What you can do to fight the mutiny, treason, sedition, or whatever you call what 47 GOPers did

[calimary]

with that mutinous, or treasonous, or seditious sneaky-ass conniving trouble-stirring letter to the Iranians earlier this week:

I was asked by several DUers to make an OP out of this response to kpete's thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026353266

171. GUYS - RED ALERT! I just phoned my Senator's office and complained about this,

read from this (above):

29B.85 CONTEMPT TOWARD OFFICIALS.
Any person subject to this code who uses contemptuous words against the president, the governor, or the governor of any other state, territory, commonwealth, or possession in which that person may be serving, shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

And the staffer was interested. Asked me to send in this information so the staff could look at it and evaluate it.

I pointed out that Senator Boxer really has nothing to lose at this point, she's not running for reelection, so she could actually DO something about this. The staffer seemed interested. He wanted to know about this Iowa State Code of Military Justice, since Miss Hog-castrator is presently listed as on ACTIVE DUTY as a Lt. Col. with the Iowa Army National Guard - which means she's active military, smacking her Commander-in-Chief around in public - which sure looks like a violation to me. So I'm gonna print out a copy and mail it to them.

Now let me say this: I've taken quite a drubbing here from some DU brothers and sisters who scoff at any efforts to start a drumbeat, or voice a complaint, or sign any petition or attempt ANY action whatsoever. Which leads me to my resulting question - "so then we just sit in silence and do nothing?" I saw an item reported on MSNBC earlier this morning that said some 250-thousand people have signed a White House petition asking that the 47 TRAITORS in the Senate face punitive action for treason for that shitty little letter they signed. Well, we have TWO military types on there, including the little snot-nosed rookie from Arkansas who wrote the damn thing. There should be consequences for this. There really MUST be consequences for this. Otherwise - what's to stop them? What will they do next, if nothing's done to check this miserably horrible, reprehensible, and yes - TREASONOUS behavior? Well, 250-thousand people is an awful lot. Got MSNBC's attention, at least to put a story about it on the air. And now that such a thing is on the air, AND we also have the New York Daily News earlier this week - issuing that same label to this - remember "TRAITORS" in big bold block letters on the front page on Monday? Here, lest it be forgotten:

[img][/img]

"ooooooohhhh, you can't say TREASON... it technically is something else blah-blah-blah..." BULLSHIT. I'll say it 20 times a minute if I feel like it. Especially if it fits even in the slightest way.

Ask yourself: what would the GOP be doing if this situation were reversed? And one of theirs was in the White House and 47 Dems signs such a paper during a time of international conflict where we've currently got actual boots on the ground in actual hot zones, and the guy in the White House is the Commander-in-Chief? What would the GOP be doing now? Would they just mumble to themselves and go sit down? Or would they be stirring things up and making tons of noise about this - until it starts getting the public's attention and it starts growing and gathering momentum and metastasizing all over everywhere from coast-to-coast, and thereby becomes a very definite public "thing" to have to face and to deal with.

WHAT would they be doing? Nothing? HARDLY!

I'm printing out a copy of this and sending it to my Senator's office. We can ALL do something like that.

If they think you don't care, they won't, either! So, Dammit, let 'em know you CARE!!!!! Start the drumbeat.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026353266#post171

[Jamastiene]

1. K&R

I hope more people will see this.

[peacebird]

2. K&R

[calimary]

3. And I added this - about contacting your reps, or your two Senators about this:

And before you say - "but they're both GOPers..." NEVER MIND! They STILL need to hear this! They need to feel the heat, too. They need to see, hear, and understand that there's a groundswell building. And even if they don't give a damn, they still need to be made aware that this behavior is NOT okay, and there's GONNA be a backlash.

You might even consider identifying yourself as a fellow GOPer, and telling them you are horrified by how they have defiled the good name of your party, and how you find this unsupportable - even among one of your own. You might say something like -

"it's behavior like THIS that makes me ashamed of the GOP, which my parents and grandparents belonged to and were proud of, and I just can't support anymore. This has made me decide to abandon this party and look elsewhere. If this happened to a Republican President, you wouldn't stand for it for a nanosecond, would you?!"

Further, you could tell them you're a DONATING member of the GOP and you've decided you won't do that anymore, either.

THEY HAVE TO KNOW THIS SHIT HAS CONSEQUENCES. THEY HAVE TO HAVE IT SHOVED INTO THEIR FACES.

A mere statement of outrage won't do squat. As I told the staffer in Barbara Boxer's office this (yesterday, Friday) morning.

"I can't stand to see so much evil go unpunished." GREAT statement uttered in the Boston Marathon bomber's trial on Friday. Evidently by one of the witnesses testifying in court. Well, I, TOO, can't stand to see so much evil go unpunished. ESPECIALLY when it's perpetrated by TRAITORS in the GOP!!!

And for those who shy away from throwing the labels - "TRAITOR," or "mutineer" or any of those at them, I say go ahead and do it anyway. MAKE 'EM DENY IT. Make 'em have to confront this. Make this part of their public persona, that followed them around like a trail of toilet paper or stringy gum that they can't get off the bottom of their shoes. Make 'em have to try to run away from the cameras because they're asked about this ad nauseam, every time they try to go grandstanding and showboating about some different subject - at some press conference in front of a lot of mics and cameras.

LAMINATE it on them.

They should not be allowed to get away with this, or get away FROM it, either.

[riderinthestorm]

5. I've contacted both of mine: Mark Kirk (a signer) and Dick Durbin (of course not!)

got formulaic answers from both.

I wish the Dems would unite together and put out some kind of statement!!

[stage left]

4. K&R

and bookmarked for later reading. Thanks.

[blkmusclmachine]

6. Jail time for these traitorous 47! NO MORE "looking forward" BS that Obama likes to do for his pals!

[calimary]

7. Seems to me the ONLY way this might stop, or at least be curtailed - is if there are really

bad-ass serious consequences. That you can't excuse or soft-peddle or cover up. That maybe COST YOU your senate or house seat. Or COST YOU the honorable discharge you thought you were gonna keep or get. Or COST YOU the Lt. Col. rank you had (or in joni Hog-Castrator's case, STILL HAVE IN THE PRESENT TENSE) in the reserves.

An example has to be made. Lest some reckless scheming pol in the future decides to try to pull a stunt like this again.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

31. The president doesn't get to unilaterally incarcerate members of a co-equal branch of government.

And even if you could find a judge who played along members of Congress remain such unless expelled by 2/3 of their peers. In other words, they could serve as senators even from jail. And even if they were stripped of their office their state governor is allowed to appoint a replacement and they might not look too favorably on a president that acts like a monarch.

[hopemountain]

36. no, only tom cotton can do that

in his dreams boom!

[calimary]

8. Adding some very apropos illustration from California Peggy:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026364843

[3catwoman3]

25. Nailed it!

Cotton has cotton for brains.

[meow2u3]

9. I'd call it treason

The 47 traitors in the Senate went behind the President's back directly to a country we'd call an enemy nation to try to sabotage a delicate nuclear deal with Iran to the point where the Traitor Tots make the ayatollah of Iran look reasonable and moderate by comparison, doing so just to kiss the asses of Sheldon Adelson, Nut-n-Yahoo, and their defense contractor paymasters. If trying to aid our enemy by getting them to abandon a nuclear deal in exchange of easing sanctions just to spite the President isn't treason, what is?

[calimary]

11. Well, I am admittedly not an expert. But CRIMINY!

Any way you look at it, Barack Obama, as President, is also Commander-in-Chief of all U.S. Armed Forces here and abroad.

Any way you look at it, we DO INDEED, as a nation, have boots on the ground in hot-zones - actual shooting hot-zones - around the world, SPECIFICALLY in the Middle East. We've got actual boots on the ground and our actual troops in actual harm's way. Okay? That sounds like war to me.

WHICH MEANS: Barack Obama IS a Wartime President. AND Commander-in-Chief - during WARTIME.

Since when do these pipsqueaks in the Senate go throwing their weight around like this, in rash ill-conceived and I HOPE ill-advised stunts like this, especially the GRANDE Know-It-Alls who are bright green rookies still wet behind the ears burt think they know everything, and have been there only since this past January - otherwise known as a big ol' extensive SEVERAL WEEKS.

Sure seems like treason to me. They're TRAITORS. Even the New York Daily News hesitated not - and splashed it all over their front page at the start of this week - in BIG BLOCK LETTERS. So as far as I'm concerned, all bets are off. It's part of the public record now, and it's ON the record by a very high-profile and highly-recognizable example of the establishment press, the vaunted mainstream media.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

32. Only Congress has the constitutional authority to declare war.

[rock]

10. Emotionally it's treason

Technically (and legally I believe) it's sedition. An internal attempt to undermine the government that's in power.

[calimary]

13. Oh definitely! I'd throw that in, too.

I'd throw the kitchen sink at 'em and I would NOT stop there. I'd get in touch with my inner Kenneth Starr, and go all out. "Sweep it all up" - as donald rumsfeld would say. I'd throw in the kitchen sink, AND the fridge, the stove, the oven, the toaster oven, the garbage disposal, the rice cooker, the yogurt maker, the blender, the trash compactor, the washer-dryer, the heater, the water heater, and every commode and other such furnishing in every bathroom in the joint.

And then I'd go through the house and see what else there might be that I could throw at 'em, besides all of the above. I'd throw the whole freakin' house and garage, and sidewalk in front, and back yard in back at 'em if I could lift it all.

[japple]

14. I'll donate 6 cat litter boxes and a microwave!!

If you wait until 7:30 tomorrow morning, I can assure you that the litter boxes will be dirty!!

[calimary]

15. Aw crap - I knew I was forgetting something! The microwave!

And I have three active cat boxes of my own that I'll include, too. We have four cats and MAN do they ever get busy! I would include the - um - "used" contents, too, btw. I thought of adding insult and throwing my shoes at them, but I like my shoes. Some of 'em are pretty! Would rather keep them.

[3catwoman3]

27. How about some bread bags...

...full of cat poop? We have five Your four and our five could make a major statement.

[calimary]

30. LOL! Can I throw in our dog's bags, too?

[niyad]

20. the compost heap, too, I hope. I could also throw in some deer scat and a few other such

organic materials from the neighborhood wildlife.

[3catwoman3]

26. How about a freshly used...

...toilet plunger?

[Telcontar]

29. Jesus wept

The government in power can't undermine the government in power! Like it or not (bet I can guess which it is) the Republicans control the Senate. That means that part of the government is run by them. This whole letter thing is politics, we just happen to see how the sausage is mafe and it is truely digusting.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

33. How can elected government officials of a co-equal branch of government undermine the government?

The presidency is not the sum total of the government.

[calimary]

34. Nevertheless that's what they're doing. Mainly because they don't regard President Obama as

"one of us." In two ways. His first major sin: He's not a republi-CON. How DARE he presume to merit the White House? His second major sin: He is "Other:" "He's not like us." "He's not from here." "He's a Muslim (or "Muslin", take your pick)." And the unspoken one - but prevailing too prominently to be ignored - "He's a black guy."

You ask a reasonable question here, Nuclear Unicorn. But the problem is - the people you are asking about - are anything BUT reasonable. This is an increasingly irrational hatred they've been stoking for six years. Stemming from outrage and anger that THEIR guy didn't win. "How DARE you, America, reject a good solid republi-CON?" It flouts their basic inbred attitude that THEY ALONE are entitled to rule. I've seen this sense of entitlement displayed in increasing degrees and ways of demonstration for decades by now. I've come to call it "The World's Biggest Entitlement Program." They think they're simply ENTITLED to rule. Why? Because. Because why? C'mon - gimme a reason here - "JUST BECAUSE." "Because we're BETTER." Why? "JUST BECAUSE! Stop questioning!" They don't HAVE any reasonable answers for this. And the reality defies them. And they don't like it. And as the days drag on, for them, they don't like it to ever-increasing degrees. The heat there is always turning up, and soon enough, they start exploding in anger - because they haven't managed to get their way in six years and get rid of this guy, and they're growing angrier and more frustrated and more given to extremes.

THAT is what you're seeing now. That's what we're ALL seeing now. The acting-out has amped up throughout the Obama years. Grown worse and worse. Up to this point now, where you actually have these idiotic anarchists - who never seem to bother thinking ahead and attempting to reason out, logically and dispassionately, what the repercussions of their actions will beget, or provoke. They NEVER think about consequences. Do you think for one instant that this pipsqueak TRAITOR tom imagined he'd be getting backlash like this? THINK ABOUT IT.

Just considering human nature - here's what I think he THOUGHT would happen, based on what he THOUGHT, going in. He wins the race, takes out another Dem. Yay for him. He's exalted to the skies back in Arkansas among his own followers. Lauded as the new hero. The New Young Avenger who's gonna go to the Senate and whup those damn Dems. And get rid of that damn Obama! And deliver us from evil like some Newly-Anointed Latter-Day CONservative Moses. He's a frickin' Sun God.

So he goes to Washington from little ol' Arkansas. Rude awakening awaits him. Finds out that he's just one of 100. He's surrounded by - what? How many republi-CONS there, EACH DAMN ONE OF 'EM in the freshman class arriving with the same Sun God-complex from the warm perfumed bath of worship and adulation that was lavished upon EACH of them, back home. Now, each damn one of 'em comes to DC with a head swollen as big as the diameter of planet Jupiter and all kinds of outsized unrealistic ambitions (while they don't recognize the word "unrealistic" as applying here). And it's got to be deflating and frustrating to arrive in an uber-competitive atmosphere like that.

So, given THAT scenario, what can he do? Figure out a way to STAND OUT, that's what! Figure out a way to step away from the pack and distinguish yourself in the spotlight outside of that big snarling scrum. And the bigger a spotlight, the better. He probably studied ted cruz - who came out of the gate a few years back roaring and snarling and sucking up all the oxygen and all the idiot short-attention-span hungry-for-juicy-scandal press attention, and proceeded to pull his own stupid stunts that have thoroughly tarnished his luster with all but the most deranged who proudly inhabit and infest the far distant outskirts of extremism. Ol ted, last year's "Savior" and "Rescuer" and "Ender of the Dreadful Obama Hostage Hold" is now little more than a stale bad joke. Remember - the planet Jupiter-sized heads these assholes brought into Washington with them also include outsized dreams such that - "hey, maybe we're ONTO something here! I could be President someday! If I play my cards right, I actually could go for the ultimate brass ring! As Dr. Seuss said, 'Oh the places I'll go!'" These people are ALL ambitious. Some of 'em are ambitious WAY beyond their own capabilities and their almighty sense of entitlement. They think much more highly of themselves than they deserve to, and certainly WAY more than they've earned.

I think that's the psychology at work here. Young pipsqueak, fancies himself a hot young gun, a young stud fresh from military duty in the Middle Eastern hot zones, what a hotshot! What a MAN! He's our hero! He will Deliver Us from Evil!...

And with this stunt he's just captain'd, that would now be "He will Deliver Us from Evil - My ASS."

I think one of the big new problems that Mr. Sun God didn't anticipate or plan for as he raced recklessly and thoughtlessly forward - was a backlash. The backlash HIS OWN ACTIONS would earn - for him and for everyone else who had the idiocy to sign that letter. I bet many of 'em didn't even bother reading it. Maybe they figured - mitch mcconnell signed it, so that's vetting enough for me! Maybe they figured - anything that makes Obama look bad is good enough for me! Maybe they figured - AHA!!! HERE'S the in we've been looking for! We've tried to get rid of this guy for six years now and nothing's worked as we were assured it would - so THIS ONE'S GOTTA BE IT!!! Surely it'll work THIS time!!! And THIS is Just the Guy to Slam-Dunk it!!!!

And as usual with this kind of shit, they'd be wrong. WRONG AS USUAL. This little rookie Arkansas pipsqueak will swagger around and insist he did the right thing and will be hailed and worshipped and attaboy'd to the skies - by a dwindling group of nut-cases back home and elsewhere. He may sustain for awhile. But this has begotten a backlash like this kid's never seen or imagined. Nothing back home happened like this to leaven him or otherwise prepare him for anything but Sun-God-ism. So he'll be a little lost - if he stops to admit it for a moment of introspection (which I sorta doubt he's capable of, frankly). Most of these types can't afford to admit they made a mistake. They can't afford to admit they were wrong, that they botched something, OR, certainly, that they're sorry. That would be admitting NON-Sun-God-ism. And he can't afford to do that - to those good folks back home. He doesn't dare. And THAT is one helluva high mountain to have to climb back down from. NONE of these assholes wants or, is even willing, to eat humble pie. Especially since, according to their perception and presumptions, that is not the way to the White House.

It'll be awhile before we see whether enough air got let out of his tires that he becomes widely acknowledged as a non-starter. In my opinion, ted "SO Last-Year" cruz is about there now. To most of the nation except the idiotic and probably not-reachable dingdongs on the far "right." ted cruz will NEVER be President. Even if he finds a way to justify going for it despite not being born here. He's poisoned his own well. He's soured the milk WAY beyond recovery or even finding a new recipe in which to use that WAY sour milk. He's a well-established and renowned National Joke. Reading "Green Eggs and Ham" on the Senate floor for all those hours. Man, game-set-match, cruz! And thank you very much, sir, for doing all the heavy lifting for OUR side.

Methinks little TRAITOR tom is on his way to joining ol' ted "LAST YEAR's Flavor" cruz in being a national joke. Well-earned, in my opinion. He worked hard for this one.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

37. There's no, "because they're a-holes" clause for treason, sedition or mutiny statutes.

We are begging for a precedent that will haunt us.

[SoapBox]

12. I agree with your OP!

There is not even a question.

That is where I don't understand so-called Dems, saying there is nothing we can do...bullshit.

[PatrickforO]

16. Done.

Just wrote to both my senators - Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner (a signatory to the treason-letter). I called upon Bennet to take punitive action, and on Gardner to immediately and abjectly apologize for his action, and publicly commit that he will never do something like this again.

LOL

Yeah, I know...

Good luck with that!

But I STILL did it because Cali-Mary is right. This is TOO MUCH.

[Thespian2]

17. K&R

If one cannot call this treason by 47 Traitors, what the hell can we call it? Do wish the Dems would do SOMETHING to make these worms squirm.

[napkinz]

18. you can call the 47 ...

#47Traitors, 47 Senators, 47 Phone Numbers ... A Resource For Those Who Want To Protest Treason

see http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026360964

[gregcrawford]

19. Good for you, Calimary!

My senators (Pat Leahy and Bernie Sanders, and my Representative, Peter Welch) will be receiving my own version of a call to arms over this obscene travesty. Too many people are too eager to paper this over, saying, "Let's move along, people! Nothing to see here!" As you so eloquently put it, BULLSHIT! To the 10th power!

Let's make that psychotic sonofabitch, Cotton, wish he'd never been born!

[calimary]

23. Or as our erstwhile Miss Hog-castrator would say -

"Let's make 'em SQUEAL!" Her too.

[Dustlawyer]

21. Patriotism to a Republican is wearing a

flag pin and a bumper sticker that says, "Support the Troops!" That's it!!! When the troops are fighting they cut Veteran's benefits. They send them to fight and sometimes die for made up reasons to benefit their friends in the MIC and the oil companies! Still don't understand why so many troops vote Republican!

[Binkie The Clown]

22. K&R and +1000 Haven't we Dems had just about enough of...

... sitting on our asses while the Republican noise machine runs roughshod over us time and again for the slightest little "offense"?

Right now Clinton's email account is getting more air time than mass treason. In what screwed up world does THAT make sense? Never forget that the right wing spin machine has the mainstream media by the short hairs with the constant drum beat of "liberal media" leading to a media that leans right just to avoid that false accusation.

[calimary]

24. Welcome to DU, Binkie The Clown!

Glad you're here! AND HOW to what you just said! And since you bring up Hillary Clinton's email issue - check THIS out. And notice the reference to "quietly backing off of..."

http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/03/13/the-new-york-times-reverses-course-on-clintons/202894

[sheshe2]

28. Kick and Hell yes Recommend!

Thanks for making this an OP, calimary! Righteous anger then action is what we need. Well done woman.

[calimary]

35. When I wrote to Barbara Boxer, and spoke with her aide about - was the point that SHE is

uniquely positioned to help quarterback this, because she has nothing to lose at this point. She's already announced she's retiring. So she won't be doing anything to hurt any reelection chances. (Hard to do anyway, in this blue state, where she's wildly supported and even beloved.) SHE should do this.

And so should Barbara Mikulski. Who is also retiring. And who also has nothing to lose on this. SHE can help carry the ball on this very effectively, too, methinks.

ONE OTHER THING, TOO - we have to make sure any wavering Dems do not wander off the reservation and somehow rationalize a way to stand with the GOP on this. We've got to do BOTH these things.