In case you wondered how craven the warmongers in the Senate are, apparently it includes turning on their own President just when he has begun to solve one of America's most intractable diplomatic problems.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s No. 3 Democrat, said he was “disappointed” by the pact and argued that Iran won more from the deal’s looser economic penalties than the international community gained by slowing down the country’s nuclear program.
“This disproportionality of this agreement makes it more likely that Democrats and Republicans will join together and pass additional sanctions when we return in December. I intend to discuss that possibility with my colleagues,” Schumer said.
Senators from both parties spent the past few weeks pushing for tougher sanctions against Iran even as they were personally lobbied by Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry to hold off for diplomatic talks to run their course.
Menendez critiqued the agreement for disproportionately aiding Iran and called for vigorous enforcement of existing sanctions and “ongoing” verification of the nuclear program’s scale-back, particularly given “Iran’s history of duplicity.” Schumer agreed the deal “does not seem proportional” but said he remained hopeful that the Obama administration could eventually seal an agreement to scrap all nuclear weapons capability in Iran.
I really don't get it. Even if they had these (in my view, grossly misguided) views, could Schumer and Menendez not have taken them to the administration privately first? Are they trying to make life harder for Obama by publicly reinforcing conservative memes?
Whatever the reasoning, they are on the wrong side of history. I suspect that when the numbers come out, the American public (the same electorate that resoundingly rejected intervention in Syria) will overwhelmingly back this agreement.