Lot of hair-on-fire screaming this morning by Dems over Chuck Schumer (D-Tel Aviv) seeing an opportunity to sandbag the Iran deal (which is still going to pass) so he can later shrug and say “You know boys, I tried to stop it…”
Senator Chuck Schumer, the most influential Jewish voice in Congress, said Thursday night that he would oppose President Obama’s deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program.
“Advocates on both sides have strong cases for their point of view that cannot simply be dismissed,” Mr. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in a lengthy statement. “This has made evaluating the agreement a difficult and deliberate endeavor, and after deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval.”
Mr. Schumer had spent the last several weeks carrying a dog-eared copy of the agreement in his briefcase and meeting with Mr. Obama and officials like Wendy R. Sherman, the deal’s chief negotiator. With his decision, he paves the way for other Democrats on the fence to join Republicans in showing their disapproval.
“There are some who believe that I can force my colleagues to vote my way,” Mr. Schumer said. “While I will certainly share my view and try to persuade them that the vote to disapprove is the right one, in my experience with matters of conscience and great consequence like this, each member ultimately comes to their own conclusion.”
C’mon guys, he’s practically giving the game away here. He’s going to try really hard to convince Dems to vote against the President, and enough of them won’t bite so that the veto of the disapproval resolution holds. This is a done deal (as Schumer’s fellow New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand has come out for backing it, she should be the first person Schumer should have been able to convince if he was being serious about wrecking the deal) and Schumer is playing his kabuki well.
This Schumer “defection” convinces me more than ever that the Iran deal will become law. The forms must be observed, and observed they will be. Schumer isn’t even trying to hide the fact he’s covering his ass with the AIPAC crowd at this point, and he knows he can get away with it.
And he will.
raven
Well, there doesn’t seem to be much to discuss.
gf120581
Yep. Schumer is a long time vet of the DC kabuki dance. I expect he got the nod from Obama for this. (Besides the Senate, there’s also the House and with Pelosi in Obama’s corner, it’s a done deal there. )
Also, this gets Schumer the spotlight, which he craves. As Bob Dole once joked, the most dangerous place in DC is between Schumer and a TV camera.
beltane
I’m not so sanguine about this.
If the Democratic party is to retain any credibility, they would relegate Chuch Schumer (D-Likkud) to the position of ranking member of the toilet paper procurement committee.
RaflW
It may be kabuki. But it’s kabuki performed by a slithery jerk. Thankfully, New Yorkers also elected Gillibrand, who can show what actual leadership looks like.
Germy Shoemangler
Didn’t Schumer do some similar theater regarding wall street. Stood and grandstanded about some financial regulation laws, but then quietly added amendments to exempt wall street traders?
Him we don’t need.
SteveinSC
I love kabuki. Done deal. Kirsten Gillibrand grows more and more each day.
Morzer
The best I can say for Schumer is that he isn’t Al D’Amato. On the other hand, he’s no Jacob K. Javits either.
I am sick of Democrats who don’t need to play this kind of game but do it anyway.
Joey Maloney
The hell you say. We’re the latte-slurping arugula-munching liberal hellhole of the 51st state. Schumer represents those Wissotsky teabaggers down in Jerusalem.
Betty Cracker
@beltane: The Democratic Party let Joe Lieberman openly kick them in the nuts for years. It’s what they do.
@SteveinSC: I like Gillibrand a lot too. Would love to see her on a national ticket someday.
Morzer
@Betty Cracker:
Y’know, there could be a great fundraising opportunity here. Donors pay a moderate sum.. say.. 50 bucks.. and in return, they get to kick Joe Lieberman once in the junk while wearing any sort of foot attire they choose. Double your donation, double your number of kicks.
I reckon there could be trillions in it!
raven
So my upstairs AC went out three days ago and that is where my office is. The HVAC guys just found that the roofers put a nail through the copper line. Dang.
Matt McIrvin
I expected Gillibrand to run this cycle, but I think she decided to wait because Hillary.
Gin & Tonic
@raven: And you, I’m sure, get to pay both the roofers and the HVAC guys out of your pocket regardless.
Ryan
Damn, I was hoping this was aimed at Chuck Todd. Great breakdown of his “position”.
SteveM
Yup, considering the fact that he’s probably the guy who chose Gillibrand as Hillary Clinton’s Senate replacement.
I’m glad she didn’t let that sway her.
Cervantes
@Morzer:
Well put.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: AC lines, plumbing and electrical wires aren’t supposed to be run next to the roof decking for a reason. Who’da thunk it?
Germy Shoemangler
Gillibrand… I’ve always liked her. She ran against Sweeney, one of the original brooks brothers rioters. He treated her with such contempt, like she had no business even getting into a race against him, and then she stood politely by while he self-destructed. (DWI, mistress on his lap). He went on camera with his wife to insist that they were NOT having marital problems. I remember at one point, he reached over to touch her affectionately, and she visibly recoiled. After the race was over, and Gillibrand won, the wife filed for divorce and admitted he’d been abusive for years.
So who “won” last night’s debate? Shrub the Sequel? Baby Doc? Joisey Whale? Dull-eyed Nixon? HairManDo?
japa21
Schumer talks about a strong case being presented by both sides. Then he presents a very ilquetoast case for his opposition raising points that have all been answered already.
The fact is, there is no strong case to be made against the deal. Additionally, he offers no alternative to the deal. Of course, he really can’t.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: I had the AC for the upstairs put in about 8 years ago so the space was useable. I don’t know that there was a great deal of choice as to where to put it. I guess this is just an accident.
.
japa21
@Germy Shoemangler: Hard to say who won it. However, as far as the loser? The American people.
JMG
This is a preview. If by some horrible accident there’s a Republican President in 2017, Schumer will offer the same mealy-mouthed support for bombing Iran. He should be primaried and then third-partied.
Germy Shoemangler
@JMG: He should join Lieberman.
Start a comedy duo. Chuck and Joe. Some witty banter, then close with a song. Like Wayne & Shuster
shell
@japa21: Tuned in for some promised crash and burn, but it was just plain depressing. The same old calliope grinding away.
Get gov. regulation off our backs so the free market can work its Harry Potter-like magic.
Abortion is the greatest evil in history.
Social Security and Medicare are a close second.
The deficit is killing us (ignoring that national debt has been reduced by 2 thirds. Cant believe theyre still getting away with this zombie lie.)
Obamacare must be repealed cause FREEDOM.
And of course, immigration. The whole first half hour dedicated to that. As one moderator termed it ‘The hot
topic!’ Now I dont know about you, but does immigration keep you up at night. Do you know one person who’s said to you ‘Gosh, Im so stressed out aout all these illegal aliens!’
Matt McIrvin
@Germy Shoemangler: I didn’t watch the debate but I’ve been reading the reactions to it. The establishment types think Rubio and Kasich “won”, but nobody seems to care: the big story is that Trump won by not losing. Nothing happened to take him out.
Also, I haven’t seen anyone who thought Jeb Bush did well. If anyone “lost” it was him.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven:
Then it should have been protected. Seriously, there is no excuse. It only happens in new construction if someone screws up, and the same is true for updates in older homes. I’m thinking the guy who ran it was lazy (“I don’t want to swim in the insulation”) or cost averse (“the home owner will never accept another $3-500 dollars for install to tear out and patch that part of the ceiling”).
NotMax
@raven
It’s like one of those “Make Your Own Adventure” books, isn’t it?
Matt McIrvin
…Also, Trump has decided that Megyn Kelly is out to get him, and is picking a fight with her.
Germy Shoemangler
Fair and balanced network… before one cutaway to commercial, Wallace said something to the candidates like “when we return, we’ll talk about democrat solutions, and we’ll hear your better ideas.”
Did anyone else notice that?
Hal
Steve Schmidt was on Chris Matthews last night trotting out the “Obama is naive, this deal with pave the way for the destruction of American cities” nonsense, but could only get it out in bites because as usual Matthew doesn’t let anyone talk. Schmidt meanwhile insisted the President was wrong in saying the only alternative was military action, which always leads me to ask; if not diplomacy then why wouldn’t the only option be military action? Was Schmidt not around when McCain sang bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran?
Redshift
@shell:
No, but I don’t talk to Fox-watchers. It’s very important to the GOP to keep talking about immigration, because if the rubes aren’t kept focused on a scapegoat, they might figure out who’s really causing their economic woes and stop voting for them.
Honus
@raven: that stuff happens, but there should have been a nail plate to prevent it.
Germy Shoemangler
@Matt McIrvin: While I was watching Walker, I suddenly realized who he reminded me of.
He looked like a young cop who would shoot an unarmed black motorist in the back of the head, and then claim self defense. He looked like a mugshot of a young cop who would get some paid time off, an acquittal, and then some desk duty.
Gimlet
@Hal:
Schmidt meanwhile insisted the President was wrong in saying the only alternative was military action, which always leads me to ask; if not diplomacy then why wouldn’t the only option be military action?
I think he favors even tougher sanctions, then a better negotiated deal due to bargaining from strength.
MattF
@Morzer: And Javits was, of all things, a Republican. But he was honest about it– the line at the Democratic party’s door was too long for him.
Germy Shoemangler
@shell:
Yes. Last year my neighbors were having a yard party. I was in my own yard sipping a beer. I could hear bits of their conversation. One guy was a loudmouth, so I got every word. He was going on and on about illegal immigrants coming over and raping everybody. The rest of the guests murmured their agreement.
This was about a year before Trump’s pronouncement.
So yes, it’s on the wingnutz minds. They probably would never say it to me (I’m one of those swarthy males that the blonde scarecrow warned about) but I could hear them in their “quiet” yard.
redshirt
I am so very, very tired of Israel.
redshirt
@Redshift: I thought Planned Parenthood was the Goldstein of this election? The ACORN of 2016?
Kropadope
Excuses, excuses
NotMax
@redshirt
Small (practically non-existent) consolation, but no Israelis cook bacon on a gun barrel.
Paul in KY
@Morzer: Put me down for $200
Germy Shoemangler
@redshirt:
I got the feeling from Ben Carson that HRC/Obama were the Goldsteins, because of their saul alinsky/progressive scheme to destroy the country. They literally want to destroy the country!
He sounded like the comments section of the online version of my local newspaper.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: Yea and I probably should have called the guy who installed it (who, BTW, came out on a service call on xmas day and didn’t charge us) but the HVAC crew that did the ductwork for the addition were handy so I called them. Anyway they are just about done and I can’t wait to see the bill for the patch and R22.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven:
And sometimes it’s just easier to pay a little extra. I do it too.
Honus
@OzarkHillbilly: I’m interested in what you do for a living and if you have ever made a mistake or an omission. I was a carpenter for 18 years and when you have 4 or 5 trades working on a structure, these things happen. Also, often they are repaired at the contractors expense. Very few other professions refund fees when they are mistaken or unsuccessful.
Oatler.
With Schumer you know there’s heavy K street muscle working his mouth. An old “warhorse”.
shell
Liked that little snippet when Ben Carson was detailing all the good he did when he was a neurosurgeon. So why did he leave a profession where he wa s actually doing some good, for this nonsense?
boatboy_srq
If there were such a thing as a responsible Republican party, I’d vote for Schumer to join it.
As it is, it’s hard to decide whether Schumer is worth supporting for his grudging Dem votes, or whether a solid primary opponent wouldn’t be good for him, NY and the US.
MattF
@boatboy_srq: Yeah, I’d say that the line in Schumer’s resume that reads “I beat Al D’Amato” has gotten tired.
Betty Cracker
@Matt McIrvin: Trump is at war with Kelly, Luntz and other Fox minions on Twitter. It’s a beautiful thing.
beltane
@boatboy_srq: A solid primary opponent would be welcome. Unlike Lieberman, I don’t think Schumer would ever threaten to caucus with the Republicans. He knows perfectly well that he can be of much more use to his backers in a leadership role in the Democratic party. The last thing AIPAC wants is for the unequivocal support of Netanyahu to be a Republicans-only position.
beltane
@Betty Cracker: They will not be able to shut Trump up. He is not a team player and he owes Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes absolutely nothing.
Aaron Morrow
Does he still want to be Senate Democratic Leader? As a Democrat, I think there’s still time to push for Murray and other Democratic Senators to switch to Durbin.
OzarkHillbilly
@Honus: Union carpenter, did it for 35 years, and yes I made mistakes. And when I did, I had to fix them. Especially as a cub. And as you noted,
And when they do, the person responsible has to fix them, we don’t get to blame some other trade for our mistakes because, as in Raven’s case, it is pretty G-damn obvious who fvcked up. And if you fvck up often enuf, you get gone. Quickly. Especially if you are a journeyman. Just like if you can’t put out the production. If you can’t justify the $50+/hr compensation, you are gone.
I can only assume you mean something other than the trades, cause in the STL you don’t get final payment until the relevant inspectors have signed off on it, and if for instance, a pipe joint starts leaking 3 months after job completion you can be damn sure that plumber is coming back to fix it.
I do not know of your experience but around here construction is pretty damned Darwinian.
bcw
Of course, we got the other side of the Kabuki from Schumer on the Trans Pac partnership fast track where he “voted against” the fastrack but after quietly negotiating the deal that prevented it from dying in the Senate committee. The man is slime.
Germy Shoemangler
MediaMatters headline:
MomSense
I think Schumer knew it was a dick move which is why he made his announcement when everyone was looking at the Republican spectacular last night. Schumer looooves to have all the cameras and attention focused on him.
japa21
@Gimlet: Of course, the problem there is that for any sanctions to be truly effective, they would have to be agreed to by the other countries. And we were about to lose support for even the sanctions that do exist, so if we tried for tougher sanctions, everyone else would drop theirs and laugh at us, as would Iran.
kindness
Screw Chuckie. I will never give him a dime.
rdldot
@OzarkHillbilly: You were working in a place where ‘union’ still meant something of value. And quality work. When I go back to STL I am still surprised that being part of a union is something that people are proud of, and something that others still respect. And the quality of work is very obvious. I think most right-to-work states just don’t remember what that was worth.
Hal
@Gimlet: Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea. Sanctions don’t work. The US and other powerful western nations use sanctions against smaller, more vulnerable countries and all they seem to do is punish the citizens. How many Iraqis starved to death under sanctions? Saddam Hussein did just fine in the meantime. Now all of sudden the US should have tightened sanctions and viola! Iran would have ultimately become a utopia.
beltane
Tammy Baldwin just announced she is voting in favor of the agreement: http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/baldwin-statement-in-support-of-iran-nuclear-agreement
bystander
When Schumer was in the House (not repping my district), he voted for DOMA. It was at that point that I decided I would never vote for him if he ran for the Senate. He’s a jerk, and I will never vote for him.
colby
I agree with this analysis of the outcome, but Schumer is still being a dick about it. And long-term, it’s only going to do damage for himself. Even setting aside the fact that he’s just upped his chances of facing a leadership challenge considerably, AIPAC is just going to whipsaw him again on the next Israel issue. If he’d broken with them here, he’d have clear independence from now on.
beltane
@bystander: Yes, he was a loathsome POS even back then. My boyfriend back in the late 1980s grew up in Schumer’s district and had nothing good to say about him. He used to joke about how he could win that seat simply by virtue of his Jewish name and by spouting platitudes about Israel. He was probably right.
RaflW
@Matt McIrvin: She’s also 48 years old, so we could, in theory, have 16 sequential years of a woman president. 56 seems like a perfect age to run — not that Hillary is too old this time, or even Biden (though I still think he won’t run unless Clinton implodes), but Gillibrand is smart to wait.
RaflW
@JMG: What I can’t stand is that Schumer is likely to be the next Senate Dem leader. Horrible.
WereBear
Very true. In Florida, a place I suspect helped invent the practice of picking up workers who are standing in front of Home Depot, the wingnuts just rage about contractors because… well, they just rage about everything.
See, their religion and their political party both give them ways to completely shut down thinking. So they never have to worry about that ebil, libril, side of their brain at all.
beltane
@RaflW: That’s what bothers me the most. He is not a lone wolf like Lieberman, he is close to being the Democratic leader of the Senate. Big difference.
Cacti
Schumer is a loathsome warmonger.
It was for that reason I had hoped that Dick Durbin or Patty Murray would be the next Dem Senate leader.
Betty Cracker
@beltane: That’s a fair point. I’d love to see some fallout on this for Schumer’s leadership ambitions, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Maybe they’ll surprise us, but I ain’t holding my breath…
redshirt
@RaflW:
Oh, what a nice dream this is. I hope it comes true!
Betty Cracker
@RaflW:
Then we’d only need 222 more years to catch up! ;-)
D58826
@MomSense: Somebody should remind these folks, esp. the super patriots, which constitution they swore allegiance to. If they want to represent Israel, well there are planes leaving every day for Tel Aviv.
LanceThruster
ZOG POG.
MomSense
@D58826:
I agree with you. I also think that the Iran deal is in Israel’s best interest as do former heads of Mossad, IDF, and others.
dmbeaster
@Gimlet:
If he actually said or believes this, then he is more of a moron than I thought. What Obama did was get even tougher sanctions, and then got the best deal from those sanctions.
What these unilateral “who needs stinkin’ allies’ jokers don’t understand is that the only sanctions that have worked have been international sanctions. Tougher American sanctions would have no effect since they were already pretty much maxed out when Obama took office, and to that point in time had no meaningful effect.
We cannot unilaterally impose tougher international sanctions, and nixing the current deal means the international community is going to lift the international sanctions anyway without our participation in the deal. They think the deal is a good one, and they are on board with our sanctions regime only if it results in a realistic treaty — not if the demand if for something they do not support (i.e., quasi-regime change deals, which is what these guys insist is the only acceptable “treaty”).
Paul in KY
@MomSense: Would be nice if we could get those guys to come over & testify to that.
MomSense
@Paul in KY:
I know! They have made public statements but I don’t think our journamalists are interested in facts or debunking misinformation.
D58826
@dmbeaster: What these folks don’t realize is the US is no longer the 800 pound gorilla surrounded by a bunch of hamsters. The Chinese along with India, Brazil, Russia, Singapore and a few other emerging economies are planning on building a financial structure to compete with the IMF and World Bank. Among other things they plan on crating an international exchange system that does not depend on the US dollar. China is planning on spending billions of dollars to build a 21st century version of the Silk Road to tie the Eurasian economies together. In the meantime the US Congress can only reauthorize the highway trust fund for three months. Even the long term Senate plan depends on the robbing Peter to pay Paul funding for three years.
What does this have to do with the Iran deal? Well China views Iran as an important player is this new economic structure. Iran has the oil and access to the Persian Gulf and is a major trading partner with China. Even with sanctions the Chinese are doing a couple of hundred billion dollars a year in trade with Iran. The Chinese and the Russians are working together on this new world plan so they are not about to buy into ‘crippling’ sanctions that brings the Iranian economy to its knees. As these economic plans develop there will be greater security arrangements as well. At some point in the not to distant future a US/Israeli air attack would bring Russia into the war.
I’m sure that Obama and the state/treasury/defense departments are all aware of this going on in the background even if the American Congress/public isn’t. There have been a couple of articles in ALJazerra/US and Salon going into these developments in a good bit of detail. Most of the US press is more concerned with the Kardashians.
Then again since so much of the GOP Christian base is convinced the end of the world is near maybe a major war in the middle east is just what to want.
patrick II
If this is kabuki, I don’t like it:
I have this theory than democracy is best served by the truth. This is not the truth, or even a close call, diplomacy is better than war, and giving lie to such an essential building block to a peaceful way forward by such an important democratic leader performing kabuki is a betrayal of his country and democratic principles — and by doing so is giving credibility to the arguments of the neocons who want war. The republicans should not have cover for their lies and war mongering.
And if it isn’t kabuki, it is even worse. He is in thrall of Netenyahu and the Israeli right, who like the neocons here, who see the only relationship between them and potential adversaries as total obeisance by force as necessary.
Sherparick
Republicans and Democratic Congress critters may like sounding tough and calling Iranians names, but they really don’t want to responsible for any resulting unpleasantness. Just let them know that if this deal is voted down and there is a war, you will remember who is to blame.
https://60daystostopawar.com/events/
Sherparick
The lonely Daniel Larison at the American Conservative fists the latest immoral eruption from David Brooks championing a war that will kill millions and cursing the Kenyan Usurper for frustrating his and his neocon friends designs.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/brooks-fanatical-case-against-the-nuclear-deal/
Elizabelle
JCole has a fresh Schumer thread up (“Dead to Me”).
Here are Schumer’s office numbers. I just called Rochester; got right through, expressed my displeasure and why, and told staffer I would be sure to call my Senators, Kaine and Warner, and request they vote against Schumer for any leadership posts.
FWIW, Syracuse went straight to voicemail.
Albany Office: Phone: (518) 431-4070
Fax: (518) 431-4076
Binghampton Office: Phone: (607) 772-6792
Fax: (607) 772-8124
Buffalo Office: Phone: (716) 846-4111
Fax: (716) 846-4113
Melville Office: Phone: (631) 753-0978
Fax: (631) 753-0997
NYC office: Phone: (212) 486-4430
Fax: (202) 228-2838
Peekskill Office: Phone: (914) 734-1532
Fax: (914) 734-1673
Rochester Office: Phone: (585) 263-5866
Fax: (585) 263-3173
Syracuse Office: Phone: (315) 423-5471
Fax: (315) 423-5185
Washington DC Office: Phone: (202) 224-6542
Fax: (202) 228-3027
Tree With Water
It is insulting to democratic voters to expect them to decipher the nuances of congressional ‘kabuki’. And tell me, was it kabuki when Shumer stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Bush-Cheney in their plot to wage war? Fact is, after that I began taking note of everything about Schumer, and I don’t like what I’ve seen- and there’s nothing theatrical about that fact.