USA :America the beautiful? Republicans to Obama: "We really don′t like you"

Last week's unprecedented event of having a foreign leader in the final stages of a close election campaign speak before a joint session of Congress without consulting the White House seemed like a tough act to follow - especially when the sole purpose of that speech was to bash the Obama administration's nuclear talks with Iran. That event was orchestrated by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

By publishing an open letter to Iran's leadership and lecturing Tehran about the US Constitution and legislators' opposition to a nuclear agreement, however, the Republican-controlled Senate may have succeeded in besting the performance of the lower house.

"I think there is no precedent in the history of the Republic for Senators to write to a foreign leader in this way," Nigel Bowles, director of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford, told DW. "And to that extent it represents a new low in the relations between this president and this Congress, or more concretely this Senate."

"Even during Vietnam nothing like that happened," said James Sperling, professor of international relations at the University of Akron.

For the complete Report go to: Republicans to Obama: We really don′t like you | World | DW.DE | 10.03.2015

US Politics: The Radical Past of Charles Koch -- a Former Die-Hard John Birch Society Member - by Lisa Graves

The Progressive Inc. and the Center for Media and Democracy are publishing new information and analysis documenting that billionaire oil industrialist, Charles Koch, was an active member of the controversial right-wing John Birch Society during its active campaigns against the civil rights movement.

Many commentators have noted that the father of the controversial Koch Brothers, Fred Koch, was a leader of the John Birch Society from its founding in 1958 until his death in 1967. But, in fact, Charles Koch followed his father's footsteps into the John Birch Society for years in Wichita, Kansas, a hub city for the organization in that decade of tremendous societal unrest as civil rights activists challenged racial segregation.

Charles Koch was not simply a rank and file member of the John Birch Society in name only who paid nominal dues. He purchased and held a "lifetime membership" until he resigned in 1968. He also lent his name and his wealth to the operations of the John Birch Society in Wichita, aiding its "American Opinion" bookstore -- which was stocked with attacks on the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King, and Earl Warren as elements of the communist conspiracy.

He funded the John Birch Society's promotional campaigns, bought advertising in its magazine, and supported its distribution of right-wing radio shows.

Read more: the Radical Past of Charles Koch -- a Former Die-Hard John Birch Society Member | Alternet

Iran: US Congress -Tea Party Republicans Considering New Iran Sanctions

As early as next week the U.S. Congress could approve tough new sanctions on Iran, a move the White House warns may undermine diplomatic efforts to curb the country’s controversial nuclear program.

It was smiles in Geneva when U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and other foreign ministers congratulated each other over last month’s interim accord on Iran’s nuclear program.

Tough economic sanctions drove Iran to the bargaining table.

And now some members of Congress want to put even more economic pressure on Tehran by approving a new round of sanctions.

“The Congress believes that sanctions, along with the threat of credible military force by the United States and Israel, has gotten us to this point, that if you back off now, you're sending the worst possible signals,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Some members of Congress are concerned the interim nuclear deal allows Iran to continue enriching uranium.

The top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker, says that’s a mistake.

The Obama administration says new sanctions will violate the interim agreement with Iran and could possibly divide the U.S. from its international partners. 

Read more: US Congress Considering New Iran Sanctions