Republicans, Iran and Obama: Crossing the Line
I came out of the struggles of the '60s, civil rights, women's rights, the environment- and Vietnam. From my point of view we had a President who was profoundly wrong about the Vietnam War and whose policies were dangerous and immoral. Eventually we found allies in the U.S. Senate, notably Charlie Goodell of New York, Mark Hatfield of Oregon, George McGovern of South Dakota, Alan Cranston of California and Harold Hughes of Iowa. Thank goodness for Senators willing to stand up to the President on foreign policy issues.
Comes now Obama and Iran. Should we have a nuclear deal with Iran, and what should it contain? It's complicated, and it's important. I tend to agree with Obama on the need to complete negotiations and consider the risks at that point. But there's every reason for Senators to express reservations and concerns, to challenge the President, and to make their case to the American people.
Instead, we have 47 Republican Senators who have decided to go beyond anything that has come before and open a second, parallel negotiating/diplomatic process with the Islamic leadership of Iran. Say what?
Imagine the fuss if the anti-Vietnam Senators had written to Ho Chi Minh. Jane Fonda still hasn't recovered from her Hanoi foray, 50 years later. Or if Democratic Senators had gone around George Bush and had written to Saddam in the run-up to the Gulf War. Or if Senators had gone around Ronald Reagan and written to the Sandinistas. Or if Senators had written to Putin and said the sanctions were a mere stroke of a pen that could be reversed. The howls would resound across the Republican Party.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-brodsky/republicans-iran-and-obam_b_6844044.html