Lest you get the notion that McConnell is beginning to recover from Reasonable Gentleman Syndrome

Yes, his proposal to insist that Iran recognizing Israel and the freeing of four post-american prisoners be prerequisites for any moving forward on the Iran deal is an exhibition of the kind of principles that ought to prevail.

Alas, such insistences come a little late in the game:

McConnell is threatening to vote on more amendments that embarrass Democrats and put them on the record as siding with Iran against Israel. 

Does this sound like a tough GOP leader?

Think again.  Forcing Democrats to take tough votes is a laudable strategy and is something Republicans should have been doing since January.  The problem is when it really mattered, McConnell actually blocked conservatives from offering these same amendments.

In April, when the Senate was originally abdicating its treaty power, McConnell agreed to block Sen. Marco Rubio’s amendment, which would have made the recognition of Israel a precondition to lifting sanctions, at the behest of Democrats.  This amendment was merely reinstating a condition that was actually in the original Corker-Cardin bill.  Yet, McConnell blocked the vote precisely because he didn’t want it to anger Democrats and prompt them to oppose their own loin-cloth bill – the ultimate Corker-Cardin legislation that has allowed Obama to ratify a treaty with support of just one-third of the Senate. 

Then, in late July, seeing that the Corker-Cardin bill would lead to disaster, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) attempted to force a vote on this amendment and attach it to the highway bill.  So fervent was McConnell’s desire not to actually derail the Iran deal and the Corker-Cardin sellout that he took the unprecedented step of telling all members to deny Cruz a “sufficient second” to even call up his amendment through a procedure.

At the time, Cruz solemnly noted the consequences of McConnell’s move:  

“It saddens me as a Republican to see Republican leadership lead the effort to kill an amendment that would have prevented lifting sanctions on Iran unless and until Iran recognizes Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and unless and until Iran releases American hostages. Make no mistake – granting a sufficient second for a roll call vote is done customarily in the United States Senate. Denying it is extraordinary, and it is done as a consequence of the majority leader Mitch McConnell being afraid for his members to be on record on this issue.”

Applying the Rubio amendment on Israel to the Corker-Cardin bill or the highway bill would have actually stopped this travesty.  And that’s exactly why McConnell blocked it.  Fast-forward to this week when, thanks to the Corker-Cardin bill’s survival, Democrats already have the legitimacy to secure Obama’s treaty with just 34 senators.  Now that Democrats have already won, McConnell is willing to finally conduct a vote on forcing Iran to recognize Israel.  

Moreover, the reason McConnell is suddenly alacritous to make Democrats take tough votes is because this strategy distracts from what McConnell really should be doing.  He should immediately bring up the House resolution of approval (H.R. 3461), which forces members to affirmatively vote for the treaty as is. 

I detest Donald Trump, but the fact that he and two prez candidates I (at least at this point) adore - Carly and Dr. Carson - are blowing the doors off the rest of the Pub field is perfectly explained by this kind of Beltway inertia.


Along with the Iran deal, some other fronts on which a little courage and banding together could have produced results are -


- Freedom-Hater-care: Several opportunities to defund it have been missed.

- Amnesty for illegal aliens: Why was not every argument for the unconstitutionality of this maneuver brought to bear?

EPA regs, culminating in the Clean Power Act: Why was there not vigorous coordination with attorneys general of the states that are courageously fighting this?

SCOTUS decision on homosexual "marriage": Would not a rally - a prayer vigil - on the steps of the Capitol, attended by RINOs sorely in need of redemption of how they're perceived by the conservative base, have sent a message with thundering reverberations that, even if it couldn't stop Justice Kennedy from deciding as he did, there was going to be an unprecedentedly massive cultural correction in this society?

This is why the entire post-American landscape is flying apart booby-trap style.

Post-America is hungry for a fierce conservative warrior.

Because the only reasonable facsimile who is currently viable is a vulgar, narcissistic charlatan with a big mouth, the fed-up masses have gone with him.

Dear Lord, may tonight's debate alter the current scenario.