GOP Sanity? Oh No - We Can't Have That!

It's clear that the sanity expressed by Former Secretary of State James Baker on Israel and Iran that I wrote about yesterday has posed a bit of a problem for Jeb Bush. The so-called "establishment candidate" is already in trouble with the Republican base for his lackluster demonization of Common Core and his position on immigration reform. So it should come as no surprise that today the latest Bush candidate for president had to respond to Baker's speech with an op-ed in the National Review.

Jeb didn't really say anything noteworthy in his commentary. It contains all of the usual distortions about President Obama's actual positions and policies as well as being completely devoid of alternatives. But I have to say that this sentence is particularly absurd coming from someone named Bush.

And Iraq continues to fall further under Iran’s orbit — a surrender of American influence and an insult to the troops and commanders who sacrificed mightily to stabilize that country.

Of course Jeb wants us to blame that on Obama and completely forget that it was his bother's decision to force regime change in Iraq that installed a Shia government led by Iran-friendly Nouri al-Maliki - whose suppression of Sunnis is what led to the formation of ISIS in Iraq.

But nevermind...Jeb has a presidential campaign to run. Appealing to Republican sanity has become a losing proposition.