Politics

The Media’s Reaction To The Iran Letter Is Nothing Short Of Apocalyptic

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Rachel Stoltzfoos Staff Reporter
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In unison with hysterical Democrats, the liberal media went ballistic over a letter from GOP senators to Iran warning that Congress can ultimately scrap any deal reached with President Obama.

“Why Some Think 47 GOP Senators Broke The Law,” reads an ABC News headline. “Tom Cotton Doesn’t Give A Sh** About Iran Talks Protocol,” blares the Huffington Post. “Did 47 Senators Just Commit Treason?” asks Bloomberg News. “The Republicans’ Latest Iran Ploy Is Brazen, Borderline Unconstitutional, and Totally Predictable,” adds Slate.

And amid all this hoopla, Obama, ostensibly upset that Republicans are undermining his nuclear negotiations with Iran, implied later Monday that the 47 senators committed an act of treason.

“It’s somewhat ironic to see some members of Congress wanting to make common cause with the hard-liners in Iran,” he told reporters Monday. “It’s an unusual coalition.”

(Concurrently, it’s worth mentioning, Obama’s foreign policy stance in Iraq is also an “unusual coalition” with the very same Iran.)

In response, Vice President Joe Biden released an indignant statement Monday night, saying the senators had circumvented the constitution, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a statement that “Republicans are undermining our Commander-in-Chief while empowering the Ayatollahs.”

The New York Daily News caught the hint Monday, and printed “TRAITORS” in bold letters on Tuesday’s front cover beneath pictures of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Rand Paul, Sen. Ted Cruz and Cotton.

The senators sent a letter directly to Iran Monday warning the government that any agreement it reaches with Obama must be ratified by Congress, or a future president could easily toss it aside; so they need to “seriously consider” the power of Congress in any future deal.

In a piece slamming the letter as “condescending,” and “misguided,” Washington Post reporter Ishaan Tharoor tried to argue that the senators got it wrong — that Obama must ratify the treaty. Except in reality, Obama can’t ratify the treaty unless the Senate ratifies it first.

Challenged about his mistake on MSNBC Tuesday, Tharoor gave a stuttering, incoherent response: “Sure, but, but ultimately, um, whatever gets pushed through by, by this administration is, is, uh, uh, is, is, is, is an agreement between a government with another set of governments. It’s also, uh, placing, uh, the US’s partners, you know, the, the P5+1, that the US is part of, you know, these are the permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany who are also very active in these negotiations, in an incredibly awkward position.”

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews also implied the senators had committed treason on a segment of Hardball. “I don’t know if it was sedition under the law or whatever it was,” he said. “But it was an attempt to bring down this president on foreign policy.”

Cotton fired back at the critics on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Tuesday, seemingly unfazed. “This is about stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon,” he said. “And Iran’s leaders need to understand that any deal that gives them a path to a bomb today, tomorrow, ten years, fifteen years from now, will not be accepted by the United States Congress.”

Only seven Republican senators declined to sign the letter: Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, Bob Corker, Lamar Alexander, Thad Cochran, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Coats.

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