No Respect

We know the Neocons in Congress have zero respect for President Obama. They feel free to urge states to ignore EPA regulations passed under his watch, revolt against the health care plan he designed, and now work behind his back to sabotage his foreign policy decisions.

The congressional GOP overreach into the White House has gone too far. Last week Boehner's House invited Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to wag his flabby finger at President Obama and lecture him on nuclear negotiations with Iran.

This is outrageous. Never has a foreign head of state been invited by one branch of government to issue orders to another. In fact, this is what the founding fathers worried about when they warned of getting involved in entangling alliances with other countries. Madison would flip his wig over this one -- Netanyahu numerating his demands on Iran before the legislative branch, to thunderous applause.

What good could come of this? Is this truly the message we want to give to foreign governments? That the United States is so divided that we are open to policy direction from other nations?

Now the Neocons have taken another step to work around the president, this time 47 Republican senators sent a letter to Iran, warning that any nuclear deal it signed with Obama might not last after he leaves office. What the hell?

Harry Reid called the move a hard slap in the face. I would say that was putting it mildly.

Politico has more:

"As Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the engineer of a letter that panned Obama's effort as merely an 'executive agreement,' watched from the presiding officer's chair on Monday afternoon, Reid called the end-around by 47 Republicans a 'juvenile' attack and an attempt to undermine Obama 'purely out of spite.'

"'The judgment of my Republican colleagues seems to be clouded by their abhorrence of President Obama. The Republican senators sent a letter to the Iranian leadership aimed at sabotaging these negotiations,' Reid said. 'It's unprecedented for one political party to directly intervene in an international negotiation with the sole goal of embarrassing the president.'

"On Monday morning, Cotton and dozens of his GOP colleagues sent a letter to the Iranian leadership, urging Tehran to regard any deal without congressional approval as an executive agreement that could be undone by a future president with the 'stroke of a pen.' But while Republicans viewed the letter as a reminder to Iran of Congress' responsibilities, Democrats said the move could eventually lead to another conflict in the Middle East if it causes nuclear talks to fall apart."

It's as if these legislators don't even acknowledge the President as being, well, the President. Can you imagine the outrage if Tom Daschle had rallied a bunch of colleagues and sent a letter to Saddam Hussein telling him to ignore all this nonsense from Dubya about weapons of mass destruction because, well, once he was out of office it wouldn't matter anyway?

Or a letter to Tony Blair telling him he'd better not join this phoney "coalition of the willing" because he'd only end up making an ass out of himself when it turned out there was no reason to invade Iraq in the first place? Cheney would've had Daschle for dinner -- with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

There is legitimate reason for members of Congress to oppose presidential foreign policy. It should be debated on the floor and, if the legislators feel the need to take action, there are legitimate, legal legislative processes that are clearly defined in the US Constitution. But blatantly communicating with a foreign nation behind the President's back to undermine current negotiations? Suggesting that any deal made would be temporary at best?

Is that not treason?