Saturday, February 14, 2015

Pennsylvania and Iran: Am I right?

BO: "I'm going to Tehran!"  HRC: "You do that. I'm going to Philly!"
Am I right on Pennsylvania?

Emily Schultheis in the liberal National Journal has written an article, “Hillary Clinton's Play for Pennsylvania” that’s subtitled in part, “Obama lost ground in the traditionally-Democratic state in 2012. But . . . Democrats are confident they will extend their [Keystone state] winning streak.” As with Democrats moving their 2016 presidential nomination convention to Philadelphia, the article itself seems evidence the party has confirmed our recent identification of Pennsylvania’s 2016 “swing state” status.  

Am I right on Obama and Iran?

Seth Mandel, in the conservative Commentary, quotes Barack Obama telling BuzzFeed:
I continue to hold out the prospect of Russia taking a diplomatic offering from what they’ve done in Ukraine. I think, to their credit, they’ve been able to compartmentalize and continue to work with us on issues like Iran’s nuclear program.
Mendel doesn’t directly comment on this odd passage, which tells us once again that Obama is fixated on Iran, and views Russia’s role in the Ukraine from the strange angle of how negotiations there affect “Iran’s nuclear program.”

Mendel does, however, point out that in the BuzzFeed interview, Obama misidentifies Russia’s Vladimir Putin as former head of the Soviet-era KGB (Putin ran the post-Soviet FSB). Mendel adds:
Obama tends to make mistakes that stem from a worldview often at odds with reality. Russia is a good example. Does it matter that Obama doesn’t know the basics of Vladimir Putin’s biography. . . ? Yes, it does, because Obama’s habit of misreading Putin has been at the center of his administration’s failed Russia policy. And it matters with regard not only to Russia but to his broader foreign policy because Obama has a habit of not listening to anyone not named Jarrett. [emphasis added]
Thank you, Seth Mendel. Validation of our speculation that Valerie Jarrett, born in Iran, is a driving force behind Obama’s Iran obsession.

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