(UPDATED) Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton is a Psychopath

Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton is the Douglas Neidermeyer of the United States Senate.

For readers who remember the classic John Landis 1978 movie Animal House, Douglas Neidermeyer was a snobby military psychopathic college ROTC commander who tormented one of the Delta House Members, trying to shoot him with live bullets at a homecoming parade at the end of the movie. The movie’s epilogue says that the character was killed by his own troops in Vietnam.

That is Tom Cotton.

Please see the video clip below to understand the comparison.

He makes Martha McSally seem like Susan Collins or Lisa Murkowski.

He makes Kyrsten Sinema seem like Elizabeth Warren.

Today, the former Army Captain (with tours in Afghanistan and Iraq) and Harvard Graduate penned a guest op-ed in the New York Times titled “Tom Cotton: Send in the Troops.”

It does not get any better from there.

The Senator had made similar calls for the themes expressed in his opinion piece on Twitter on Monday, June 1, 2020.

After taking away the perfunctory obligatory remarks that citizens have a right to protest and George Floyd’s death is a tragedy, the rest of the article is something out of Dr. Strangelove (a famed Stanley Kubrick Movie starring Peter Sellers in three roles and Slim Pickens falling to his death riding down to Earth on a nuclear warhead. Readers can see the clip of that below as well.)

In his editorial, Mr. Cotton engaged in typical fringe right-wing attacks on the left and media.

He:

• Falsely accused Bill DeBlasio, the New York Mayor of standing by while the city was getting pillaged. He later wrote that other politicians that did not forcibly act against the rioters were “delusional” because they “refuse to do what’s necessary to uphold the rule of law.”
• Blamed the elites (translation: he is talking about the literate us) of enabling and encouraging the looters.
• Said all the looters and rioters are “nihilists” from Antifa (some are White Supremacists as well.)
• Claimed that the only thing that will restore order to our streets is an “overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers.”
• Called on the President to employ the Insurrection Act of 1807. He cited historical examples from the Civil Rights Era of the 1950s and ’60s to justify his argument.
• Accused politicians of “wring (ing) their hands while the country burns.”

In his Monday tweet comments, the Arkansas Senator wrote:

“And, if necessary, the 10th Mountain, 82nd Airborne, 1st Cav, 3rd Infantry — whatever it takes to restore order. No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters,”

Before Donald Trump had Bill Barr clear the peaceful protestors away so he could have his photo op at St. Johns Church holding an upside-down Bible, he endorsed Mr. Cotton’s views.

Unfortunately for the world, Donald Trump has listened to Mr. Cotton and his allies on many occasions to the detriment of this nation.

Tom Cotton was one of the leading voices against the Iran Nuclear Deal.

How has pulling out of that deal worked out for the United States and the rest of the world?

While Tom Cotton is right to condemn the criminals who have taken advantage of the situation and used the protestors to commit robberies, arson, and murder, his bombastic words have created a situation where an unhinged President of the United States feels he has a license to turn the American Military on the protestors and not worry about telling the difference between the peaceful majority from the nefarious and vile few.

Other former and current members of Defense leadership do not share Cotton’s psychopathic world view.

Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis, commenting in a piece by Jeff Goldberg of the Atlantic, chastised the reckless response of Donald Trump, stating:

“I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.”

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”

Current Defense Secretary Mike Esper, after enabling Mr. Trump on Monday, apparently faced such a backlash from the top brass at the Pentagon, that he came forward this morning and told reporters at a press briefing:

“The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act.”

Most readers and the current occupant of the White House would do well to heed the views of the current and former Secretaries of Defense rather than the ravings of a psychopathic firebrand who, if this was not reality, would be considered a fringe joke.

That is one reason several among the New York Times staff (Michelle Goldberg, for example) and others (like Eric Wemple) questioned the reasoning behind publishing Mr. Cotton’s views. Although a case can be made that all views should be allowed to be published and having more people exposed to the  Arkansas Senators’ lunacy only makes his fringe views more unpopular, the New York Times Editorial Board has decided to no longer defend the publication and will look to reform its criteria for publishing similar rants.

Senator Cotton’s writings and Mr. Trump’s agreement with them is another reason for voters to turn out and vote in November to select a new President, elect a Democratic Senate, and reelect a Democratic House.

Please remember:

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