On the web site for White House Petitions ("We The People"), there are 7 petitions calling for the prosecution of Cotton et al. One has collected over 125,000 signatures in less than 24 hours.That's more than the 100K threshold needed for a response, and the numbers are still growing. Now it's up to 129,000, 132,000, 136,000, 140,000, 145,000, 147,000, 155,000, 160,000, 165,000, 170,000, 180,000, 190,000, 200,000,250,000!!! You can help amplify our voice and push those numbers higher. Some people seem to think the charge should be treason, but I think sedition is much more accurate. Sedition is less serious than treason, but it's still a federal felony.
I think it is time for Eric Holder to act in his capacity as Attorney General. At least start the ball rolling. He's leaving anyway, so it won't be his problem to deal with for very long. Let that be a lesson to the Senate as they continue to hold up the appointment of his replacement.
Some might argue against this course of action because it will be "distracting" to have a court case going forward. Really? Because then the Republicans in the Senate will be too busy defending themselves to do their jobs? That's different from what we have now? Actually, defending themselves from federal felony prosecution will cost them money. That will leave a mark. Maybe then they will see it is time to get serious and do the job they were hired to do instead of the job lobbyists pay them to do.
If there is no response to this petition, and no accountability for the #crimingwhilewhite clowns in the Senate (now we can add Jindal and Perry to the mix) -- then this administration can expect more of the same for the next year and a half. By "more of the same" I mean "more batshit crazy than the last time they went nuts" buffoonery.
When 47 out of 54 GOP senators sign up for sedition, there is no reason to believe we are dealing with rational or reasonable people who respect anything but force. Ignoring this problem will not fix it. Action is required or the people pulling this stunt are going to continue distracting us at every turn. We can't afford this.
The magnitude and speed of the popular outrage to this bonehead move by GOP senators has generated quite a bit of attention. Not good attention, either. Given Cotton's belligerent response, it seems clear that sparing the rod only spoils the boy. Time for someone to be taken out to the woodshed. Otherwise we are looking at the kind of chaos that drives middle school lunchroom monitors mad. We can't afford this.
Frankly, I am a bit surprised that a freshman senator can have so much clout. Obama went on to be president, and he didn't have this kind of clout. Sure, he had a big fan club, but clout? No. Then I came across this article from March 2014: Bill Kristol Wants Arkansas GOP Senate Candidate To Help Ease America’s ‘War-Weariness’
ARE YOU $#@!%^& KIDDING ME?!?!!
The guy who sold us the last war thinks he can trot out a gung-ho vet who is getting his beak wet by kissing the ass of the military-industrial-complex and no one will notice? Has anyone told him about the Internet yet? Because if you search Google with "Bill Kristol war weariness" as your search string, you find this article from March 2013: Bill Kristol: Republicans Need To ‘Inspire People To Rise Above’ Their War Weariness. Seriously?!?
Now I understand why a freshman senator was able to rally 90% of Republican senators to commit a seditious act. He doesn't have any special clout. He's just a new coat of paint on the face of the war machine. Cotton is so busy worshiping Mammon, he has forgotten the message of Matthew 6:24:
Matthew 6:24: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
So how does Bill Kristol get fingered as seducing Cotton to sedition? Tom Cotton isn't just a fortuitous arrival who happens to answer Kristol's feverish dreams. Kristol bought and paid for this guy. Tom Cotton received almost $1 million
($960,250, to be exact) in his race for the Senate a few months ago from Kristol’s Emergency Committee for Israel (
NB: That's not the Emergency Committee for the American Way).
Sonuvabitch! That's the price of sedition these days, is it? Speaking of money, where did that money come from? Is Kristol funneling foreign money into senate campaigns? Is Kristol even registered as a foreign agent? Who exactly was Tom Cotton representing when he accepted that money?
Not to put too fine a point on it, but what we have here is a situation where the jokers pushing the next war are owned and operated by the bozos that sold us the last war. That fiasco damaged their credibility so badly, they know they can't con the "war-weary" masses a second time. Their solution? Slap a new coat of paint on the old war machine and pitch it to the rubes like it's a brand new model! What was that saying about "fool me once..."?
If you weren't convinced prosecutions were warranted before, I hope that revelation pushed you over the edge. Remember what I said about not holding people accountable just invites them to get even more outrageous? If you doubted me before, look no further than Bill Kristol and the latest drumbeat for war in Iran. We really can't afford this. Prosecuting these bastards is the only way to make sure they can't afford to keep doing this, either. If you agree, Sign The Petition.
11:55 AM PT: [UPDATE]
Reading through the comments, it appears that many dismiss this call to action by trivializing the seditious behavior of the senators who signed the letter. People point to other cases where elected officials, acting in their private capacity, have inserted themselves into international policy debates -- sometimes to the point of meeting with foreign leaders. What they fail to address with those comparisons is the content and intent of the communications.
Whether people were meeting with Saddam Hussein (e.g., McDermott, Bonior, and Thompson), Bashar Assad, (e.g., Pelosi), Fidel Castro (e.g. Jackson), or any of a number of Israeli prime ministers (too many officials to count) -- one thing was always clear. The people going were NOT going as representatives of the United States unless they had express authorization from the president. Furthermore, NOBODY in any of the counter-examples cited went to deliver a message of "deal with me (us) or no deal." Finally, NOBODY in any of the counter-examples sought to undermine the authority of the president.
In the current situation, the 47 senators represent :
a) They are the deciders... not the executive
b) They are expressly threatening to undermine the president's authority
c) They used Senate letterhead, implying they are acting in their official capacity.
That's three strikes. The fact that no one has ever tried to pull that crap before is hardly a reason to dismiss this as a violation of federal law. That law is there for good reason. The alternative is chaos and catastrophe.
I am also baffled by the claim the law is "an anachronism." As if speaking with a single voice on legally binding matters is no longer relevant in the modern age. If the law is an anachronism, what does that say about Article 2, Section 2? While we are at it, should we also decide Marbury vs. Madison is "a quaint anachronism" we no longer need to worry about? How many fundamental principles do we need to destroy before outrageous behavior is recognized as a threat to us all?
The fact that certain fundamental aspects of our constitution have served us well for centuries without amendment is an indication of stability, not irrelevance. If we idly stand by while zealots dynamite that foundation, this house will not stand. You won't need a terrorist group to bring us down. We will do it to ourselves.
If you want to send a clear message that this sort of behavior cannot be tolerated, Sign The Petition