There was a time when we could be confident that politics ends at the water’s edge. There was a time Republicans would pretend to honor the founding fathers, emulate conservative icons like Goldwater and Reagan, and respect the Constitution. Instead they throw tantrums and stomp their feet hiding behind “patriotism.”
Treasonous interference of the Executive might be the cherry on top of what is now a six year campaign to discredit each and every thing that President Obama accomplishes. There is even a whiff of that stench all the way down through the Virginia General Assembly. However, with two more years left to deny Obama a legacy, their desperation promises a continued effort to dismantle the Republic that may yet yield even greater absurdity.
Imagine in the run up to that great Bush Iraqi strategery debacle if Democrats had penned a letter to Saddam telling him “Hey, this guy is nuts and if he invades your country we have the option to tighten the purse strings on the military. Hang in there, he won’t always be President.” Or if upon election as Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi had invited the President of France to appear before a joint session of Congress to “advise” our President on how to proceed with our foreign entanglements.
Tom Cotton is the new poster child for patronizing veterans. Being a veteran doesn’t confer competence in foreign affairs or the Constitution. And now we are reminded that not all veterans are patriots. The damage to America’s stature is difficult to measure. What he has done is quite simple: he has put the world on notice that our foreign policy is at the mercy of waves of “populist” fervor and political expediency.
Both Goldwater and Reagan called for enforcement of the Logan Act. It was a founding father’s administration that initiated enactment. But it would be inconvenient for Republicans to remember those facts.
The end result is this: if Iran needed a rationale for building a nuclear arsenal, it now has it.
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