And Mikulski makes 34

It is, I believe, a real shame that we are at this pass, where the Iran nuclear deal, which serious experts almost universally regard as one of the most masterful pieces of international diplomacy in a long time, has faced an almost "Henry Cabot Lodge killing the Versailles pact in 1919"-level hit job in Congress. (Thanks largely to the pro-Netanyahu Right Wing AIPAC lobby; not, please note, pro-Israel; many well informed Israelis, including high level experts in or formerly in Shin Bet and Mossad, recognize that this agreement is in Israel's interests).

I actually agree, in principle, with those, like Rand Paul, who argue that this kind of agreement is really a treaty, and in a functional government, it would easily pass a 2/3 ratification vote (think SALT, which was negotiated with a real potential existential enemy). But in the weird world of Bipolar Politics we live in now, where there is only one rational-actor party, the outcome, now assured by the override proof committed minority in the Senate with Barbara Mikulski's announcement of support, is a salvation. The alternative to this agreement, as every honest analyst knows, is nothing, and the fact that the agreement will now go into effect has to be regarded as dodging a bullet. The last thing this country needs is another goddamned land war in Asia, for crying out loud.