Kerry: GOP Letter 'Unprecedented' Half-Baked Act of a Rookie

If Iran is waiting for America's top diplomat to apologize for the Republican senators' letter heard 'round the Beltway, well, don't hold your breath. Asked that question this morning on CBS News, John Kerry responded, "not on your life. I'm not going to apologize for the unconstitutional, un-thought-out action by somebody who's been in the United States Senate for 60-something days (primary author Tom Cotton)." He continued: "The effect and the intent of the author was to basically say, 'Don't do this deal.' It's like giving people a grade on a test before the test is even written, let alone given. It's wrong, it's unprecedented, and I hope it hasn't made it very difficult here."

Similarly unapologetic is one of the letter's signers, Mitch McConnell, who tells CNN that Kerry has developed a "good case of selective outrage"—he claims that as a senator, Kerry himself met with Daniel Ortega, a noted thorn in the side of then-President Reagan. The larger point, McConnell says, is that the White House is about to cut "a very bad deal with one of the worst regimes in the world. We're alarmed about it, a number of Democrats are alarmed about it—we will be acting." The brouhaha over the letter, he says, is just "a distraction away from the point here." (More John Kerry stories.)