"By now it's pretty clear who hates the agreement"

The opening sentence was good enough to steal for a post title. And here's one of them: the representative from the great state of Israel, Bibi.

 "There are many things to be done to stop Iran's aggression and this deal is not one of them," he said on CBS.

Don't believe he mentioned any, but continued sanctions and/or heavy use of bombs comes to mind as probables. 

But what he's been light on is offering realistic alternatives.

I just told you. CSM brings up what I have been continually wondering about.

Even if Israeli pressure can convince enough members of Congress to not only vote against the deal, but provide a veto-proof two-thirds majority, that would leave Israel and the US alone on the issue. The other major parties to the agreement - China, Russia, Germany, France, and the UK - are not only united in support for the deal but are unlikely to come on board for a new sanctions regime as tough if it falls through.

I believe there are 190 countries on the face of the planet, excepting the US and Iran. What happens if a fair number of them decide they don't care about the wishes of our right wing nuts in Congress? Are we going to sanction all of them for trading with Iran?

Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-Israeli who teaches at the Interdisciplinary Center in Heziliya, has doubts about the agreement, but also sees positives.

"The leaders of Israel have every right to voice their concerns over the current deal. Even the opposition is concerned about it. But the deal’s restrictions on Iran mean that the breakout time needed to make a nuclear weapon has been pushed back to a year. Without the deal it would be two to three month.”

Or take Uzi Even, an Iranian nuclear physicist who worked at the country's Dimona reactor. "The deal was written by nuclear experts and blocks every path I know to the bomb. The Iranians may be celebrating, but they have in fact swallowed a very bitter pill, more so than they would like to let on," he writes. " In simple terms, a violation of the deal will lead to new sanctions on Iran, hence my confusion regarding the staunch resistance inspired by this deal, especially among non-radical elements in Israeli politics."

Thank you.

And yes, Elise Stefanik does not like the deal.  

Obama Says, “Piss Off, Xenophobes!”

Close enough, anyway.

"As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country," Obama said, weighing in for the first time on a controversy that has riven New York City and the nation.

"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said. "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."

Good for him. And in a spirit of bi-partisanship, I actually think either of the Bushes or Reagan would have said essentially the same thing.