OMG, you guys! Did you hear? As if we needed more proof that GOP Sen. Tom Cotton is the devil, here’s this outrageous story:
GOP Sen. Tom Cotton threatens to call cops on liberal constituents who keep writing him letters: report https://t.co/oYdoAZthZO
— Raw Story (@RawStory) January 18, 2018
From the Arkansas Times:
Ozark Indivisible, the activist group that has been pressing members of Congress from Arkansas on health care, immigration and other issues, reported on its Twitter account last night that people calling Sen. Tom Cotton’s office had received cease-and-desist letters and posted the image above.
Wow. That Tom Cotton is such a thin-skinned snowflake! He must be! What other possible explanation is there?
Snowflake extraordinaire!
— Mariska (@Mariska5378) January 18, 2018
Pansy
— NotYourBankersHome (@Legalator) January 18, 2018
How you know you're getting through, I guess?https://t.co/R3mg2JubDf
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) January 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/EdKrassen/status/954076928712966145
Turns out, there’s actually a pretty good explanation for that cease-and-desist letter. Cotton staffer and national security expert John Noonan explains:
1. This went out to a single constituent, not a group.
2. That constituent called a 19 year old intern a c***.
3. Constituent had multiple warnings.
4. Letter went out in October.
5. We have a very different understanding of “BREAKING” https://t.co/SHlFEII7hp— John Noonan (@noonanjo) January 18, 2018
Letter went out in October. To one constituent, who called one of our 19 year old interns a c*** and threatened her physically. https://t.co/IJ2MT5luuM
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) January 18, 2018
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So if ya'll want to walk this road, a single letter went out to a single constituent, who called a 19 year old intern a c*** and threatened her physically. https://t.co/S7ZiUwqnh3
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) January 18, 2018
Constituent (singular), actually. Senator draws the line when his teenaged interns are called c***s and threatened. This is a standard letter from the Capitol Police. https://t.co/k4DHjw0IOa
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) January 18, 2018
People are listening to you. So our staff are now having to explain to angry callers that a single letter was sent to a single constituent who called a 19 year old intern a c***. https://t.co/k4DHjw0IOa
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) January 18, 2018
Hi Rachel. Yes, this single constituent who received a single letter did get her message across. That message was to call a 19 year old intern a c*** and threaten her. https://t.co/6A8kWkCak3
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) January 18, 2018
And what’s more, the person who reportedly received the letter didn’t even deny that they’d used the c-word:
“I believe if Tom Cotton’s office were to respond as to why they sent this letter, I think they just honestly don’t want to listen to any citizen’s opposing view or hear the numerous grave concerns U.S. citizens have about the serious & ongoing attack on our Democracy and past election cycle in which a foreign, hostile Russian government interfered, they don’t want U.S. citizens to call and speak their mind and truth in a very direct manner and they obviously don’t want to be held accountable for their words and actions while serving all the people in this nation. I may have used unprofessional and unbecoming language at times as the anxiety and stress of what I’m witnessing is at times too great a burden to control and I have vehemently expressed my righteous anger at Senator Cotton’s complicitness with this harmful regime.”
This seems like an admission anyway… pic.twitter.com/53DUCG9bRc
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) January 18, 2018
It sure does.
It should have been very, very obvious from the get-go that the Arkansas constituent was being less than forward about what exactly they told Tom Cotton's staff. pic.twitter.com/ebCbBLGcdR
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) January 18, 2018
Nothing but weasel words. You MAY have used such language? Or you did? What did you say that was so bad you needed to preemptively explain why you aren't responsible for what you said?
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) January 18, 2018
You’ve gotta love how they couch their guilt in “righteous anger.” Weasel words, indeed.
So… Cotton is the King of the Snowflakes for sending out a letter to tell an abusive person to lay off?
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) January 18, 2018
For what it’s worth, former Obama NatSec spokesman Tommy Vietor, who initially called Cotton out for the letter before he had all the facts, shared one of Noonan’s tweets and admitted his mistake:
Thank you for retweeting this @TVietor08 https://t.co/e1Mtaaaqv9
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) January 18, 2018
Well, then I am officially removing the snowflake crown from your head. I'm sorry to do this to you. Original tweet deleted. And in all seriousness, people shouldn't be assholes to interns. FFS. https://t.co/p8sRuRQYqU
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) January 18, 2018
Good on him. Really.
My God, someone finally did The Internet right. https://t.co/kAYgbuICd7
— The Nats Won The World Series (@EsotericCD) January 18, 2018
I would like to see more people, on both sides, own up to mistakes and apologize like this. ?? https://t.co/jUHaK0Cqjy
— Sarah Quinlan (@sarahmquinlan) January 18, 2018
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