Senators' "excuses" for signing the letter are as absurd and outrageous as the letter itself

John McCain offered the lame "I sign a lot of letters" explanation for why he signed the now infamous Letter to Iran, apparently meaning he doesn't give much thought to what's put in front of him to sign.   Besides, he says, everyone was in a hurry that afternoon to get out of town before the snowstorm hit.     If they had any doubts, some perhaps saw that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had signed, so what could be wrong . . . ?

How is it possible that in the United States Senate something that could scuttle the delicate negotiations with a potential nuclear enemy could be given so little thought by so many U. S. Senators?   Those who did give it some thought, we now know, meant it as a deliberate act to achieve exactly that.

Now Rand Paul has said something completely non-sensical, telling Matt Lauer on the Today show that he did it "to strengthen the president's hand" in the negotiations.   That's what he said.  I saw the video clip.   It was with a completely straight face, not even a whiff of irony.  

Michael Gerson, columnist at Washington Post and former speech writer for President George W. Bush, wrote:

"This was a foreign policy maneuver, in the middle of a high-stakes negotiation, . . .  [and they gave it] all the gravity and deliberation of a blog posting.   In timing, tone and substance, it raises questions about the Republican majority’s capacity to govern."

It seems that this huge, largely thoughtless, blunder is not going to fade away -- and it should not.   Their feet should be held to the fire of their own making -- all the way to the voting booths in November 2016.

Ralph