Only one secretary of state at a time, please

Somebody needs to educate former U.S. secretary of state John Kerry about the Logan Act – the federal law that forbids private citizens “from engaging in unauthorized correspondence with foreign governments’’ that have “any disputes or controversies with the United States.’’

Actually, somebody needs to arrest Kerry. Stupidity is not a valid excuse for a crime.

The Logan Act was formulated so world leaders would never have any doubt about who was in charge in the United States and what the country’s intentions are.

Kerry, it has been reported, recently “engaged in some unusual shadow diplomacy’’ with Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zariff, at the United Nations in New York, reportedly to try and salvage the Iran nuclear deal they “spent years negotiating.’’

For the record, Mike Pompeo is the current U.S. secretary of state, not Kerry. Kerry served with former president Barack Obama.

President Donald Trump recently followed through with his promise to end the United States’ participation in the Iran nuclear deal, calling it “the worst deal in the history of mankind.’’

The Logan Act supposedly covers all direct or indirect correspondence, meetings or discussions – any contact at all. Violation can result in a fine and up to three years in prison, or both.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee, has called for Kerry to be arrested for violating the Logan Act.

But Kerry is not likely to be arrested and nor is Hillary Clinton for what she did with her “irresponsible’’ handling of classified e-mails and the irresponsible storing of classified e-mails from and to many government officials that she secretly kept on her own private computer server.

There certainly is a lot of talk these days about the criminalization of politics. 

But that’s all it is – talk.

Until citizens demand that their elected officials, and the officials appointed by them, follow all the laws like the rest of us, and get prosecuted when they don’t, then this is the kind of shenanigans we’re going to have to put up with.

Why is it so easy for the law to throw the book at us, but the rich and powerful like Kerry and Clinton go untouched?

It couldn’t be because they are rich, could it?

I think so.