President Obama speaking in Ethiopia
Earlier this month, and just weeks before the first Republican presidential nomination debate, the Obama administration along with France, Great Britain, China, Russia and Germany reached a nuclear arms agreement with Iran. The Republicans, of course, hate it.
what eye thynk: The hardest thing for those in contention for the Republican nomination was to make their "I hate it" moment stand out from the crowd. In their rush for the spotlight, none of them seem able to grasp that the U.S. did not reach this agreement alone. All their ire is aimed squarely at the man they love to hate.The Hate:
1 -- Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called President Obama the "largest sponsor of terrorism in the world." (Second only to race-baiting in the Republican agenda is being able to equate Obama and "terrorism.")
2 -- Donald Trump (R) called the deal "dangerous" and "horrible." (Pretty calm for Mr. Trump; but then Iran doesn't have many Mexicans.)
3 -- Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) said he would rip up the Iran deal "on day one." (Because nothing promotes America's trustworthiness in the world like saying our word is only good for four years, then all bets are off.)
4 -- Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) issued a statement saying "I have said from the beginning of this process that I would not support a deal with Iran... (It will be up) to the next President to return us to a position of American strength and re-impose sanctions on this despicable regime..." (See #4 above.)
5 -- Jeb Bush (R) said "This isn't diplomacy--it is appeasement." (Fails to recognize that appeasement can sometimes be an important ingredient in diplomacy--in rational circles, it is called "compromise.")
6 -- Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) was a bit more nuanced. He said he continued "to believe that negotiations are preferable to war," but concluded that he would "vote against the agreement." (Which makes no sense, but then, this is Rand Paul.)
7 -- Senator Lindsey Graham (R-So.Carolina) feels the deal makes the Obama administration "weak in the eyes of the Iranians." (And nothing keeps America looking strong like signing a letter and sending it to Iran behind the President's back to warn the Iranians and the other negotiating countries to back off--while negotiations are still going on.)
8 -- Mike Huckabee (R) said with the Iran deal, the President "will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven." (I wasn't the only one to think that, in his zeal, Mr. Huckabee, had gone a bit too far. Israel's Transport Minister Yisreal Katz responded, "Dear Mr. Huckabee, no one is marching Jews to the ovens anymore. That is why we established the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces, and if necessary, we will know how to defend ourselves by ourselves." Ouch.)
Of course, the GOP rank and file wanted a piece of the action:
1 -- Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R- Kentucky) "It appears as if the administration's approach to this was to reach whatever agreement the Iranians are willing to enter into. So I think it's going to be a very hard sell." (Check the negotiation committee roster again, Mitch. This is not "the administration's" deal. There were five other world powers at that table discussing and, yes, *shudder*, even compromising, to reach this agreement.)
2 -- Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) said that, to reach an agreement, Secretary of State John Kerry had "acted like Pontius Pilate." (Bonus points were earned for working a Christian Bible reference in there.)
3 -- Senator Bob Corker (R-Tennessee) The "deal...is going to be dangerous for the United States and dangerous for the world." (I wonder if France, Germany, Russia, China and Great Britain know about this?!)
4 -- House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) vowed that Republicans would "do everything possible to stop" the deal. (Because "stopping" is what they do best.)
The President's Expose:
Speaking in Ethiopia, President Obama put the GOP's Iran deal rhetoric into perspective, basically calling it just more Republican same ol'/same ol'.
President Obama said, "The particular comments of Mr. Huckabee are, I think, part of just a general pattern that we've seen that is--would be considered ridiculous if it weren't so sad. We've had a sitting senator call John Kerry Pontius Pilate. We've had a sitting senator who also happens to be running for President suggest that I'm the leading state sponsor of terrorism. These are leaders in the Republican Party. The part of what historically has made America great is, particularly when it comes to foreign policy, there's been a recognition that these issues are too serious, that issues of war and peace are of such grave concern and consequence that we don't play fast and loose that way. We have robust debates, we look at the facts, there are going to be disagreements. But we just don't fling out ad hominem attacks like that, because it doesn't help inform the American people."
"I mean, this is a deal that has been endorsed by...historic Democratic and Republican leaders on arms control and on keeping America safe. And so when you get rhetoric like this, maybe it gets attention and maybe this is just an effort to push Mr. Trump out of the headlines, but it's not the kind of leadership that is needed for American right now..."
"...The point is we're creating a culture that is not conducive to good policy or good politics. The American people deserve better. Certainly, presidential debates deserve better. In 18 months, I'm turning over the keys--I want to make sure I'm turning over the keys to somebody who is serious about the serious problems the country faces and the world faces. And that requires on both sides, Democrat and Republican, a sense of seriousness and decorum and honesty."
It's in the Republican Party's DNA to hate President Barack Obama--the issues aren't important. They can't help themselves. In 2008, the U.S. stood at the top of a mountain where American race relations could have taken a huge positive step. Instead, the Republican Party decided to turn around and march in lock-step back down that peak. Each year has seen their pace accelerate.
In these nascent days of the 2016 presidential election season, leading Republicans are plummeting head first into the muck at the mountain's base. Deaf to all but their own voices, their insular cheering has fed their hubris to the point where they are blind to the damage they are doing--not only to us as a people and a country--but to our standing in the world and with other world leaders (and fellow negotiators).
As PoliticusUSA.com's Jason Easley wrote yesterday,
"The Republican Party is not serious or capable of governing... The Republican Party is not engaging in serious discussions about the issues. The race for their presidential nomination is a chaotic circus where nothing important is ever discussed... Our political culture is toxic because Republicans aren't holding up their end of the two-party system bargain. The country (deserves) better than one functional political party and a GOP that has been consumed by raging white males who are fighting to keep their entitled status..."
"...The Republican Party is an embarrassment, and President Obama stood up on the world stage and ripped their ridiculousness."
The world--both ally and adversary alike--is aware of the accelerating antagonistic atmosphere that exists in this country. If the GOP can't find a way to slow down their stampede to the bottom, our allies will abandon us as untrustworthy and our enemies will be only too happy to identify us as the weakest calf in the herd.
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