REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS: THINKING OF STARTING A NEW REPUBLIC?

 

…Washington Post Op-Ed Writer, Dana Milbank

Yes, the story is a satire…..but just maybe..??

 

It was bad enough that the Speaker of the House dis-respected the President of the United States by inviting the Prime Minister of Israel to speak to a joint session of congress.  This was done without discussing it with the president.  The event was also against long established protocol for not providing such a major political speaking platform when the speaker’s election is occurring only a few weeks from the congressional speech.  In this particular case, the prime minister would be appearing only two weeks before his reelection vote, and apparently his appearance in the US Congress did bolster his up-coming anticipated very close election race.

Add to all that, that 47 Republican Senators, without notifying the president, sent an open letter to the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran giving them misinformation on how the US government operates. 

 

This letter also caused the highly conservative New York Daily News to call the 47 senators “TRAITORS” ” in large type across their daily edition, saying, “GOPers try to sabotage nuke deal.”

Now, what other bizarre events could occur regarding this nuclear negotiation going on between Iran and the multiple countries involved?

Well, leave it to the highly entertaining editorial writer for the Washington Post, Dana Milbank, to come up with a story that totally describes, in his satirical fashion, exactly what the Republicans in the US Congress appear to want to attempt.

Milbank’s bizarre fictional story is about how the Republicans in Congress have decided to break-away from the United States and to form their own independent republic.  A separate country they call: the State of Republicania.

His made-up story includes all the key players in the current Congress, and each of them are given new titles and functions in this new independent state.

Listed below are the political positions in the new republic and the individuals in the US Congress that are assuming those positions.  There are also comments as to what those individuals in this new republic’s positions are working on for the new republic:

·       Republicania’s new prime minister, John Boehner, admitted that he had invited his Israeli counterpart, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to criticize U.S. foreign policy before a joint meeting of the Republicania parliament.

·       Mitch McConnell, the new Republicania home secretary, wrote an op-ed last week in the Lexington Herald-Leader explicitly urging the states to refuse to implement a major new power-plant regulation issued by the US government.

·       Tom Cotton, Republicania’s new young foreign minister, submitted the “Open Letter to the Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” misinforming Iran’s leaders that any agreement reached by the United States but not ratified by Republicania could be undone “with the stroke of a pen”

·       Ted Cruz, would serve as Republicania’s new justice minister, he would instruct the sergeant at arms to apprehend US administration officials who testify on Capitol Hill and lock them below the Capitol crypt until they agree to more suitable policies.

·       Jim Inhofe, Republicania’s new environment minister, and he would undo recent efficiency improvements at the Capitol Power Plant.

·       The Capitol Police would become the Republicania’s Military arm, under the command of John McCain as the Defense Minister.

·       Darrell Issa would serve as Republicania’s FBI’s own J. Edgar Hoover

·       Orrin Hatch would become Republicania’s spiritual leader (the breakaway republic would abandon church-state separation and everything else in the Bill of Rights except for the Second Amendment).

Now, according to Mr. Milbank’s story, there is one problem with the new republic.  That being that as with all Republicans, Republicania would refuse to levy any taxes. However, it appears that the new foreign minister, Tom Cotton, he has figured this out, too: He’ll get military contractors to bankroll the new nation.

Then Mr. Milbank resumed being a real op-ed writer.

Milbank says that the day after Tom Cotton’s letter to Iran’s leaders became public, Cotton provided a clue about his motives: He’d had a breakfast date with the National Defense Industrial Association — this is a lobbyist trade group for Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing and the like.

We’re not allowed to know what Cotton said to those defense contractors. The event was “off the record and strictly non-attribution.” But you can bet it was exactly what Dwight Eisenhower meant when he warned all Americans of the Military-Industrial Complex just before Ike left office.

Senator Cotton, appearing on CNN, tried to maintain that his  Iran letter sending effort was not political. “Nor do I believe this letter is unprecedented,” he said — although the national archivists have not found a precedent.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine, is one of just seven Republican senators that did not sign Cotton’s letter to the ayatollahs.  She said she thought it, “more appropriate for members of the Senate to give advice to the president” and the US negotiators.

As Mr. Milbank added about senator Collins, “Spoken like a true American — which, in the corridors of Republicania these days, is nigh unto treason. “

I admit I have taken the liberty of using a lot of Mr. Milbank’s actual writing for this column, but I do urge you to Google and read Mr. Milbank’s whole article.  It is both entertaining and actually, somewhat frightening, as it sounds so true.

Copyright G.Ater  2015