1) From the New York Times, “Iran Reports Missile Test, Drawing Rebuke” by Alan Cowell. This piece is actually datelined July 10 – it’s like peering into the future! Naturally, the presidential candidates responded to Iran’s claim of testing missiles that can reach Israel. John McCain offered sober bluntness, appreciating the threat and calling for missile defense systems. As for Barack Obama, he ignored my freely (and I daresay) charitably given advice that he refrain from public pronouncements when a teleprompter isn’t available to guide him. On the Today Show, Obama first highlighted the need “to gather up all the necessary intelligence.” As others have noted, this is one instance where intelligence is hardly necessary since Iran’s tests and its subsequent claims were executed in a highly public fashion. Perhaps he’s just getting in the habit of making sure he has “all the necessary intelligence” before ordering the Joint Chiefs into action.
Later in the interview, Obama observed, “It’s in nobody’s interest, including Iran’s, I believe, to have a nuclear weapon that could trigger a nuclear arms race in the region.” Note that Obama wants to view Iranian desires through the prism of his own thought process. This comment makes as much sense as saying in the late 1920’s , “It’s in nobody’s interest, including Stalin’s, to launch a massive collectivization plan that will kill millions of his own citizens.” I’ve written before that Obama is an astonishingly inside-the-box thinker. Combine that characteristic with his oft-noted historical illiteracy, and the result is a remarkable inability to appreciate the fact that other global actors have entirely different values and interests than his own. It’s swell that Obama doesn’t believe that it’s in Iran’s interest to have a nuclear weapon. Too bad the mullahs won’t give him a vote. (Video of Obama stumbling on the Today Show without a teleprompter from HotAir.com) 2) From Gallup.com, “July Leader Lost in 6 of Last 9 Competitive U.S. Elections” by Lydia Saad Take a gander at the graph:
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