Paul Waldman in the Plum Line makes a very reasonable argument as to why the US-Iran deal won’t be overturned even if the Republicans win the White House in 2017. It is a good argument grounded in reality, practicality, institutional design, economics and diplomacy. It makes sense. However there is one line in the article that sticks in my craw:
That’s a plan so stupid that it’s hard to imagine even the current GOP presidential candidates carrying it out.
The incentive structure for members of the Republican Party is to compete to out-stupid each other. Collectively this may or may not be the optimal incentive for the party as a whole, but that is the individual level incentive.
Don’t bet against extremely dumb beating out somewhat stupid.
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