Arkansas U.S. Senator Tom Cotton: The Most Powerful Man in Washington
Cotton rounded up 46 other Republican senators in Washington to sign a letter to Iran. That letter announced that no deal between President Obama and Iran would ever make it through the United States Senate. The constitution requires a two-thirds vote for any treaty to be ratified. An Iranian deal would not get a majority vote, let alone a two-thirds vote.
The outrage from Democrats was immediate. On twitter, the hashtag "47traitors" exploded. More than 100,000 people signed a petition demanding the 47 senators be arrested for treason. Chris Matthews, the Walter Winchel of MSNBC, yelled at his viewers accusing the senators of violating the Logan Act. The sound bite got picked up and parroted by talking heads who needed a point and had none of their own.
The Logan Act is a law enacted in 1799 by President John Adams. It prohibits citizens from engaging foreign powers in contravention of the United States. Not a single person has ever been convicted of violating the Logan Act. Only one person, in 1803, was ever indicted under the Logan Act. The government is exempt from the law, obviously, and the State Department determined in 1975 that Congress, as a branch of government, was exempt from the Logan Act.
The rhetoric of the left has been farcical. The late Sen. Ted Kennedy directly collaborated with the Soviet Union to undermine President Reagan's foreign policy. We only learned about that as a nation when the Soviet Union collapsed and old KGB archives were uncovered.
In 2002, Congressmen John Bonior and Jim McDermott flew to Iraq to stand shoulder to shoulder with Saddam Hussein against George W. Bush. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi went to Syria to stand with Bashar al-Assad against George W. Bush. But the most similar action to Tom Cotton's letter happened in 1984.
That year, then-Democratic Leader Jim Wright, who would go on to be Speaker of the House, penned a letter to communist leader Daniel Ortega. The letter, signed by multiple Democrats in the Congress, pledged Democratic opposition to Ronald Reagan's policies and sought to engage in separate diplomatic relations with Ortega than what the Reagan administration was attempting.
For Hillary Clinton to claim last week that Tom Cotton's letter was something unique in American history was as big a lie as her claiming she could not put two email accounts on one device. In fact, the Democrats know Tom Cotton's actions are legal. They just do not like his boldness in defiance of a president who increasingly views himself as a dictator.
Try as they might, the Democrats have not been able to completely undermine the idea of three separate but equal branches of government. Their spittle flew when Speaker Boehner invited the Israeli prime minister to speak to Congress. Though they claimed the invitation was some sort of breach of protocol, the Speaker also invited the Pope to speak, and the Democrats made no such claims.
What is really happening is the Democrats were attempting to allow Iran to build up a nuclear program without anyone noticing. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Sen. Tom Cotton shed light on the Democrats' plan. The Democrats were left scurrying about like roaches with the light turned on. They do not like it.
The net result of Sen. Cotton's actions has not been an indictment of 47 Republican senators. Instead, Secretary of State John Kerry had to admit President Obama's negotiations with Iran were non-binding and unenforcible. But for Sen. Tom Cotton, America would never have gotten that admission. It makes the senator one of the few people in Washington who has been able to throw Barack Obama off his game.
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Erick Erickson, also known as Erick-Woods Erickson, is a politically conservative American blogger and editor-in-chief of the blog site RedState.com.
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Posted by Bill Smith at 2:34 PM - Post Link
18 Comments:
To Me, it is so great to have a ARKANSAS SENATOR speaking out for AMERICA> We have way too many elected officials that are only concerned about their jobs.I think AMERICA SHOULD BE PROUD TO HAVE SOMEONE STAND UP FOR AMERICANS.
Could not agree more.
They always attack the people and ideas they fear the most!
Tom Cotton is Dynamite on legs!
A true patriot.! What a breath of fresh air in DC.
As a Constitutional Conservative, yellow dog democrat, FDR-Truman, from Arkansas, now the rest of the world knows why we Arkansas Conservatives were abandoned by the Democrat Party, we didn't leave it. In Arkansas, that was led by Slick Willy & Witch Hillary. God Save the Constitution & America from the liberals & the Bildebergs. Semper Fi Randy O. Bowling R.O.B./
I'm very proud to have done my part to help get Sen. Tom Cotton elected! He is serving us well!!! He is such a kind man!
He's taking a beating. Five or six letters to editor in DemGaz against him today. And now some of the senators who signed his letter are backing up.
I stand behind Cotton! I am proud of his boldness and he is correct! We need men of character who will stand strong for the security of America and it's people! That is what Tom is doing, standing up for America!
I haven't read the letters to the editor, but feel that they are probably written by the same sad group of vocal liberals in this state, whose sworn duty is to get out there and shout down anybody that dares to disagree with their messiah.
Wallace, you hit the nail on the head. I have found that to be the case also. Our household stands with Senator Tom Cotton.
Glad I'm in the majority. People need to understand how important it is that we have leaders like him to stand up and do what is right for America, not themselves. Funny that most all the people who down him have never served. He knows what he's talking about. He's extremely intelligent & the liberals fear him. That's why they are trying so hard to shut him down. He's a combat veteran, he's withstood tougher than that!
As long as nuclear fallout is worse than ice and snow I'll stand with Cotton!
People still read the DemGaz? They still even read newspapers to get day old slanted news? My Mom in law still gets the paper for coupons only. She hasn't figured out you can get more and better coupons off the internet.
Cotton is what a leader should be, "for the people who he works for".
My husband and I stand with Senator Cotton. We recognized this quality in him and proudly supported him when he was running for Congress. He has the courage to make controversial decisions for the good of the country. He is definitely presidential material.
I wish the leaders of America, the Senate & the House had some of Tom Cotton's courage and vision.
Cotton Wins: The left and the media went ballistic when Senator Tom Cotton and 46 senators dared to remind the Iranians that the elected representatives of the American people also had a say on binding treaties negotiated by our presidents. For all the handwringing and furrowed brows over Senator Cotton's letter, he is the clear winner in that public battle with the Obama White House.
It got almost no news coverage, but 363 members of the House of Representatives -- that's 83% of the chamber -- sent their own letter to Obama yesterday saying essentially the exact same thing as Senator Cotton's letter. Here's an excerpt:
"Should an agreement with Iran be reached, permanent sanctions relief from congressionally-mandated sanctions would require new legislation. In reviewing such an agreement, Congress must be convinced that its terms foreclose any pathway to a bomb, and only then will Congress be able to consider permanent sanctions relief."
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