Issue #1 –Letterhead
While the letterhead doesn’t include the Seal of the United States Senate, it was meant to look like an official communication from the US Senate. A communication that wasn’t authorized by that legislative body. With forty-seven signatories, the promoters couldn’t even get a majority of US Senators on board. Why didn’t they use the letterhead of any one of the forty-seven Senators to which the others could add their signatures?
Is there a US Senate rule that proscribes the use “US Senate” letterhead? Individual Senators may not use their Senate Office letterhead for other than official office business or otherwise proscribed.
Issue #2 – Logan Act
Plenty of fodder here for public arguments. Technically, it’s not difficult to find violations of the law over the past 215 years. Practically, it’s never used. The historical antecedents to the act was a private US citizen encouraging French officials to negotiate peaceful resolutions to conflicts with the US government. That enraged the quasi-monarchist President Adams. The prohibitive act subsequently passed by Congress is silent as to the intent of any non-US government authorized communication. Thus, legally, encouraging foreign governments to engage in conflict or war with the US or stymying official peace negotiations is on equal footing with unauthorized peace efforts. As colluding with foreign powers to wage war against the US had already been dealt with, the intent of “Logan” was to prohibit peace efforts by unauthorized US citizens. However, even those guys weren’t about to sign on to anything so blatantly anti-peace; thus, the silence on the intent.
With regard to the letter of the law (where are those Congressional “rule of law” thugs now?), John Boehner and 47% of the US Senate appear to be in violation of the law. Yet, to charge them would not only create a partisan political super-storm, but also require application of the law in the future for peace-seekers, the original intended targets. It’s a bad, dishonest, and poorly written law. In a functioning democracy, it would long ago have been repealed. But for reasons inexplicable to me, US lawmakers prefer to leave inoperable laws on the books.
Issue #3 – Decency
It’s not hyperbole to reference Senator Joseph McCarthy as a precursor to the current sitting 47 Senators and their bleitzkrieg to destroy President Obama. They have no decency. No respect for all the unwritten rules and manners that are conditions precedent to a modicum of democracy.
So, why is Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu such a big deal?
First off, it’s a huge violation of protocol and massively disrespectful to President Obama and the authority of the executive branch.
It is completely unprecedented for the Speaker of the House, or any member of Congress, to invite a foreign leader to come to the US and speak to Congress without getting authorization and/or cooperation from the White House.
The 47% Senate letter is similarly unprecedented. Imagine such a letter being sent to Mao by 45 Senators during the years the Korean Armistice Agreement was negotiated!
The 47% are indecent and as drunk on hate as all similar vermin in US history. They are unacceptable. The people in the states that elected them should be ashamed of themselves. One Joseph McCarthy was too many for this nation. Wisconsin still has some explaining to do for that, but instead chose to toss out the decent Senator Feingold in favor of a McCarthy clone. Shame on the majority of Wisconsin voters.
Shame on Iowa for Grassley and Ernst.
Shame on Kentucky for McConnell and Paul.
Shame on Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, etc.
Not on this wall of shame is amazingly enough Mississippi. Something to be said for old school manners which might be the only reason that Senator Thad Cochran didn’t sign this abomination. Cochran appears to have managed to retain a shred of decency in a time when his political party has sunk to a new depth of depravity. Not something any of the 47% can ever claim to possess forever more. Here’s looking at you, Senators Orrin Hatch and Chuck Grassley.
