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What makes you think you have the right to tell other nations what they can and can't do? If Iran says we can't build a new bomber, should we give a fuck? No, so why should they care what we have to say about their weapons?You libs are really vile......Iran wants nuclear weapons, and your racist leader is going to let them get them....and Republicans say no.....we are going to try to stop it.....
and you morons side with Iran........you truly do not have moral compasses.......
They are clearly trying to sabotage any agreement with Iran.Republicans want nothing short of war with Iran.
I think you have the ass backwards.
Iran is a murderous thug terrorist state so negotiating with them would seem unwise. Look even other Democratic party leaders have said Obama's negotiating ideas with Iran are "naïve and dangerous".
Will all the staunch defenders of Presidential authority please post links to their criticisms of Pelosi in 2007?
Pelosi Meets With Syrian Leader
Hussein Malla/Associated Press
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, meeting today at the Presidential Palace in Damascus with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.
By HASSAN M. FATTAH and GRAHAM BOWLEY
Published: April 4, 2007
DAMASCUS, Syria, April 4 —Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, met here today with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and discussed a variety of Middle Eastern issues, including the situations in Iraq and Lebanon and the prospect of peace talks between Syria and Israel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/world/middleeast/04cnd-pelosi.html?_r=0
One can make a reasonable case that sending the letter to Iran was a criminal act.
Here is the text of the Logan Act, passed in 1799 and last amended in 1994. Violation of the Logan Act is a felony, punishable under federal law by imprisonment of up to three years. (Reference)
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
The Republican Senators' letter has the following three elements, right out of the definition of the crime:
1. Correspondence with a foreign government (whether direct or indirect, in the form of an “open letter”, doesn't matter to the law).
2. Without the authority of the United States (it enjoys no imprimatur from the executive branch nor, for that matter, from Congress as an institution).
3. With the pretty clear intent “to influence the measures or conduct of” the government of Iran in relation to a 'dispute or controversy with the United States.' Why send it, otherwise?
Why should it not be considered a crime? Of course, the last prosecution under that act was in 1803, and it might not be a good political move, but still . . .
==================================
A friend sent the above to me.
Yes, they're traitors but they'll never be prosecuted.
Agreed - although reversals were not attempted to either the ObamaCare and Immigration situations, with Pubs in control of both Congress and the Oval Office - which is, of course, their hope for 2016...Well, for better or worse, the Pubs have served notice that they plan to overturn much of Obumble's work, if they win in 2016.
Yea, I think that was their objective in 2012 as well. Especially that pesky Omamcare. How'd that work out for them hateful Rethugs? Is that done yet? Or are they waiting till they overturn the illegal immigrant situation? How's that working out for them?
But really, the IF they win part is the truth. Big IF.
If the Pubs gain control of both Congress AND the White House in 2016, some of His Majesty's social re-engineering will be overthrown so frigging fast that it'll make our heads spin...
Congress IS the Authority of the United States.
It was a letter from Congress, NOT 47 individuals.
Opie needs to stop watching tv.
Says the idiot commie.Plus the senate an congress do not make foreign policy so their letter is meaningless
Iranian Foreign Minister Schools US Senators in American Int l Law Sputnik International
Lock the treasonous dogs up and throw away the key
Zarif slammed the US senators by saying, “I should bring one important point to the attention of the authors and that is, the world is not the United States, and the conduct of inter-state relations is governed by international law, and not by US domestic law.
The authors may not fully understand that in international law, governments represent the entirety of their respective states, are responsible for the conduct of foreign affairs, are required to fulfill the obligations they undertake with other states and may not invoke their internal law as justification for failure to perform their international obligations,” reported Iranian media.
The Iranian Foreign Minister, who also holds Masters and PhD in international relations from the University of Denver, plus two degrees from San Francisco State University, is also Iran's chief nuclear negotiator.
Hence, regarding an unusual approach of the US Senators, Zarif added “It is very interesting that while negotiations are still in progress and while no agreement has been reached, some political pressure groups are so afraid even of the prospect of an agreement that they resort to unconventional methods, unprecedented in diplomatic history.”
Zarif ultimately dismissed the letter as having "no legal value and is mostly a propaganda ploy,"
Iranian Foreign Minister Schools US Senators in American Int l Law Sputnik International
amended in 1994?So we should have charged the Democrats in Reagan's time with a felony for communicating with Nicaragua? By the way dumb ass Congress IS the Government.
“Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”
The Logan Act was named for Dr. George Logan, a Pennsylvania state legislator (and later US Senator) who engaged in semi-negotiations with France in 1798 during the Quasi-War.
In United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936), Justice Sutherland wrote in the majority opinion:
[T]he President alone has the power to speak or listen as a representative of the nation. He makes treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate; but he alone negotiates. Into the field of negotiation the Senate cannot intrude, and Congress itself is powerless to invade it.
Sutherland also notes in his opinion the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations report to the Senate of February 15, 1816:
The President is the constitutional representative of the United States with regard to foreign nations. He manages our concerns with foreign nations, and must necessarily be most competent to determine when, how, and upon what subjects negotiation may be urged with the greatest prospect of success. For his conduct, he is responsible to the Constitution.
Uhm, they got approval from the US Government to go thereSo we should have charged the Democrats in Reagan's time with a felony for communicating with Nicaragua? By the way dumb ass Congress IS the Government.
