John quoted liberally from Senator Robert Menendez’s speech opposing the Iran deal yesterday here. Senator Menendez gave the speech before a friendly audience at Seton Hall University’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations. The text of the speech is posted here; video of the speech below (45 minutes).
I think the speech is devastating to the case that Obama et al. have advanced for the Iran deal. The speech deserves close attention on the merits. It is of interest throughout, though I especially appreciated Senator Menendez’s response to certain of Obama’s ad hominem arguments against critics of the deal. He says this near the opening of his speech:
Unlike President Obama’s characterization of those who have raised serious questions about the agreement, or who have opposed it, I did not vote for the war in Iraq, I opposed it, unlike the Vice President and the Secretary of State, who both supported it. My vote against the Iraq war was unpopular at the time, but it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
I also don’t come to this question as someone, unlike many of my Republican colleagues, who reflexively oppose everything the President proposes. In fact, I have supported President Obama, according to Congressional Quarterly, 98 percent of the time in 2013 and 2014. My dear, late mother would have been happy if I had agreed with her 98 percent of the time — and I revered her.
I would only add this. Funny — funny if you have been listening closely to President Obama — Menendez doesn’t look Jewish.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.