Key West Lou COMMENTARY

MAKING OF A STAR
By Louis Petrone
I want to introduce you to the real Tom Cotton. You met him ten days ago. He is the U.S. Senator who wrote the letter to Iran. The letter signed by 46 other Republican Senators. The letter sent in an attempt to dissuade the Iranians from entering into a nuclear agreement with the United States.
My initial reaction was…..Who the hell was this guy? Thirty seven years old, a Senator only 61 days. Was he being used as a front by more experienced Republican Senators? Was he looking for 15 seconds of notoriety?
He may be the new kid on the block Senate wise. Otherwise, he is a person on track by Republican conservatives to someday be President. He is unabashedly a neoconservative Republican with a tea party attitude. Groomed by the big guys and money men to lead.

One of my initial thoughts was that Cotton was an opportunist (in the ilk of his fellow Congress persons) who could be bought with contributions and perks. Anything to enhance his career. Not so. Cotton’s danger is he believes everything he says.
His background says it all.
From Arkansas, he is 37, married and has two children. Harvard undergrad and Harvard law school. Served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Two tours at the front. He volunteered the second time.
He was elected to Congress in 2012. Served one term. In 2014, elected to the Senate. In a short time, he has become the most powerful man in Washington. Notice, not one of. Rather, THE. And we didn’t know!
His Harvard senior thesis discussed our Founding Fathers and the Constitution. He claimed the Founding Fathers were wise not to put much faith in democracy because people are inherently selfish, narrow minded, and impulsive.
He defended the premise that the new country should be led by a class of intellectually superior office holders. Those whose ambitions set them apart from other men. He admitted his position might be elitist. Anyone who thought he was being an elitist was mushy headed and naive.
While at Harvard, Cotton became impressed with one of his teachers. Professor Harvey Claflin Mansfield greatly influenced him.
William Kristol was another Harvard student impressed by the Professor’s teachings. The William Kristol now Editor of the Standard Weekly and a frequent political commentator.
Kristol was a student of the Professor years before Cotton. Somewhere along the way, Kristol and Cotton met and bonded. The glue being that they thought the same way. Kristol became Cotton’s advisor/mentor.
During his one term as Congressman, Cotton introduced a bill whose language would over turn the Constitution’s  prohibition of attainder. Article I, sections 9 & 10, prohibit any legislature from declaring a person or group of persons guilty of a crime and punishing them without a judicial trial.
Kristol formed an Emergency Committee for Israel which was financially supported by those who opposed an Iran deal. The Committee gave Cotton close to $1 million in the closing weeks of his Senate campaign.
Another benefactor is Sheldon Gary Adelson.  A neoconservative opposed to any Iranian agreement. Adelson is the eighth richest man in the world,. His fortune estimated at $36.4 billion. A business magnate, he also owns the daily newspaper Israel Ha Yam.
Cotton is also supported by Floyd Abrams. Abrams is the leading American attorney with regard to issues involving First Amendment rights. A supporter of Citizens United. He interprets the Constitution being in favor of a government by the rich.
When the Hurricane Sandy relief bill was before Congress, Cotton voted against it. He said, “I don’t think Arkansas needs to bail out the Northeast.”
Cotton’s penning the Iran letter was his coming out party. A conservative superstar introduced to the world.
The frosting on the cake is that Cotton is a neocon. A neocon meteor. A uber hawk. It has been said he loves war a little too much.
Such thinking would make him a child of the military industrial complex. The rich, again. The corporations that need wars to sell their products.
Cotton bothers me. The reason he bothers me is because he believes what he says. He is not the typical politician who speaks out of both sides of his mouth, rarely takes a stand. His beliefs are so far to the right, I worry. Cotton has the blessing and support of the oligarchy. With the money of the rich and his belief in the superiority of them, he can/will go a long way.
The political mood of the country is changing. Far to the right conservatives are being elected in larger numbers. Which says to me people must want what these candidates think and preach. I fear government for the people is slipping away.
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