Mitch McConnell on Monday did not boost the prospects for killing the potentially deadly ObamaNuke deal. The Kentucky Republican told a home-state gathering that Obama “can win by getting one-third plus one of either house.” McConnell added: “So he’s still got a great likelihood of success.”
Not helpful.
Activists from coast to coast are trying to educate the American public about this agreement’s canyonesque flaws and persuade undecided Democrats to torpedo this deal. McConnell’s words were akin to a baseball manager telling his players, “Well, we’re probably not going to win this unpredictable game. So, let’s just retire to the locker room, drink some milk, and take naps.”
Numerous Democratic lawmakers remain on the fence regarding this dangerous pact. What McConnell should do is encourage ObamaNuke critics to contact these Democrats and urge them to sink the deal. He should explain to ObamaNuke supporters why they are wrong and try to entice them his way.
McConnell should motivate the troops to stop this destructive nonsense, before Obama soon hands Iran a $150 billion bailout. The mullahs would be perfectly free to do what they please with that money. It might go into shovel-ready jobs. More likely, though, it will finance launch-ready rockets in the Gaza Strip and blast-ready car bombs in Yemen, Iraq, and points west. And, of course, Iran will use this money to keep building an atomic bomb. It could show explosive results within a year after this sham document’s decade of cosmetic limits on the ayatollahs’ behavior.
Yes, scuttling ObamaNuke will take work. It will take energy. It will take leadership. Too bad Senate majority “leader” Mitch McConnell sorely lacks all three.
As if to confirm each of these points, Senator Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) yesterday announced his plans to vote No on ObamaNuke.
Helpful.
“Why does Iran — which has the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves, with 157 billion barrels of crude oil and the world’s second largest proven natural gas reserves with 1,193 trillion cubic feet of natural gas — need nuclear power for domestic energy?” Menendez asked, posing an obvious question no one seems to raise. Speaking Tuesday at Seton Hall University, the Garden State’s senior senator continued: “My overarching concern is that it [ObamaNuke] requires no dismantling of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and only mothballs that infrastructure for ten years. Not even one centrifuge will be destroyed under this agreement . . . At year 15, Iran will have NO limits on its uranium stockpile.”
Menendez is the second Democratic senator to break with Obama on his toxic legacy item. Senator Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.) considered supporting the deal. He announced his No vote a few days ago. This means that GOP senators unanimously oppose Obama’s gambit. Menendez and Senator Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) will vote with them. Momentum is moving, slowly but surely, towards the No camp.
It should be even easier for Democrats to denounce this deal now that the Associated Press has detailed a secret side agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA, it turns out, will let Iran self-inspect its Parchin nuclear-research facility while the IAEA is barred from the premises. This is like allowing the Nazis to self-inspect Buchenwald for human-rights violations while the Red Cross stands outside the gates. In this spirit, the IRS should let taxpayers audit themselves.
This is not statecraft. This is slapstick.
Menendez and Schumer deserve high praise for their courage and leadership in standing up to Obama and his laughable pile of paper.
Rather than lunge for his white flag, Mitch McConnell should follow the example of these two brave Democrats and lead the correct side on this still-fluid issue of life and death.