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Marc Lynch of FP suggests that Joe Biden committed "the worst foreign policy blunder of the Obama administration" in seeming to give the green light to an Israeli air strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. "Aggressive pushback" is called for, declares Lynch. Biden needs to "issue a strong clarification immediately"! ... But when you think about it, if you wanted to scare the Iranians without credibly committing the United States, isn't Biden the perfect person for the job? I mean, it's just Joe Biden! He could be actually enunciating Obama administration policy. Or he could be winging it! Or it could be just another gaffe. Who knows? The Iranians don't. They can't dismiss the threat, and have to be worried, but can't be sure whether to expect a strike or not. Meanwhile, no credible U.S. spokesman has said anything especially bellicose. That's exactly what we want, no? ...
Strategic ambiguity, I think they call it. Everything Biden says is by definition ambiguous! He's an unreliable narrator. The trick is making it strategic. But the Obama brahmins would be crazy not to try to use this asset. When you've got lemons ....
P.S.: Lynch worries that the Israelis might "[take] up the offer" and attack. But presumably the U.S. has ways of directly communicating to Israel that it doesn't have the green light, or that it does. ...
Update: Obama says the U.S. has "absolutely not" given Israel a green light to attack Iran. Guess it's just that crazy Biden! ... Or is it? ... And Obama didn't rule out a "green light" in the future. ... Maybe Biden was on to something? ... Iran still doesn't know for sure, do they? Which is the point. ... 6:30 P.M.
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Admit it, Mediaite is a lot better than you thought it would be. ... P.S.: I'm a Dan Abrams skeptic--he seems in love with himself, and I don't trust him--but on a bad day his conflict of interest in using journalists to advise corporate clients on how to work the media isn't as bad as Howie Kurtz's (covering CNN, which not only pays him an ongoing second salary but is what makes him famous). ... 6:28 P.M.
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From Nico Pitney's blog yesterday:
5:20 PM ET -- A word about the past two days. In ordinary times, the violence in the streets on Sunday and Monday would have been shocking. But compared to Saturday's massive outpouring, the turnout of demonstrators has been significantly smaller. There is a good reason for it.
Over the past week, the reformist rallies that have succeeded were those scheduled days in advance, with turnout aided by massive word-of-mouth promotion. Today's mourning rally for Neda, on the other hand, was announced only this morning on Karroubi's social networking sites. In the midst of a near-complete media and technological blackout, these large demonstrations need time to develop. [E.A.]
I guess Twitter and Facebook are not enough. ... 12:04 A.M.
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Aslan v. Dickey, Part II:
Reza Aslan on MSNBC yesterday:
"First of all, Ahmadinejad doesn`t even have the national security clearance to even look at Iran`s nuclear portfolio, let alone make any decisions about it. The president doesn`t have national security briefings in that regard."
Chris Dickey in his recent Newsweek piece (which Aslan praised as "brilliant"):
According to a European intelligence source, early in Ahmadinejad's first term, the man leading the country's nuclear negotiations presented several options about how and how fast Iran's nuclear program should proceed. Ahmadinejad said there was only one option: full-scale industrial production. Khamenei's response: Yes, that's what we will do.
So which is it? ... 12:10 A.M.
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Like CNN, Twitter seems like a pretty joyless place--but like CNN used to be, it's good in a crisis. ("CNN's Shocking Suck-Up to Iran's Fascists"? Marcus Brauchli: Get Howie Kurtz on the story stat! Oh wait). ... Even good writers turn into bad writers on Twitter. But after following the #iranelection feed (and Sullivan and Pitney) until bleary, I find it hard to have a thought much longer than seven score characters.
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Hillary Was So Well-Behaved Until Now: Sid Blumenthal to State? He may know things [raised eybrow] about Ahmadinejad that you don't .... But if I were Obama I might think twice. ... 10:37 P.M.
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Reza Aslan praises as "absolutely brilliant" a Chris Dickey Khamenei profile that seems to conclude "Ahmadinejad would have won anyway" (notwithstanding "indications of fraud"). Yet Aslan has claimed the election "was stolen by Ahmadinejad’s supporters," specifically the Revolutionary Guard, in what amounted to a "military coup." Which is it? ...10:38 P.M.
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NYT buries story that Sonia Sotomayor pushed for more very-low-income units in Harlem and Bronx housing developments--deeply misguided when the goal is to recreate a class mix and end concentration of poverty. She's also exercised by affirmative action contracting numbers. "'Extreme partisan' on questions of class and ethnicity." Yikes. ... Are conservatives banking too much on her being such a b----- that she won't convince other justices? ... 11:09 P.M.
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"Don't believe what you've heard about a GOP in disarray." The Republicans have
history on their side. There are only a handful of times in our nation's past when the party that won the White House hasn't lost big the following midterm election. That would spell disaster for President Obama's agenda. [E.A.]
Who said that? The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, in a fundraising email I just got. It will come as news to the GOPs. ... 11:10 P.M.
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If John Edwards were alive today ... : The "New GM" tries to slough off product liability claims. ... 11:14 P.M.
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Super-filtered kaus feed! Meanwhile, my own actual twitter feed is such a fire-hose-like stream of apercus that they can only be highlighted here. The highlights: ... OK, there are no highlights. ... Except maybe the Mr. Bubble item which has not been lawyered (and which was stolen from a friend). ... 11:22 P.M.
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Steve Clemons appears to be urging a non-Gandhian approach on the Iraqi opposition. ... 4:06 P.M.
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Psst! Tsi-ay Inda-Kay Orking-Way: What if they came out with a study showing that No Child Left Behind is working--raising test scores without hurting high- or low-achievers--and nobody paid attention? (Except Education Week). ... 4:05 P.M.
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New Chrysler owner FIAT tries its hand at viral advertising. ... [Thanks to reader J.] 4:04 P.M.
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