When Joe Moakley is mad as hell, he doesn't much care who knows it. And right now Joe Moakley, dean of the state's congressional delegation, is indeed mad as hell. It has been a long, not very productive session that just won't end. Maybe this week, everyone seems to hope.
Patience is in short supply and frustration is high.
It had passed the House overwhelmingly earlier in the session. It would have opened the way for U.S. companies to sell food and medicine and allowed unrestricted travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens. In addition to being the right thing to do, it made American farmers pleased as punch. But the Republican leadership couldn't or wouldn't leave well enough alone. What reached the president's desk as part of the Agriculture appropriation bill was hardly worth the paper it was printed on.