Stevil (Stupid + evil) Sanctions Bill

The new sanctions law which congress passed, almost unanimously, last week is called H.R. 3364.

https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr3364/BILLS-115hr3364eh.pdf

People who don't know better use the term "bipartisan" as if it were a synonym for words like "wholesome", "honorable", "decent" and the like and they try to promulgate the idea that anything with much "bipartisan" support must possess wonderfulness which no person of good character could possibly deny. In real life, our two political parties, GOP and dems, are sometimes referred to by political insiders as the stupid party and the evil party and a better term (then bipartisan) for this new sanctions bill might be"stevil", or stupid + evil.

Hal Turner's take (the worst case):
http://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/opinion-editorial/hal-turner-commentary/906-with-russia-sanctions-bill-congress-has-just-begun-world-war-3-the-missiles-will-fly-within-months

Daniel McAdams take (The best case, writing in antiwar.com):
http://original.antiwar.com/daniel-mcadams/2017/07/25/house-passes-new-russia-sanctions-pumps-adrenaline-cold-war-2-0/

Julia Stent's take (highly likely to backfire):
https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/d29bdc00-305e-3fcd-8359-3cf3bbee7720/the-u.s.-sanctions-bill-is-a.html?.tsrc=fauxdal

The antiwar.com article notes that:

"If President Trump does not veto this bill, it will signify that he has essentially given up on his presidency. At least when it comes to foreign policy. "

The fact of any Republicans having voted for this thing indicates that something beyond ordinary stupidity is in play (they aren't ALL totally stupid). On the face of it, the thing appears to be an attempt by neocons and deep state actors to send a message of sorts to Donald Trump, saying as much as "We control Washington DC, you don't."

In play, aside from the neo-Russophobia of the Democrats and snowflakes and remnant neocon pain over Ukraine, Syria, and other failed neocon foreign policy initiatives, is the question of US oil and gas interests seeking to force Europe out of its present arrangements with Russia for natural gas and require Europeans to purchase American liquefied natural gas at substantially higher costs. It is also possible that this may involve an attempt to prevent some sort of an oil/gas derivative blowout with major economic consequences.

Potential detrimental side effects include:

A re-ignited cold war.

Nuclear war. The sanctions in question are actually more severe than those which impelled Japan to attack Pearl Harbor.

Major impact on our relations with European nations. The sanctions would target not only Americans attempting to do business with Russia, but would punish other nations for such business as well.

A usurpation of executive privilege and functionality which would likely lead to a major constitutional crisis. From the National Interest article: "Congress would now have to approve any modification of the sanctions regime. This kind of legislation is a blunt instrument. Once passed, as the history of the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment shows (it remained in place for thirty-eight years), it will probably stay on the books for longer than necessary and remove the flexibility and leverage that a president could have in dealing with Russia."

A US Civil War or some similar cataclysmic political event. If our entire Congress is being controlled to this great an extent by bad actors of one stripe or another, a resolution via friendly persuasion would not appear to be in the offing...

The bill also mentions Iran and North Korea, but that is pretty much meaningless. Issues involving Iran or North Korea could be dealt with in separate legislation.

At this point, Congress has spoken and is plainly on the wrong side of the issue; the only person who might possibly could still save the situation would be Donald Trump. I suggest that everybody send Mr. Trump a message requesting that he veto this bill with extreme prejudice and threatened to throw the kitchen sink and everything else that he has at anybody voting to override the veto.

Get in Touch with The White House
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact#page