I have of late become more and more disgusted by politics — local, state, national, international. I have begun to think humanity has lost its focus, or has finally proven that we are not “… noble in reason … infinite in faculty … in action how like an Angel! in apprehension how like a god!” It appears that Shakespeare was overly optimistic, and Desmond Morris (“The Naked Ape,” “The Human Zoo”) may have been more correct.
Recently, 47 U.S. senators, including putative presidential candidates, a former candidate, the majority leader, and Georgia’s senators signed a letter to the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The tone of the letter is, in my opinion, offensively condescending.
The letter, on the letterhead of the United States Senate, is written as a lesson in U.S. constitutional law and congressional procedures for the ratification of international agreements. It notes that if a future president or enough senators disagreed with any agreement reached during the on-going nuclear negotiations with Iran, the agreement could be revoked or changed.
I’m not a constitutional scholar, but I can read and think for myself. With respect to “foreign relations,” Congress’s constitutional powers are limited to regulating commerce, setting the value of foreign coins, defining and punishing offenses against international law, and declaring war. The Congress (but not a coterie of individual members) has some other, minor, powers related to foreign nations. The power to make treaties (with the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate) is restricted to the President. Traditionally, foreign relations have been the purview of the President.
Nowhere does the Constitution give any powers to a camarilla of dunces, a subset of the Senate, who might seek to put an official imprimatur on their idiocy. Further, the Logan Act bars unauthorized citizens from exactly this sort of correspondence with foreign governments. Although this 1799 act has been repeatedly honored only in the breach (by actors, athletes, preachers, and politicians among others), it is still the law.
Of course, I would not deny anyone’s freedom of speech. When I was a member of the armed forces, my freedom to speak was abridged. That was (still is, I think) a part of the job. Elected representatives of the people, especially those holding an office whose powers are defined in the constitution, are I think, similarly constrained — if not by law, at least by common sense.
I have seen suggestions that the signers of the letter be charged with treason. Treason includes waging war against the United States, “adhering to” the enemies of the United States, or “giving [those enemies] Aid and Comfort.” Whether this applies or could be enforced is problematic. However, charging the signers with both hubris and stupidity is, in my opinion, entirely correct and appropriate.
Paul Lentz
Peachtree City, Ga.
[Editor’s note: As an update, here’s a March 23 report from CNN: “A veto-proof, bipartisan majority of House lawmakers have signed an open letter to President Barack Obama warning him that any nuclear deal with Iran will effectively require congressional approval for implementation.
“A group of bipartisan senators have penned a bill mandating that any deal be reviewed and approved by Congress, but the House letter notes that lawmakers have another way to halt an agreement — by refusing to roll back sanctions.”
Looks like the House as well as the Senate is getting in on the action.]
