Obama falls BELOW 50% Approval - Gallup

Gallup: Reports that President Obama's approval rating has dropped to 47%, while those that have a negative view of Obama is at 46%. One has to ask does POTUS want a second term, he is no Reagan, one gets the feeling that he would rather take the Democratic Party over the cliff in the first term and fail at re-election. Has the USA elected another Jimmy Carter but worse. Poll after Poll has shown that Obama has lost the Independents, its easy to get them and lose them, its a lot harder to get them to come back, the Liberal Reagan that was seen in 08 has turned in to a combination of Carter/Mondale, and they both got crush when running for re-election in 1980 and when Mondale was the candidate in 1984.

100 Dead in Afghanistan this YEAR

MOD: Reports that a soldier has been killed in Afghanistan, the soldier was from " The Royal Anglian Regiment ". Thus before the end of the year the UK has lost 100 of its Armed Forces Personnel in Afghanistan. In total since 2001 the UK has lost 237 of its Armed Forces Personnel in Afghanistan, of that total it has lost 206 in combat operations and another 31 due to illness, accidents or other incidents.

The Abortion Vote - US Senate

Washington Examiner: Reports on a crucial Abortion vote in the US Senate today, if it passes it keeps Conservative Democrats on board for health reform but at the cost of liberal Democrats, if it fails Conservative Democrats could block the Health Care Reform. This could be the major vote folks, if Liberals win the moderate and Conservative Democrats in the House could bolt to oppose the Bill. Let see how good a politician Obama is when it comes to the trenches of vote getting on the Hill.

Shots in Tehran - Iran

BBC News: Reports on shots being fired at protesters in Tehran. Lets be clear here folks, the regime in Tehran will use the nuclear card to stay in power, they have to in many respects, they need the UN to pass hard and tough sanctions, then they can come down hard on those that are opposed to the regime. The question is how far the regime will go, does it want a War with Israel or the United States, that the one way to make sure that the regimes stays in power. Thus the clock is ticking as to has fast the regime will fall before it goes nuclear, and stated yesterday all politics is local, can the pressure from the UN and the USA push the regime out before it goes nuclear or before it starts a war in the region.

The Obama Surge in Afghanistan - THE BACKGROUND

The New York Times: Has a report on process that lead to the Obama surge in Afghanistan. The process took to long, thinking through a problem does not equate with taking a long time, in 1976 Reagan had a simple answer to the question of the USSR and the relationship with the USA, the President stated, " We win they lose ", Obama is to much of windbag to get that simple message. That the problem when you elect an academic to be President, Woodrow Wilson was also an academic and look at the mistake he made at the end of the World War One, he was stubborn and would not deal withe Senate, thus the League of Nations didn't have the power to prevent World War Two. Read of the Day.

The Game of Iran

RCP: Interesting article on an academic role playing on how to deal with Iran next year, Iran wins of course as a result. I think from reading the article that the players missed one sore point, if Israel was to hit Iran Obama could not do a Suez of 1956, when the Ike was critical of UK and French action in Egypt, the Israeli lobby is powerful on the Hill, also there are the Obama poll ratings, guess witch side the US voter would support, Iran or Israel, yes you got it folks, Israel. Thus Obama would have to come out and support the move and warn Iran that should they take action then the USA would support Israel. If Obama was slow the Congress would demand that he takes action, lets recall its the Mid Term Congressional Elections next year in the USA, who in the Hill wants to be in the bad books of the Israeli Lobby. As an old Democratic politician used to say, all politics is local, and Obama might have the Nobel Peace Prize but Israel might have the votes on the Hill and the will to attack Iran.

Health Care Reform in TROUBLE

Bloomberg.com: Reports that POTUS is going back to the Hill to keep health care reform on the road, the problem is the public option and opposition from Conservative Democrats to any government funding of abortion. This blog is split on these two issues, when it comes to the public option it can be argued that it will bankrupt the USA, costs in health never go down, also older Americans will see their benefits cut as to help those with no insurance. On abortion, this blog support the rights women to choose, and that the costs should be meet by some measure by the US Government. Lets see how good a politician President Obama is, can he get the 60 votes needed to end debate and get a vote in the Senate before the end of the year.