Ramesh, as noted, I don’t doubt that the Republicans on the Gang of Eight favor comprehensive reform “in principle.” But the details get sticky. Do they really believe that the border security provisions will work as advertised, or do they think that even if they won’t be particularly effective, a path to citizenship is worth it anyway? Would they really have written the security provisions this way if there hadn’t been any Democrats in the mix? Is there anything about this bill that the Republicans would have done differently from the Democrats if they’d had sole control from the start? Was there ever anything to “negotiate” at all.

A lot of folks thought there was. A lot of folks thought that Rubio in particular would find a more genuine compromise. Now maybe that was a false hope. If so, I’ve learned something, and I’d venture to say lots of other have as well.