Will Republicans Oppose Barack Obama's New Arms Treaty?
Barack Obama confirmed the details of a new nuclear arms-reduction treaty with Russia this morning. The agreement is our first major step in arms-reduction since 1991. Now we just need 8 Senate Republicans to vote to ratify it.
And I am sure that'll be easy. Right? What possible problem could the Republicans have with an agreement to reduce our stockpiles of deployed warheads by 30%?
Of course, this represents long overdue action on an issue tackled by both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Arms control treaties have been a broadly bipartisan goal for decades. Which is to say that there will soon be a shitload of pressure from the Fox/activist wing of the Republican party to deny Obama the 67 Senate votes needed to ratify this carefully negotiated treaty. Which will be hilarious! We can't wait to see Tea Party signs about Putin and nukes. Get crackin', patriots!
(But the correct talking points have obviously not yet been finalized: The Corner so far has one completely incomprehensible Bart Stupak joke and no other right-bloggers seem to have come up with a good reason to be outraged yet. Give it time!)