News Nuggets 841

DAYLEE PICTURE: An fascinating landscape from Tuscany, Italy.  From National Geographic.

Supreme Loser: Why Iran's Ayatollah-in-Chief Always Gets It Wrong (Ali Vaez) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"...was threatening to set off a global recession such a smart move? In fact, Khamenei -- the ultimate arbiter of Iran's internal politics and international relations -- has proved himself a poor analyst of the West's red lines toward his country, and this confrontation is just the latest incident to bring the supreme leader's strategic calculus into question."

Iran Does Not Have the Arsenal to Back Up its Many Threats (Ahmed Al Attar) from The National [of the United Arab Emirates in English]
"Iran's conventional surface fleet would be sitting targets, and face annihilation from aerial attacks akin to what happened to Libya's mechanised ground forces in the recent Nato-led offensive. Its manoeuvres would be limited to simply trying to survive, which is one reason why Iran has not heavily invested in a surface fleet. And there would not be much relief under the surface either."

The Taliban: Opening Offices and Options from the Guardian [of the UK] 
"The success of the Afghan group's planned political office in Qatar will be measured in the number of U-turns it and the US are prepared to perform."

Overtures to Egypt’s Islamists Reverse Longtime U.S. Policy from the New York Times
"With the Muslim Brotherhood pulling within reach of an outright majority in Egypt’s new Parliament, the Obama administration has begun to reverse decades of mistrust and hostility as it seeks to forge closer ties with an organization once viewed as irreconcilably opposed to United States interests."

The Spectre of 1932: How a Loss of Faith in Politicians and Democracy Could Make 2012 the Most Frightening Year in Living Memory (Dominic Sandbrook) from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"As commentators often remark, the world picture has not been grimmer since the dark days of the mid-Seventies, when the OPEC oil shock, the rise of stagflation and the surge of nationalist terrorism cast a heavy shadow over the Western world. For the most chilling parallel, though, we should look back exactly 80 years, to the cold wintry days when 1931 gave way to 1932."

The U.S.: No Longer the Land of Opportunity (Harold Meyerson) from the Washington Post
"Romney’s assertions are the centerpiece of his, and his party’s, critique not just of Obama but of American liberalism generally. But they fail to explain how and why the American economy has declined the past few decades — in good part because they betray no awareness that Europe’s social democracies now fit the description of “merit-based opportunity societies” much more than ours does."

When Character Counts in Choosing a President (John J. Pitney) from the Christian Science Monitor
"'Private sins' usually matter far less than 'public virtues' in presidents. Whether in Iowa or New Hampshire, voters must weigh how Romney, Gingrich, or any other candidate has behaved in public life. Look for the qualities of courage, self-control, wisdom, and justice."

So Much Fun. So Irrelevant (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times 
"Two things have struck me about the Republican presidential candidate debates leading up to the Iowa caucuses. One is how entertaining they were. The other is how disconnected they were from the biggest trends shaping the job market of the 21st century. What if the 2012 campaign were actually about the world in which we’re living and how we adapt to it? What would the candidates be talking about?"

Indecision 2012: In Iowa and the GOP (Dana Milbank) from the Washington Post
"The Iowa Republicans’ indecision captures perfectly the existential struggle within the GOP nationally and within conservatism. They don’t know what they want — or even who they are. Are they Tea Partyers? Isolationists? Pro-business? Populists? Moralists?"

Iowa Splits the GOP: Mitt Romney in a Squeaker in Iowa’s GOP Caucuses (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"Longtime frontrunner Mitt Romney edged Rick Santorum, the year’s least-covered candidate, by a mere eight points—a virtual tie. Howard Kurtz on what the photo finish means for the Republican race."

Three Very Different GOPs in Iowa (E.J. Dionne Jr.) from the Washington Post
"It is rare in politics to have constituencies as clearly defined — and different — as the Iowa Republican caucus-goers who rallied tonight behind Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum."

Romney Leaves Iowa with Same Problems He Had in 2008 (Philip Rucker) from the Washington Post
"... his Iowa showing — finishing just eight votes ahead of former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) — highlighted the big problems that still dog Romney: suspicions about his avowed conservatism, struggles to connect with voters and an inability to rally more Republicans around his candidacy."

Why Romney and Santorum Fought to a Draw in Iowa (Ronald Brownstein) from the National Journal
"New voters, split evangelicals and Romney in a rut."

Why Mitt Romney Is Winning, and Rick Perry Is Losing (Andrew Romano) from the Daily Beast
"Mitt is focused like a laser on the economy down the homestretch, while the Texas governor is all over the map. Andrew Romano on what two dueling performances show about the state of the GOP."

Michele Bachmann's Last Stand: Campaign May End in Iowa (Patricia Murphy) from the Daily Beast
"The feisty Minnesotan shows no signs of panic in Iowa, and insists she’ll stay in the race no matter what happens in her native state, but she may be in her last days as a presidential candidate."

TINTIN NUGGET!!
An Innocent in America (Charles McGrath) from the New York Times
"Tintin has been around for decades as a cartoon character, but only through the new Steven Spielberg movie has he been widely introduced to Americans."