Another day, another setback, just another ploy by the GOP to bring our president down.
These Republicans have no shame, they are willing to put Americas security on the line for political game playing. The ratification of the START treaty should not be controversial, but the GOP is hell bent on making it so! Why? For what reason? The first treaty was ratified in the Senate with overwhelming support from both parties. Well come now, we all know what's behind the the latest GOP scheme.
The GOP's fringe element of Obama haters, fearing a boost in his popularity numbers, has chosen to put fear into Americans by claiming the treaty will leave only a measly "thousands" of nuclear weapons, and what about our missile defense? We will be rendered defenseless! Oh Horror! This is one of the most disgusting acts of contempt, and is simply to try and humiliate President Obama. The GOP has it all planned out, do not budge on this START treaty and it will die in the new Congress. Yes folks, the GOP is so willing to destroy the president that they will even play around with our national security. This is your republican party. Well ya know what GOP'ers, it's just another nail in your own coffins cuz your little ploys are not gonna work!
Arizona Senator Jon Kyl is the foot dragger this time. The nerve of this hypocrite! It was just last year he accused the administration of foot dragging on renewing START. He even said on the Senate floor, "for the first time in 15 years an extensive set of verification, notification, elimination and other confidence-building measures will expire." So what's he doing now, he's fighting Obama on the renewal. It really is hypocrisy at its finest.
Republican leaders have been willing to entertain the notion, common among their base, that the president himself is an existential threat to the country, leaving little room for cooperation. Voting on START means making a choice between indulging the reflexive hatred of their base or acting in the U.S.'s basic national security interests.
The Republican attempt to derail ratification of the new START arms control treaty with Russia is a reminder of just how far the GOP is willing to go merely to deal the president a political defeat.
MOSCOW - Russians are mystified. They can't quite believe the U.S. Senate might fail to ratify the nuclear arms treaty, and they see no good from such an outcome. And to top it off, the United States and it's president would look ridiculous.
But of course, this is the GOP plan, dontcha know!
Sergei M. Rogov, director of the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies, said he had difficulty believing Republicans are serious about killing the New START treaty, even though Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona said Tuesday there was not enough time to consider it in the lame-duck session. A vote next year makes ratification harder because a loss of Democratic seats means 14 Republican votes will be required for passage rather than nine now.
"In arms control, Russian and American cooperation is crucial," Rogov said. "I really don't think Republicans want to kill arms control."
Well, we'll see. But one thing is for certain, the Republicans care about ONE THING and that is to make Obama a one term president. They think these policy battles will benefit them, how stupid can you be. Their skewed thinking and harmful and dangerous game playing will backfire on them, IMO.
UPDATE: One sane Republican.....
Today on MSNBC, Sen. Rich Lugar (R-IN) urged Republicans such as Kyl to support the treaty and called on Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to hold a vote on it in this lame-duck session of Congress:
LUGAR: Please do your duty for your country. We do not have verification of the Russian nuclear posture right now. We’re not going to have it until we sign the START treaty. We’re not going to be able to get rid of further missiles and warheads aimed at us. I state it candidly to my colleagues, one of those warheads…could demolish my city of Indianapolis — obliterate it! Now Americans may have forgotten that. I’ve not forgotten it and I think that most people who are concentrating on the START treaty want to move ahead to move down the ladder of the number of weapons aimed at us.
