Containment - Iran

The New York Times: Reports on US policy towards Iran should it get the nuclear bomb, the Obama Administration has stressed that it will never allow a nuclear armed Iran but as the article states, " the administration races to add antimissile systems and a naval presence in the Gulf........ sure looks like the building blocks of a nuclear containment policy...". The one issue that the article fails to deal with is the fact that another actor has a veto on any containment policy, that is Israel. The Israeli Government does not care if Obama wants or does not want to contain Iran, if Iran becomes a threat to Israel then Israel will take action and Obama will have to life with the consequences, he does not get a veto when it comes to Israeli security. Also the idea of containment is based on a false assumption, that assumption is that Iran is stable, like the old USSR, buts lets recall the August Coup of 1991, thus it can be argued Iran is not stable given the recent protests in the streets. One can postulate that one day the opposition in Iran will get its act together and you have mass protests on the streets of Tehran, the Regime having developed the bomb has to divert attention or they will be hanging from the nearest yard arm, thus one can see a 3am call to Obama to tell him that Israel is under threat from a nuclear attack, that how stable Iran is at the present. Thus folks containment was a policy for a different era, this era requires military action by either the USA or Israel.

Blue Dog Democrats and 2010

LA Times: Reports on the political pressures on blue dog Democrat Jason Altmire, the liberal LA Times states the following, " Because as Jason Altmire goes, so goes the nation -- at least when it comes to the Democrats' quest for health care reform. ". The Congressman faces a problem, the pressure from the liberal leadership in the House and his Conservative District, Speaker Pelosi has stated that members in Congress should risk their political futures and vote for HCR. As stated it can be postulated that the Speaker has the votes already to get HCR through, Pelosi would not be foolish to risk a loss, the real question is does she want to make the victory look good, thus Congressman Altmire should ask himself if Speaker Pelosi has the votes why should he risk his political career just to make the Speaker look good to the liberal base. Thus its safe for Rep. Altmire to vote NO as Pelosi has the votes already to pass HCR.

Obama the Liberal Reagan ?

Newsweek: Advice from Eleanor Clift on how President Obama can turn the polls around before the Mid Term Congressional Elections of 2010. The most basic advice to Democrats is the following, " they must hang together or assuredly they will all hang separately. " The one point Ms Clift is missing from her advice is the fact that Reagan got Democratic support in Congress for his Agenda, thus it was harder for Democrats to attack the President since he had managed to peel off members from the House to support his Agenda. In the case of health care reform President Obama does not have a single Republican vote in the the House or Senate. Thus in the Mid Terms moderate and conservative Democrats will have to fight on the Agenda that has only Democratic support and cant balance the blame on Republicans. As with LBJ, Reagan was a good manager of Congress, he knew how to be pragmatic, the problem for Obama is that he thinks he walks on water, thus when the House passes HCR he will be blamed if Congress is lost to the Republicans. That is why Obama is no Reagan.

The Left and Bush 43

Daily Beast: A review by Paul Begala a Democrat of the memoirs of Karl Rove, a close aide of Bush 43. The review is highly critical and partisan. Read this review to see how much hatred there is of Bush 43 by the American left, even Richard Nixon these days gets more respect and the left hated Nixon. It was Mr Rove that got Bush 43 elected in 2000 over Al Gore, the Vice - President to President Clinton, and got Bush 43 re-elected in 2004 over Senator John Kerry. It can be postulated that Mr Rove is the best political strategist over the Century.

Do they have the VOTES in the House ? - HCR

The Hill: Reports the following on the search for votes by Speaker Pelosi, " Sources on and off Capitol Hill say the Speaker is playing from behind and needs time to make her case to her caucus. ". The Speaker would not be daft to go to the floor for health care reform if she didn't have the votes, thus this is a game of smoking mirrors, the strategy is to get well over 216 votes to pass HCR so it looks like a clear victory. As stated HCR will pass by around 2 to 3 votes, thus time to look at the Mid Term Congressional Elections of 2010 and how the passing of HCR will effect the Democratic Party. The next few days is about the murky process of making the Speaker look good to her Party, but HCR will pass, the Speaker is a ideologue but not a foolish politician.