“Where is Chuck? Kill this Deal? “ at the Times Square Rally to Stop Iran Now!

Times Square Stop Iran Now Rally, July 22, 2015

Source: New York Post

Yesterday , a crowd estimated at upwards of 12,000 showed up at  Times Square Rally to Stop Iran Now!  Organized by Jeff Weisenfeld of JCCWatch.org the crowd heard notable pro-American and Israel  speakers address why the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) announced in Vienna and Washington  a week ago is a “very bad deal”.  Over and over again, we heard cries of “Where is Chuck: Kill the Deal”, a reference to New York  Senator Charles “Chuck” Schumer, who will replace Nevada Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.  Senator Schumer has ducked  reporters questions about his position on the Iran nuclear pact. The New York Post wrote about the Times Square Rally  and Schumer’s reticent responses following a meeting with other Democrat Senators in Washington, Tuesday evening, Thousands protest Iran nuke deal in Times Square:

Thousands of protesters flooded Times Square Wednesday to rally against President Obama’s controversial Iran nuclear arms deal.

[…]

Protesters repeatedly booed mentions of Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and also turned their wrath on US Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), who has yet to take a position on the agreement.

“Where is Chuck? Kill this deal!” the crowd chanted at one point during the three-hour event.

Schumer was at the Capitol in DC for a Senate briefing by Secretary of State John Kerry, who helped broker the Iran accord.

“I’ve read the agreement and I’m seeking answers to the many questions I have. Before I make a decision, I’m going to speak at length with experts on both sides,” Schumer said in a statement issued ahead of the protest.

Schumer emerged from the meeting at about 6 p.m., telling reporters: “It’s a serious issue and I’m studying it carefully.”

On Monday The Post published ten questions for Senator Schumer to answer:

1. Did you have any input into the Iran nuclear deal? If you did, how much of the deal reflects your advice?

2. The deal lifts the conventional-weapons embargo on Iran after five years and the missiles embargo after eight years, or even earlier. Are you comfortable with that — and with the conventional weapons being included in a nuclear agreement?

3. Do you still stand by your April statement: “I strongly believe Congress should have the right to disapprove any agreement?” How do you feel about the administration asking the United Nations to weigh in on the deal before Congress gets to vote?

4. International inspectors can enter Iranian military bases under the agreement, but only after a process that can take up to 24 days. Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu said the timeline makes this a joke and it’s like giving a drug dealer 24 days before inspecting his meth lab. Do you agree?

5. President Obama has conceded that Iran has “missiles that are pointed towards Tel Aviv.” How could you support an agreement with a nation that wants to wipe out Israel? Can you assure your constituents that Israel doesn’t have to worry as a result of this pact?

6. Should the US have made any deal with a nation subsidizing terrorist organizations in several countries?

7. Do you view the deal as a “conscience vote” in Congress, or do you think it’s your role to get Democrats to support the president? Or, perhaps, do you have to support the president in order to become the next Senate Democratic leader?

8. Do you accept Obama’s logic that he had to separate the hostages from the talks in order to avoid giving Iran leverage?

9. On a scale of 1 to 100, how much faith do you have that Iran will abide by the deal?

10. The president said the only alternative to this deal was war. Do you agree? Why not sanctions?

Among the noteworthy speakers at the Stop Iran Now Times Square rally were venerable 95 year old former Manhattan District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau, Jr., author of  a Wall Street Journal op ed that was a veritable brief against the JCPOA, “Obama Ignores the Tehran-Terror Connection.”  Two  exceptional speakers were Caroline Glick , Jerusalem Post,  deputy managing editor, and Florida former Congressman Allen West.  Glick provided what Dr. Robert Sklaroff of Philadelphia told me were highly effective “bullets”- arguments against the Iran nuclear deal.   Allen West gave an emotion-packed rouser that made the connections between the threats to the US and Israel.   

Watch Caroline Glick on this YouTube Video of her speech at the Stop Iran Now Rally:

Watch Allen West on this YouTube Video of his speech at the Stop Iran Now Rally:

This morning the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee is holding a televised public hearing with Secretary of State Kerry, Secretary of Energy former MIT Professor Ernest Moniz and Treasury Secretary Lew.  Watch it live here and see the exchange between Members of the Committee and the panel on the Iran nuclear pact