Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) suggested on Meet the Press this morning that the way to deal with Iran and its nuclear program is to push for regime change.
What we're trying to do here eventually is to get a regime change with a group of people in there that are more representative of the Iranian people -- who we really can talk with in a way that might end up with a good result. I think it's very difficult to do that with the current leadership, and especially the elected President.
Kyl also implied that the time for talking with Iran is over -- or should be soon. "At a certain point, talking is counterproductive rather than productive because time is not on our side," he said, adding later that "the carrot approach does not work with these people."
So mark it down. Jon Kyl's plan for Iran: Sticks and regime change.
Late Update: Here's the video.

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CT Voter
September 27, 2009 11:46 AM
Amazing: and especially with the elected President.
Couldn't he even try to appear marginally reasonable by saying that perhaps there were legitimacy issues with the "elected president"? Otherwise, he's quite obviously saying that elections shouldn't have any consequences.
Wait. Where have I heard that before?
Thank you TPM for watching the Sunday Morning blabathons. I don't typically, but this morning, I happened to turn on CNN's Reliable Sources to hear Ed Henry discuss how good CNN coverage actually was, and to hear Howie Kurtz, Ed, Margaret Carlson and some other individual who's name I didn't get criticize David Letterman for asking "softball questions" of President Obama.
Never mind that Letterman asked pretty much the same questions that the so-called actual journalists asked, and never mind that David Letterman is a comedian, not a journalist, for crying out loud! I was amazed at the vacuousness of the segment. CNN should be seriously embarassed.
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Docb
September 27, 2009 3:26 PM in reply to CT Voter
This is as stupid as his 'maternity care' comment..Where do these jerk come from?
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theWalrus
September 27, 2009 12:14 PM
There's a mushroom cloud...for sure.. only this time it's from farts of insanity emanating from Kyl's butt.
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Overreach THIS!
September 27, 2009 12:15 PM
Kyl is telling us, then, that he's an idiot. I had pretty much gathered, to be honest.
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mJJ
September 28, 2009 6:26 PM in reply to Overreach THIS!
Kyl is one of my Senators but he has never been known for playing with a full deck. He is a total ideologue who sat through the 8 year Bush administration with only great praise for the job Bush was doing. Nevertheless, we are daily bombarded with the facts about new problems left to Obama by G. W. Bush. I find it far past amazing that any Republican in my party finds it suitable to criticize Obama when they let the leader of our party off all the time. Those 8 years of time were notable to me because of the constant flow of letters of complaint I sent to President G. W. Bush and other Republicans. So far, I am pleasantly surprised with the quality of the Obama administration. To me he has entered the leadership of the free world by making a good impression on other world leaders and for his rational and thoughtful planning. What a pleasant change!
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VivaAmerica!
September 27, 2009 12:38 PM
WOW!!! Thank goodness these warmongers aren't in charge.
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JimmyBobby
September 27, 2009 1:00 PM
Does this mean Mr. Kyl's offering his child or grandchild to be the first soldier in the ground attack..?
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Kinkistyle
September 27, 2009 1:03 PM
Gates to Sen. Kyl: "Yo mama!"
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army193
September 27, 2009 1:11 PM
Last time we wanted regime change the Congress made clear that no American soldiers would be involved. Then we invaded Iraq. Today the meaning of regime change is declaring war against another country such as Iran.....
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Azdak
September 27, 2009 1:33 PM
"The carrot approach does not work with these people"
Actually I couldn't agree more with Kyl.....
WHEN IT COMES TO REPUBLICANS AND HEALTH CARE!!
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Azdak
September 27, 2009 1:35 PM
Tell you what, Senator...
Before you start advocating for "regime change" somewhere else...
Why don't you guys learn how to manage the country you've already got?
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Desidero
September 27, 2009 2:24 PM
Didn't we just push for regime change back around 2001/2002 and Ahmadinejad is what we got? Careful of rubbing the genie's bottle twice.
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cwnidog
September 27, 2009 3:02 PM
I just can't believe these guys. The two wars we've got now aren't working out so let's start a third, 'cause the third time's the charm?
I bet if his Mom had proper care he wouldn't have been oxygen-starved at birth.
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JohnW1141
September 27, 2009 3:44 PM
"Regime change" is the kind of crap that gets us in trouble around the world. I think we should parachute Kyl into Iran and let him lead the regime change movement already underway.
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lcdrrek
September 27, 2009 6:39 PM
Sen. Kyl:
The time for talking is over? When did we start talking? Don't think this happened in the past 8 years.
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Winski
September 27, 2009 9:01 PM
John Kyl has consistently been one of Chimp/Darth/Rummy's bestest pals so if he gets the chance to pitch a new war, full funding for that war, more money in his pockets thru contractor campaign contributions, and something to satisfy that blood lust all the Neo Nuts have, this is not so hard to imagine....
What's another TRILLION DOLLARS for the military?? Chump change.... Kyl needs to retire... and be gone soon...
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kaylaspop
September 27, 2009 10:29 PM
What's needed is regime change in Arizona!
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jsj20002
September 28, 2009 9:32 AM
Can you believe that David Gregory did not ask about Kyl's opposition to his having to pay for maternity care? If Kyl gets his health insurance from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, he already does pay for female federal employees and female congressional employees to receive maternity care. Between the two of them, I can't tell whether Kyl or Gregory is the bigger idiot.
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