Apropos of my post from Saturday, I should point out that on Meet the Press yesterday, Lindsey Graham appeared to put the Man Who Would Kill Immigration Reform in the closet — at least for now:

SEN. GRAHAM: Well, I’m just being honest. I’m going to work with Chuck Schumer to come up with legislation to control China’s manipulation of their currency. I will keep working with Chuck on immigration. But here’s the effect, immigration’s tough. You don’t have to ask anybody other than me to tell you that. It is a tough heavy lift. The president promised to pass an immigration reform bill in his first year. They’ve done almost nothing in the White, White House on immigration. We’ve been absorbed by health care. People are risk averse. If a moderate Democrat got a phone call from the president, he wants you to come down to the White House and help him with immigration now, most of them would jump out the window. That’s just the truth. I will continue to work with Chuck, but immigration is a heavy lift. We haven’t done the things necessary to bring the body together, and 16 Democrats voted against immigration reform. This idea that I would be the 60th vote on immigration, climate change could not be further from the truth. Tough sledding lies ahead because of the, the acrimony around health care. But on financial regulations we’ll get a bill. I hope it’s a good bill, not some liberal bill with a few, a few Republicans.MR. GREGORY: Senator…

SEN. GRAHAM: I look forward to working with Chuck.

Of course, even though Graham’s eliminating any ambiguity as to whether he’ll be the one walking away from negotiations over the bill, he’s still pushing the descriptive, passive, vague narrative that “it is a tough heavy lift.” His explanations as to why it’s so impossible make no sense — as Schumer pointed out later in the program, the most immediate political obstacle to the bill isn’t getting support from moderate Democrats, it’s finding a second Republican cosponsor. But as long as Graham’s just making an argument that looks descriptive, even if it materially hurts the chances for reform, he’s not being obstructionist; he’s just being hard-headed and realistic. That’s how Washington works.

Permadisclaimer: my opinions about immigration politics and policy are entirely my own and are in no way associated with my employer or any other organization. Likewise, my taste in music is entirely my own and is in no way associated with the proprietor of this blog.