START: HAVE THE REPUBLICANS COMPLETEY LOST THEIR MINDS?

From Bob Park's What's New:

Here's the picture: It's been 20 years since the Cold War ended, but thousands of thermonuclear warheads, still reside in Russia and the US under conditions of questionable security. How many megatons does it take to counter the threat from Iran and North Korea? Meanwhile, armies of religious fanatics dream of the glory of being the first nuclear suicide bomber. It would seem to be a sensible plan to reduce the number of these things, but the Republicans seem to be in no hurry to ratify the agreement. There is always danger in delaying international agreements; windows have a way of closing in response to unrelated incidents. We knew Jesse Helms (Senator No) was dangerous; he enjoyed blocking progress. Jesse went to his reward seven years ago. Now we are finding that the Republicans are all crazy. Their sole objective seems to be blocking Obama.

As I understand this, the treaty under discussion is a first step that would make modest reductions in the number of warheads but significantly improve relations with Russia. It has been discussed at length between the White House and Republican senators, and at there request would be accompanied by a large budget to maintain U.S. nuclear capacity. Many international leaders have asked that the Senate ratify the treaty.

So I agree strongly with physicist Bob Park.