Hatred-Fueled GOP Obstructionists Join Syria, North Korea And Iran In Opposing An International Arms Treaty

Earlier today someone was reporting about Obama's troubles getting a climate change agenda through Congress. They quoted the president saying, "The politics of this are tough." Maybe he should have thought of that before he decided to be a Black president with a Congress filled with obstructionist racist dogs who detest him and refuse to recognize the legitimacy of his leadership, like the four rotten, bitterly ambitious galoots above.

And this isn't just about Obama being unable to make headway on dozens of national priorities (like job creation, gun safety and immigration reform) nor just about his inability to get his judicial nominees confirmed. A UN Treaty that basically spreads American standards on international arms shipments to the rest of the world-- and which was opposed by terrorist outfits like Iran, Syria, the NRA and North Korea-- is also being opposed by the 4 galoots above and their Senate cronies. 35 Republican senators have already announced they're against it. Since it needs a 2/3s majority in the Senate to be ratified... well, maybe Hillary will pull in enough Democrats in 2016 for it to come up again.

Rand wants to be president

Right-wing extremists in the U.S. are against it because they claim it's a cover for a UN black helicopter gun grab, something that may play well in rural areas of the ole slaveholding states and the Mormon states but... has nothing whatsoever to do with any kind of reality. The treaty, which took 7 years to negotiate is meant to force sellers to consider how their customers will use the weapons and to make that information public. American arm sellers, which pay massive bribes to conservative politicians in the U.S. are alarmed, although America already has stricter standards than the treaty does. The goal is to curb the sale of weapons to rogue states that use them to kill civilians. Obviously there's something about that that bothers fascists like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Miss McConnell, etc., even if they can't quite put their fingers on what it is.

The treaty calls for sales to be evaluated on whether the weapons will be used to break humanitarian law, foment genocide or war crimes, abet terrorism or organized crime or slaughter women and children.

...Among the opponents is Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Republican. In a statement last month, he said that the treaty contained “unnecessarily harsh treatment of civilian-owned small arms” and violated the right to self-defense and United States sovereignty.

In a bow to American concerns, the preamble states that it is focused on international sales, not traditional domestic use, but the National Rifle Association has vowed to fight ratification anyway. The General Assembly vote came after efforts to achieve a consensus on the treaty among all 193 member states of the United Nations failed last week, with Iran, North Korea and Syria blocking it. The three, often ostracized, voted against the treaty again on Tuesday.

So far the only Democratish senator coming out against it is conservative Max Baucus of Montana. The rest are a bunch of Republican dead-enders determined to prevent Obama from governing or solving America's problems. This is the kind of garbage paranoid Republicans are hearing, concerned that it means a national firearms registry-- which it doesn't-- in any way:



UPDATE: Not Every Senate Crackpot Is A Republican

Oklahoma sociopath James Inhofe offered this as a Budget Amendment at 4:30 AM on Match 23 and it passed 53-46, confusing easily confused senators-- especially so at that time of the day-- by stating that the purpose was "To uphold Second Amendment rights and prevent the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty." Every single Republican and 8 confused Democrats voted for it. The confused Democrats, who, apparently, should never be allowed up that late without careful supervision:

• Mark Begich (AK)
• Joe Donnelly (IN)
• Kay Hagan (NC)
• Martin Heinrich (NM)
• Heidi Heitkamp (ND)
• Joe Manchin (WV)
• Mark Pryor (AR)
• John Tester (MT)

UPDATE: Catholic Bishops Want Peace

The U.S. bishops want Obama to sign the treaty but their conservative allies are blocking it. What will they do? How important is it to them?

America's top Catholic body on Thursday urged the Obama administration to sign the United Nations arms trade treaty.

“In light of the position of the Holy See, I urge the Administration to expedite a thorough review of the Treaty so that the President can sign it in early June,” Des Moines Bishop Richard Pates, the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops's Committee on International Justice and Peace, wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry. “As a world leader and a major arms exporter, our nation should set a positive example for other nations to follow in efforts to reduce the flow of weapons into situations that violate human rights and cause terrible suffering.”

Is Rick Santorum weeping bitterly? What about Rubio? Is he back to being a Catholic again? I know Vitter makes believe he is.