<blockquote>If this is what passes for foreign policy thinking among top Republicans, the party is in a very bad way. I suspect there are Republican office holders who hold alternate views—including those that understand Iran as a complicated country in a mellowing phase a generation and a half after a tumultous revolution, one which probably can be dealt with on a rational basis, as we now deal with Russia and China. But they are almost completely silent. In the vacuum, the Mark Kirks represent the brand of the GOP. Making ignorant and belligerent comments about Iran has now become a form of Republican electioneering.</blockquote>
via <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/mark-kirk-foreign-policy-voice-of-the-gop/">Mark Kirk, Foreign Policy Voice of the GOP | The American Conservative</a>.