So many “public servants” who are anything but….
I had never heard of Tom Cotton until he authored that treasonous letter during the Administration’s negotiations with Iran–the one sent to the Iranian government by 47 Republican Senators in a deliberate attempt to sabotage an effort aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. It was later reported that he received a million-dollar campaign contribution from Israel–but I’m sure there was no quid pro quo.(If you believe that, I have some swampland to sell you….)
Not that I would have had high expectations of a newly-elected Republican Senator from Arkansas, but his sheer arrogance, his willingness to ignore the longstanding bipartisan patriotism that used to stop policy disputes at the water’s edge, was astonishing and disheartening.
It was clear then that something was very wrong with this guy, and recently, more evidence has emerged of what can only be described as significant moral defects.
Cotton has been one of the Republican Senators refusing to act on judicial vacancies–from the Supreme Court down to the District Court level–simply because Obama is President.
It’s bad enough that the federal courts are so understaffed that Americans are being denied access to justice. But according to several news reports, Cotton isn’t just participating in the GOP’s willingness to indulge partisan spite at the expense of the common good. He’s twisting the knife.
Consider, for example, the New York Times’ Frank Bruni’s report on Cassandra Butts’ nomination to serve as the United States ambassador to the Bahamas.
After “decades of government and nonprofit work that reflected a passion for public service,” Butts received a nomination from President Obama to a diplomatic post for which she was well qualified. Her confirmation should’ve been easy, but the Senate kept putting her nomination on the back-burner – Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), for example, blocked her as part of a tantrum against the Iran nuclear deal.
And then there’s Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who blocked Butts and the nominees for the ambassadorships to Sweden and Norway.
Cotton eventually released the two other holds, but not the one on Butts. She told me that she once went to see him about it, and he explained that he knew that she was a close friend of Obama’s – the two first encountered each other on a line for financial-aid forms at Harvard Law School, where they were classmates – and that blocking her was a way to inflict special pain on the president.
Bruni’s report added that Cotton’s spokesperson “did not dispute Butts’s characterization of that meeting.”
Butts died recently at age 50 of acute leukemia, which she didn’t know she had until her life was nearly over. She waited 835 days for the Senate to vote on her nomination, but the vote never came.
The world is messed up! gaaaa
Sheila,
“In the highly competitive sweepstakes for “most despicable,” it will be hard to top that.”
I totally disagree with that statement. Just yesterday, I witnessed something here in Jacksonville that “topped that.”
Racism and bigotry are a special way of life united in politics.
We can only react by being ourselves.
Here is a good example.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/us/politics/obama-orlando-shooting.html?emc=edit_th_20160617&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=14149267&_r=0
Keep on!
The absolute hatred in this country for Obama and for the Democrats has been falsely created and expanded by evil people like Cotton. I’ve seen him on tv a few times and get so disgusted by his arrogance that I turn the channel.
I take action against him and others by calling their office and providing my opinion of their actions and the selfish evil consequences that they have on every citizen. At least I put the idea into the heads of their staffs. It can’t hurt.
One thing that I believe is that to just get angry and complain, yet not take any action to do whatever I can to change things, will do nothing to make this country better.
Nancy,
ditto
A big bravo to Nancy! Cotton’s also the one who, at the same time he authored the infamous letter to Iran, said that a war with that country would be a piece of cake as if there would be no other consequences to such action. His having previously been an Army officer who served in Iraq one would think that he would know better than to say something as foolish as that but not him.
If there’s someone that can top Ted Cruz in terms of being reprehensible it’s this guy. Early on in his career in the Senate there were numerous comments made about his ‘dead looking eyes’ and that he is a sociopath, Whether those comments are true or not I dunno but the fact that such comments were made is very telling.
If more people followed the lead of Nancy, we wouldn’t be in the “stinking mess” that we are now in.
Tom Cotton quickly became a “household word” among the anti-Obama GOP and Tea Party faction and their enthusiastic supporters. His obviously treasonous act; supported by 47 Republican Senators who would prefer nuclear war with Iran, was ignored by our sitting Congress who should have taken immediate action. If ousting him was not a legal option, filing formal reprimands was within their duties and part of their Oath of Office when inaugurated.
A Facebook post today on “Indianapolis for Bernie Sanders”; a private post, shows a picture of Omar Mateen’s father Seddique Mateen at a podium in front of the White House official seal. The article from Downstream Politics (I could only find their articles when I researched but no information about the publication), stated he had earlier meetings in the White House during the time Hillary was Secretary of State and some connection to (I think) the Taliban. I could only find articles regarding the purported meetings Seddique Mateen held in the White House as coming from Downstream Politics.
Are the federal courts too busy to look into Downstream Politics and their report involving the Orlando killer’s father meeting with the White House and our State Department staff? I could find nothing supporting or denying this report but government agencies have the ability to investigate. Of course they also had the ability to look into – or prevent? – Tom Cotton’s letter and all 47 Senators who signed supporting his treasonous action and sending it directly to Iran.
The current No Congress has become as suspicious in their lack of loyalty to this country as Trump, his supporters and more suspicious if Seddique Mateen actually did meet with White House and State Department staff prior to the Orlando massacre by his son, Omar, Sunday morning at Pulse. More than despicable…highly suspicious. We need information from our own government sources explaining or denying this report from Downstream Politics.
While I am not defending Senator Cotton, I will point out that his conduct is permitted by the rules and “traditions” of the Senate. Until those change, Sen. Cotton and others will continue to make a mockery of the process.
JoAnn, I’m fairly certain that “information” came from Breitbart. Please note that extreme right-winged media outlets have no problem posting lies. Their mantra is: “Tell a lie often enough, it becomes a truth.” If the President and Secretary Clinton spent the time it takes to debunk the lies, they wouldn’t have time to do anything else, and we have seen that most Republicans wouldn’t believe them anyway.
Right now they are busy blaming the President for the Orlando shooting. If only he’d left troops in Iraq, ISIL would never have come into existence. On the other hand, if he’d left troops in Iraq without a “Status of Forces” agreement, he would be blamed for every arrest of every service member who was deemed to have violated local laws.
Peggy,
You’re absolutely right. It’s a “fucking mess.”
Sheila and others, you have said it so well. I have always found Cotton to be despicable, and fundamentally unsuited to a role in governance. For the first time in my life, I have been supporting candidates for Congress in other states. This will include Cotton’s opponent. We have to start talking more about the lack of patriotism embodied in the actions of the far right and the corporate interests they represent. They are sell-outs extraordinaire. I better stop here; this raises my blood pressure.
Ginny et al,
This has been a terrific morning. The women have really been “stepping up to the plate” and displaying their home run capabilities.
Peggy; I found nothing but Downstream Politics on several sites; it was a vicious circle situation with only Downstream Politics posting that information about Seddique Mateen and the Seddique Mateen story only posted by Downstream Politics. I even tried adding “Wikipedia” to my search with no results.
Yes; they are blaming President Obama for the Orlando shooting. The media also reported that the FBI was aware of Omar Mateen’s interest in ISIS and supported their beliefs; they interviewed him three times but removed him from their list of possible terrorists. How long before the Orlando massacre was his name removed and he was allowed to buy all of his weapons and ammunition? Now comes that report about his father having meetings with White House and State Department staff members while Hillary was Secretary of State; do those time segments overlap, is the report about the father true, if so does it explain the FBI dropping Omar from their list? If reports of the meetings are true; exactly WHO is Seddique Mateen, what is his position that he could have White House and State Department meetings and what were those meetings about? This report, wherever it came from, should be investigated. Round and round it goes, and where it stops…nobody knows. Or, has it stopped?
Marv; OMG! Have I become a conspiracy theorist?????
JoAnn,
I don’t know about this one, but you better believe there are a lot of conspiracies going on.
Cotten is one of my congress members of concern, he is known of being among the most vindictive members of congress, another was Allen West who was voted out here in Florida, these men are Tea Party Patriots, admired greatly by the people dedicated to destroying our nations evolution of justice and returning it to the Golden Rule, No not that one; the one with Who has the Gold rules.
I am off to DC, wearing my “I miss Abe” tee…….another old lady taking a stand……Onward.
Sheila – In the highly competitive sweepstakes for “most despicable,” it will be hard to top that.
I found it >> YouTube video in which a Sacramento Baptist , Pastor Roger Jimenez of Verity Baptist Church, praised the massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Florida and called the victims pedophiles and predators was removed Tuesday for violating the website’s policy on hate speech.
” I think Orlando, Fla., is a little safer tonight,” he told his congregation, equating members of the LGBT community to sexual predators. “The tragedy is more of them didn’t die…. I’m kind of upset he didn’t finish the job!”
Now I understand the Freedom Speech concept, but this seems to be invitation for some other deluded person who has mind clouded by hate to commit murder.
Louie,
“Now I understand the Freedom Speech concept, but this seems to be invitation for some other deluded person who has mind clouded by hate to commit murder.”
That’s why Germany has had a “cap” on freedom of speech, ever since being destroyed in WWII. They were also fools at one time as I remember.
Ignorance has always been and will ever be what limits the human race.
I’ve noticed a difference at this end of my life compared to those other years though.
Today, instead of accepting it as a limitation that we all suffer from just differently there is a pride in it, an entitlement attitude, a view of it as not limiting but freeing.
Who empowered the ignorant?
Of course you know that I’m going to say the ubiquitous screens did, the fact that we’ve turned filling empty heads into a business.
There’s money to be made by empowering it. Lots of money.
I sent Sheila the other day this link.
http://www.leaderu.com/humanities/foundersview.html
It’s a scholarly article about Federalism during Revolutionary times and the seriousness of the discussion around the question: can ordinary men rule themselves? Of course then there was no evidence that they could. In fact many said the idea was preposterous.
The Federalists argued that it was possible to design government that could achieve that lofty goal and won the argument with the design and safeguards that they proposed. (See the stage show “Hamilton” for details.)
Of course back then ignorance was not organized. Now that the GOP has organized it for profit, those safeguards are being sorely tested. Democracy is being tested at its limits.
In fact the concept that the GOP is selling is the heck with freedom let’s try power. Let’s prove the Federalists wrong. Let’s override the safeguards designed by the founders into government and empower the ignorant in all of their stripes.
I personally believe in the intellect of the Federalists and their and our ability to maintain democracy and freedom. But never before has that been more challenged.
We are in the barricades. The decision point is now. We are not deciding on a short term leader but a long term principle.
Can we rule ourselves?
One of America’s great patriots.
Bernie Sanders: I will work with Hillary Clinton to stop Donald Trump
The Guardian – 4h ago
Bernie Sanders has urged his supporters to look beyond the Democratic presidential nomination in a speech that stopped short of fully endorsing Hillary Clinton but made clear he was no longer actively challenging her candidacy. In an anticlimatic …
https://goo.gl/h7Ne22
Louie – Thanks for your post of the Sacramento stupidass Baptist preacher condemning all, living and dead, who attended the tragedy.
You can get the complete text of the “sermon” at:
http:www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-sacramento-pastor-roger-jiminez-Orlando-shootings-20160614-story.html
Jiminez is pastor of Verity Baptist Church, Sacramento.
Steven Anderson, founder of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe said “I’m not sad about it; I’m not going to cry about it, adding that the victims “were going to die of AIDS and syphilis and whatever else; they were going to die early anyway, then citing Leviticus 20:13.”
Religion is all about power and not about religion.
JoAnn, re: your earlier post from today mentioning Omar Mateen’s father, Mir Seddique Omar Mateen. I ran across an article from an Internet news outlet/aggregator, the Independent Journal, a group of young journalists whose investigative article about Mateen’s father was backed and credited with pictures posted on the father’s Facebook homepage. The young journalists simply presented their photo findings from FB with no slant or faux interpretation given. Draw your own conclusions.
http://injo.com/2016/06/627509-the-father-of-the-orlando-shooter-recently-visited-state-department-writes-open-letters-to-president-obama/
Daleb: isn’t that one of the foundation stones of the Enlightenment and therefore of the Constitution, which some close relatives think is subordinate to the bible? They and too many of our fellow Americans.
Daleb, faith or Faith is a choice that we all make to explains that seem important but for which the real answer cannot be determined.
Religion is an institution that looks sort of like a business for those who choose Faith of a particular kind or just want to appear that way.
My faith is in freedom. I think that we are all different for good reason and am personally very glad that it is that way. I’m not a very good pretender and in fact I typically enjoy meeting different folks and wondering what led to that and what led to me.
As others here may have noticed I don’t reign in well.
This is why power frightens me and why maintaining freedom at whatever the cost seems like our most important purpose.
My choice would be Rafeal Cruz , but Cotton is a good choice as well.
Pete, “As others here may have noticed I don’t reign in well.” That’s OK, Pete, and actually is a plus as we don’t live in a monarchy. 😉
It’s spelled ‘rein’ , as in tugging on the reins to control a horse (or a person). That other spelling (reign) implies the tenure of a monarch. Queen Elizabeth has reigned for 68 years.
Betty. Thank you.
Awesome Dr.!
You get your news from Rolling Stone! You never heard of Tom Cotton until the letter. Priceless! He must not run in your circles!
Had you not read about him in Rolling Stone you still wouldn’t have heard of him.
Did you read the letter, or just regurgitate the word ‘treasonous?’
I also learned he looks like Anthony Perkins in ‘Psycho’ in that same piece.
Did you know he was a war hero?
Do you use the same logic when Mrs. Clinton accepts money from Wall Street? Or is she being criticized because she’s a woman?
This is inheard of!!!
No one has ever interfered with US foreign policy since . . . Jane Fonda hung out with the Viet Cong, or Hillary Clinton was duped into voting to authorize war in Iraq!
Disingenuous, and if you didn’t know who Tom Cotton was,
Disinformed!
Apparently William has nothing relevant to say tonight.
Pete: You’re welcome. You’re certainly right about William. Have a good weekend.
BSH; I checked out that web site, interesting and confusing but I didn’t find he holds any official position with a recognized organization. Could have missed it. The fact that he is connected to and/or supports the Taliban and states he is running for president of Afghanistan – one year after the Afghanistan presidential election – makes me question him as being trusted. There were pictures of him posing outside the doors to government offices; is this possible during a tour of the White House. This post doesn’t bode well for Omar to have been raised in a stable AMERICAN family; saw no information that Mr. Mateen has ever been investigated. Questionable, possibly unstable people, and now the wife being questioned – if they find her – if the story they don’t know where she is is true. More questions than answers.
Sheila:
“It was later reported that he (Tom Cotton) received a million-dollar campaign contribution from Israel–but I’m sure there was no quid pro quo.(If you believe that, I have some swampland to sell you….)”
Lest not forget that Mr. Trump has the “trump card.” Remember, he used the “ANTI-SEMITIC CARD” very successfully to open his campaign. This time around he is going to need the help of George Bush “the younger” to get him out of the jam he is in. A few vials of “compassionate conservatism” should do the trick again. Let’s don’t forget the modus vivendi [quid pro quo] between the Southern Baptist Convention and the Anti-Defamation League…….aid for Israel in exchange for allowing anti-Semitism “to run wild” in America. A Bush Family version of anti-Semitism should be just what the doctor ordered. Don’t you agree William?
BSH; as an aside on the issue of the Mateens, during the mid-1970’s my second husband and I were named on an FBI list of possible subversives. We had friends active in anti-Viet Nam war activities – but many people were active – we had a Russian friend (her father had been a political prisoner in Russia and the entire family was jailed, the Germans moved them to a concentration camp after overrunning Russia). I ordered Mein Kampf from the Book-Of-The-Month club and we subscribed to Soviet Life magazine. We did host the “coming-out” party for our best friend, one of three ministers arrested and convicted for holding a prayer service in the downtown draft induction center (conviction upheld by Indiana Supreme Court). I worked for the City of Indianapolis, my husband was a retiree from the military working for the Post Office. We were NOT involved in any subversive activities; the thought never entered our minds.
Yes; we did see the xeroxed list with our names which also contained the name of one friend who was active in the anti-Viet Nam war demonstrations. He had a friend who had a friend who had a friend who obtained the copy of the list. If we were so easily named on that list, why wasn’t Seddique Mateen listed before his son was? They were both active supporters of the Taliban and ISIS. Why weren’t they being watched; or are there too many of those with questionable ties to terrorist and extremist groups to track?
And the 51 diplomats in President Obama’s State Department that publicly dissented against Obama’s Syrian strategy are not ‘treasonous.’
JoAnn
What if as a result of being on the watchlist in the 70’s, you and your husband were denied the right to buy firearms, whether you wanted a gun or not?
Now substitute gun, for right to vote? Or Passport? Or driver’s licence? Without due process, or the right to confront the allegations?
William; I suggested before that you get a grip on reality and hang on for the duration.
Omar Mateen was hired as a security guard, he was trained by a national company who trains security guards for some government offices. Because he had no criminal arrests he was allowed to apply for and be hired in these jobs and was legally allowed to buy all of the weapons and ammunition he wanted to accomplish the Orlando massacre. During this time he was on an FBI possible terrorist list and lost NO RIGHTS; after three interviews his name was removed from the list. Obviously being on that list doesn’t mean s#*t to the government; to us it meant temporary embarrassment and then a laughable situation. The government does have a department that tracks specific reading materials; probably why we were on the list plus our places of employment.
JoAnn,
From your earlier post today, “I checked out that web site, interesting and confusing but I didn’t find he holds any official position with a recognized organization.”
You arrived at the same conclusion I reached after reading the Independent Journal’s article. The elder Mateen presents himself as delusional, not small delusions but super-sized delusions, as in delusions of grandeur. Let’s call the father a benign crackpot and figure the man was clueless about providing an emotionally healthy home/family environment.
JoAnn
What is your point?
You were on a list, surely to a lesser degree than the murderer.
He was on a list, drew enough interest to be investigated and evidently, deemed not to be a threat.
At what point so far do I not have a grip on your reality?
Should there have been consequences to you being on that list?
Should there have been consequences to the murderer for being on a list?
So far, how’s my reality?
There are those in your reality that would have certain rights taken away from citizen’s on a list without due process.
I am simply asking where those boundries are, in your reality, of course.
I know people on those lists, too. Should they be denied rights because their names are too similar to known terrorists? Because they cancelled flights at the last minute to the middle east? Because they read the wrong materials? Had foreign friends?
In your day, what if those in power thought you and your wonderful husband, by your associations, activities, etc., were thought to be more of a threat than you were?
Hang on to your own reality, Jo!
Marv
How ya doin?
No idea about the Anti-Defamation League, Bush, Israel, and the Southern Baptists. Tried to look it up, saw nothing that pertains. Feel free to enlighten me.
As to quid pro quo, look up Clinton,Charlie Trie, Johnny Chung, James Riady. People went to jail, some, not all, money was returned.
Most importantly, look up Marc Rich pardon.
He was a fugitive, that means running from prosecution. None on your side defend it, you will dismiss it, and say some on the other side did this or that, say it is old news, it was legal.
Yet the effects are lingering.
Rich made billions off of Iran during Embargo while they held hostages, with South Africa during apartheid embargo, Khadafy, Milosevic, N Korea, Cuba and the Soviets. Was on FBI 10 Most Wanted List when pardoned.
Meanwhile, his ex-wife, with skin in the game, donates $450k to Clinton Library, and more than $1mil. to Democrat campaigns.
After Rich’s 2013 death, his business partners and were the gift that kept on giving.
A convicted money launderer arranged an event where Clinton spoke for $100k and received $1bill. to Clinton global Initiative. A relative, served on Hillary’s staff and bundled 2008 donations.
A Russian member of Rich’s staff got Bill a
$500k speech in Russia, donated $1mil. To Clinton Foundation, while a Hillary’s State Department signed off on a Russian company with his ties was able to secure 20% of all US Uranium production.
There is much more to this, involving donations to Hillary, CGI, the Clinton Foundation and more than 1,000 undisclosed donors.
This from the woman who was flat broke exiting the White House.
The simple-minded won’t get this far. The partisans won’t care.
If Tom Cotton is treasonous, prosecute him.
There is no place for it on either side.
Let us not condone the actions of the ones who are making a bid to return to the White House because they seem to be the lesser of 2 evils.
She is out for herself in the same way that Trump is out for himself.
Neither will get my vote.