter I think his proposal that the United nations should be the final decision maker on this deal ( not the GOP ) is excellent and only fair?

What right does Israel and the pro-Israel republican lobby in the US Congress have to be the sole decision-makers on this deal on behalf of the rest of the world that Netanyahu insists is also at risk from any nuclear activities by Iran?

[Ulysses G.]

By the way, It's interesting that several posters have suddenly stopped posting in the various threads on this topic.

Sometimes it's easier to let the Jew-hating apologists for radical Islam have enough rope to hang themselves. Not many normal people are going to be convinced by the loony rhetoric on threads like this one.

That's just out-and-out trolling.

By dint you are suggesting that anyone that takes a dim view of this letter and has posted and objection to it is -

"A Jew hating apologist."

Another Straw-man, from someone who relies on them. No one said that "anyone" that takes a dim view of the letter is a Jew-hating apologist for radical Islam, but this thread is full of posters who fit that description and their loony rhetoric makes everyone who agrees with them look bad too. The compulsive apologists for radical Islam are really doing the other side a big favor by publicly sharing their twisted point of view.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[Ulysses G.]

There's something wrong with you.

People in glass houses...

[phrodan]

By the way, It's interesting that several posters have suddenly stopped posting in the various threads on this topic.

Sometimes it's easier to let the Jew-hating apologists for radical Islam have enough rope to hang themselves. Not many normal people are going to be convinced by the loony rhetoric on threads like this one.

That's just out-and-out trolling.

By dint you are suggesting that anyone that takes a dim view of this letter and has posted and objection to it is -

"A Jew hating apologist."

Another Straw-man, from someone who relies on them. No one said that "anyone" that takes a dim view of the letter is a Jew-hating apologist for radical Islam, but this thread is full of posters who fit that description and their loony rhetoric makes everyone who agrees with them look bad too. The compulsive apologists for radical Islam are really doing the other side a big favor by publicly sharing their twisted point of view.

There's nothing straw man about me.

You are poisonous - constantly baiting and trolling.

There was no justification whatsoever for calling this thread into disrepute.

But you couldn't wait to slate those that disagree with you as Jew hating apologists.

You are a disgrace.

[Ulysses G.]

You obviously don't even know what a Straw-man is, but you use this logical fallacy continually to make very weak arguments. Google is your friend.

Plenty of those that disagree with me ARE Jew-hating apologists for radical Islam and their obsessive posts provide plenty of evidence.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[Scott]

I would suggest that this bickering-fest stop or I know two members who won't be posting for a time.

Get back to the topic, please.

[Chicog]

You obviously don't even know what a Straw-man is, but you use this logical fallacy continually to make very weak arguments. Google is your friend.

Plenty of those that disagree with me ARE Jew-hating apologists for radical Islam and their obsessive posts provide plenty of evidence.

I know plenty of Jews and Muslims who are ashamed of the antics of those who are supposed to or claim to represent them - and I share their criticism.

I loathe Netanyahu and his warmongering ilk and I loathe Muslim extremists.

So by inference I suppose I must be a "jew hater" and a "muslim hater".

Of course the truth is far from it, but some seem happy to apply labels when they are either too lazy or too stupid to know any different.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Chicog

[Chicog]

From a recent opinion piece in a Gulf newspaper:

Amid all the fuss and noise currently emanating from Israel and its strong backers in the Republican-led US Congress about the “imminent” nuclear threat from Iran, the only country in the Middle East that is known to own fully operational nuclear weapons is Israel. Therefore, it is quite legitimate and logical to question Israel’s present and future governments about their intention of using its real arsenal in the coming weeks and months. Will the Israeli government decide to bomb Iran? It is not unlikely and we should consider the latest appearance of Netanyahu in the US Congress as an encouraging sign for him to do so. The only explanation that one could derive from these persistent statements by the Israeli premier on the Iran nuclear issue is that these are aimed at preparing the ground for an attack on Iran.

Two full-page ads in New York Times on March 2 and in the Washington DC-based newspaper the Hill, on March 3, signed by 2,600 Jewish American personalities, were significantly published in protest against such an eventuality. The ads, organised by the San Francisco-based Jewish ‘Tikkun’ peace project organisation, called on Netanyahu to stop messing with American affairs and drag the US into a completely undesirable war. “No, Mr Netanyahu,” the ads run, “the American people do not want a war with Iran, and American Jews do not support your efforts to undermine the Obama Administration’s negotiation with Iran.”

http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/what-if-israel-bombs-iran-1.1471613?

[Chicog]

And a Reuters piece that indicates to me that perhaps Netanyahu has a more subtle agenda....

Kerry weighs in on Iran nuclear deal, Israeli elections

12:50pm GMT - 00:41

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says there is no certainty on deal with Iran and reiterates the US commitment to two-state solution for Israel, Palestinians. Rough Cut (No reporter narration)

http://uk.reuters.com/video/2015/03/14/kerry-weighs-in-on-iran-nuclear-deal-isr?videoId=363503856&videoChannel=117763&channelName=Rough+Cuts

Edited March 14, 2015 by Chicog

[jdinasia]

Uh the Constitution requires any treaty be ratified by Congress. Then Senator Joe Biden said as much in 1997. Nobody trusts this President as he had sold out America at every turn and has proven over and over he is incompetent.

I trust him. Congress doesn't ratify treaties.

[Johpa]

The Republicans are just trying to make Obama look bad, as they've been doing since he got elected.

That's just politics. At least it used to be.

The response of a significant number of Republicans to the election of Obama has not been the traditional "politics as usual' but of outright racism. That is why you heard some of the more extremists remark that Obama was the worst president in US history even before he took the oath of office. It is the reason that some within the Republican Party decided to oppose Obama at every step as a matter of party policy which is why you saw Republicans vote against their own legislation when Obama supported that legislation. One would have to have their heads buried deep in the sand not to see the divergence from politics as usual. The real irony is that it weakens those of us who have substantive issues with the administration policies.