John McCain must have a very different definition of “wrecking ball” than the rest of us:

Senator John McCain said Thursday he is “very disappointed” with the Obama Administration – and especially Secretary of State John Kerry – on the issue of nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Kerry is “a good friend of mine,” McCain said. But when it comes to Iran, “this guy has been a human wrecking ball.”

Normally, this would mean that Kerry has done something to wreck the negotiations, but that wasn’t what happened it is obviously wouldn’t be what bothers McCain if it had. When it was reported that France was responsible for delaying the deal in Geneva, McCain was among the first to celebrate, because he plainly doesn’t want the U.S. to agree to anything. His preferred terms for a deal are so maximalist that Iran would never accept them, and that’s not an accident.

Based on his other remarks, I assume McCain means here is that Kerry has not done enough to placate hard-liners in Congress. Then again, hard-liners in Congress are the only ones in the U.S. currently threatening to wreck negotiations by insisting on adding more sanctions, and giving them what they want would very likely sabotage the talks. In other words, McCain is put out that Kerry is not indulging hard-liners in their attempt to wreck his diplomatic efforts. Kerry’s record of diplomacy so far this year may leave a lot to be desired, but it is a sign that Kerry has been doing something right if McCain and his allies are so frustrated with it.