Cotton’s unpatriotic forefathers: Treasonous Iran letter not the first time GOP has crossed the line

[DonViejo]

Tom Cotton’s unpatriotic forefathers: Treasonous Iran letter not the first time GOP has crossed the line

The ideology of movement conservatives is not simply partisanship. It is an attack on American democracy itself

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

The Republican senators who warned Iranian officials that any agreement they made with President Obama would not outlive the present administration appear to have been blindsided by the backlash against their letter. Republicans as well as Democrats have responded to the move with such fury that unnamed sources clumsily suggested the letter was only a “cheeky” reminder that Congress should have a voice in negotiations. Sen. John McCain downplayed the extraordinary letter as business as usual: “I sign lots of letters,” he told Politico.

But the firestorm continues to rage. Newspaper editorials slam the senators who signed the bill; more than a quarter of a million people have signed a petition calling for the senators to be tried for treason; #47Traitors has been trending on Twitter. Why has this letter garnered such a visceral reaction when attacks on the president and his policies are the everyday currency of the modern Republican Party?

It has created a backlash because it shows, with crystal clarity, that the ideology of Movement Conservatives is not simply partisanship. It is an attack on American democracy itself.

The senators who signed the letter are trying to impose their will on a president they hate. This maneuvering is unusual but not novel. It has been central to most of the nation’s internal crises. Whenever adherents of an ideological faction recognize that they do not have the popular support to control the president, they try to game the system. This happens on a grand scale, as when Southern whites so hated the outcome of the 1860 election that made Abraham Lincoln president, they picked up guns to get their way. It happens on smaller scales, as when Republicans in Congress today threaten to shut down the government to make President Obama do what they want. It’s often hard to distinguish smaller-scale machinations from regular partisan politics.

-snip-

Full article
http://www.salon.com/2015/03/15/tom_cottons_unpatriotic_forefathers_treasonous_iran_letter_not_the_first_time_gop_has_crossed_the_line/

[rock]

1. It's a sociological principle

That those in power will tend to press their boundaries to see what they can get away with. For examples see: King Louis XVI, Hitler, George W. Bush, and even Obama. If they work at it long enough to achieve evil results then evil things befall them (see King Louis XVI). w* did not quite have enough time to meet this fate (but yet may). Obama is safe because the most people think he's using his powers to accomplish good.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. And, luckily so far, the Republicans have been quick to back down when faced with strength

Just like most bullies, when you stand up to them, they stop....for awhile.

[rock]

3. That's true enough though they may yet

try pushing the boundaries in a situation that does not allow backing down once you reach the critical point, i.e. banging on an unexploded bomb!

[George II]

4. You put Obama in that same group as the others?

[rock]

5. Yes, it's a fair cop, I think

He has been pushing the limits of those powers the president has. It has been for good and at this stage I would say he hasn't broken any laws. It's a fine line between what is policy and what is law.

[George II]

6. Its only a "fair comp" IF Obama does the things that King Louis XVI and Hitler did.

[rock]

7. I think you don't get the sociological principle

Everyone in power tries to find the limits of that power (for good or evil as the case may be). And inevitably (given enough time) they go too far. This happens even to little kids (bullies). Depending on the case at hand they may suffer drastic consequences. It is a well-known sociological principle, perhaps the only one. Sociology is a true soft science!

Note 1: Just because King Louis XVI, Hitler, and w* were all men doesn't mean that we can't include Obama as a man.

Note 2: I meant "fair cop" though "fair comp" works also.

[blkmusclmachine]

8. The ideology of movement conservatives is not simply partisanship. It is an attack on American

democracy itself.