National Review’s Jim Geraghty asks an essential question in a recent edition of his Morning Jolt that every member of Congress — not just Republicans — should have to answer: “[W]hat are you willing to do to prevent a mushroom cloud either in the Middle East or closer to home?”

As it pertains to members of the GOP, the proof is in the pudding: The party will prove pusillanimous — unwilling to exhaust every avenue to block an Iran deal disastrous for the entire West.

How do we know this?

Sen. Bob Corker’s Iran legislation in and of itself was a complete and utter abdication of Senatorial prerogative, and perhaps the crowning act of Failure Theater of this Republican Congress.

For a refresher, as Geraghty’s colleague Andrew C. McCarthy noted in April:

[T]he Corker bill undermines the Treaty Clause. The latter puts the onus on Obama to find 67 votes to approve his deal. The Corker bill puts the onus on opponents to find 67 votes to disapprove the deal. The supermajority approval requirement for treaties is in the Constitution because we should not be making lasting agreements with other countries, even allies, unless there is a strong consensus that the arrangement is in the national interest. Corker’s bill turns that presumption on its head, requiring supermajority disapproval for an arrangement with an enemy regime that is plainly not in the national interest. [Emphasis mine]

Would a Republican Congress that already took extreme evasive measures to aid the passage of the Iran Deal — presenting the superficially adversarial Corker Bill to provide it political cover — suddenly now go out of its way to take extreme measures to strike it down?

Politicians must be judged by their deeds, not their words. And as it relates to this Congress, historical acts have proven an accurate gauge of future performance.

The Iran deal, a fait accompli the moment Sen. Corker took control of the Republican “opposition,” should serve as a critical clarifying moment for the American electorate.

Republicans and Democrats are both failing to protect and preserve our Constitution, and with it defend our nation.

P.S. Conversely, if Democrats controlled Congress but not the presidency, and were theoretically staunchly opposed to a policy as momentous as this one, would they not use any and all measures to stop it? The difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Democrats play to win at all times, while Republicans only play to win in Republican primaries.

 

Featured Image Source: YouTube screengrab.