News Nuggets 1340

DAYLEE PICTURE: A "roll cloud" in Warrambool, Australia.  From the Daily Mail of the UK.

We Have a Deal With Iran. A Good One (Fred Kaplan) from Slate
"It's everything Obama hoped to achieve in Geneva."

This Is Bigger Than a Nuclear Deal (Uri Friedman) form the Atlantic 
"The agreement with the Islamic Republic isn't just a diplomatic milestone—it symbolizes an unprecedented era in U.S.-Iran relations."

Historic US-Iran Deal Is First Step Toward Peace (Bob Dreyfuss) from the Nation
"The substance of the accord reached in Geneva is a breakthrough, but the politics of the agreement is equally important. President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry signed the deal in explicit, full-frontal defiance of American hawks, neoconservatives and hardliners, the Israel lobby, and anti-Iran partisans in Congress."

What Critics are Getting Wrong about the Iran Deal (Fareed Zakaria) from CNN
"This is a sensible deal – signed off on by France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China – but it is just an interim deal and not a historic rapprochement. And that’s why so much of the opposition to it is
misplaced."

3-decade Gridlock Broken: The Nuclear Deal with Iran in Geneva (Jim Sciutto and Ben Brumfield) from CNN
"The diplomatic gridlock between Iran and the West seemed immovable for decades. But on Sunday, diplomats made history when Iran and six world powers came together on an agreement over Iran's nuclear program. The deal dials back Iran's ability to work toward a nuclear weapon and at the same time loosens the choke hold of international sanctions on Iran's economy."

US-Iran War Averted by Agreement to Negotiate on Nuclear Enrichment (Juan Cole) from Juancole.com
"The decade-long Neoconservative plot to take the United States to war against Iran appears to have been foiled."
While Cole indulges in some hyperventilating rhetoric here, I think he is essentially correct.  Neo-cons dating back to the Bush-Cheney years with their allies, Lieberman-McCain-Graham had been itching for years to mix it up with Iran.  Too bad.  So sad.  For those liberals who have felt disenchanted with Obama, wake up!  Obama just dealt these folks a MAJOR defeat!!

And in case anyone doubted which foreign leader was complicit in this "plot"...
Iran Deal Leaves Israel Few Options (Josef Federman) from the Associated Press
"After feverishly trying to derail the international community's nuclear deal with Iran in recent weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now has little choice but to accept an agreement that he has derided as deeply flawed."

No, Obama’s Iran Deal Was Not a Munich-Style Surrender (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"U.S. and Israeli hawks are rushing to call the interim nuclear agreement a capitulation and Obama another Chamberlain. It’s another sign the doomsayers don’t know their history."
Sigh!  Well ... I have reached a point with right-wing rhetoric that the minute I hear them making comparisons to "Munich", I KNOW they're full of crap.  Munich (and that other eternal nugget of relentless war mongers, Yalta) have appropriate historical lessons to teach us -- but those lessons have no bearing for the hard right wing which, since World War II, has been hostile to and profoundly skeptical of diplomacy in general.  In the minds of most on the hard right, diplomacy = capitulation.  REAL superpowers and REAL he-man leaders don't negotiate, they dictate.  These are largely the same people who would have torpedoed  Reagan's outreach to Gorbachev (and indeed they tried), Nixon's outreach to China, and Carter's outreach to Sadat.  There is NO DEAL Obama could have reached that would have satisfied them.  They believe that war is the only way you really settle these matters -- and no number of U.S. wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Vietnam, or anywhere else will convince them otherwise.  Indeed, these people are especially dangerous in my view because they become the willing tools of Israeli leaders like Netanyahu (and some in Saudi Arabia) who would like nothing better than to have the US military solve their problems with Iran by going into Persia guns blazing.  Side note: One of the sad aftereffects of this mindset is that GOP leaders, as evidenced by the Bush/Cheney years, have become remarkably ineffective in doing "diplomacy."  For their 8 years in power, the Bush administration accomplished virtually nothing in the diplomatic realm: no treaties, no arms agreements, no peace initiatives that led to anything.  To the extent that effective diplomacy occurs at all, most nonpartisan analysts now acknowledge that the Dems are the only ones who now have the skill sets and experience to do this.  As I suggest above, it is a critical accomplishment for Obama that he has foiled the "war with Iran" crowd -- at least for now.  

White House, Allies Weigh Nomination Strategy under New Senate Rules from the Washington Post
"The White House and its allies are formulating ways to take maximum advantage of this week’s change in the Senate’s filibuster rules to rapidly confirm more than 240 judicial and executive nominees awaiting approval. Democrats hope to break a logjam in President Obama’s
appointments, allowing him to push ahead with key parts of his agenda. But they also acknowledge that the political environment remains difficult, with many procedural tactics still available to Republicans intent on blocking his nominees."

Healthcare Industry Vested in Success of Obamacare from the Los Angeles Times
"Many in the industry have reservations about the Affordable Care Act. Even so, they have invested billions of dollars to help make the healthcare law work."

A Nuclear End to Denial (E.J. Dionne Jr.) from the Washington Post 
"What happened on Nuclear Thursday has more to do with the rise of an activist conservative judiciary than with the norms of the Senate. From the moment that five conservative justices issued their ruling in Bush v. Gore, liberals and Democrats realized they were up against forces willing to achieve their purposes by using power at every level of government."

California, Here We Come? (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"What would happen if we unveiled a program that looked like Obamacare, in a place that looked like America, but with competent project management that produced a working website? Well, your wish is granted. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you California."

This Chart is Amazing News for Our Health Cost Problem (Sarah Kliff) from the Washington Post
"The chart, from the Council of Economic Advisers, shows the Congressional Budget Office constantly revising downward how much it thinks the federal government will need to spend on health care costs over the next decade. That's because health care costs have been growing a lot more slowly over the past few years than they typically do. ... All told, health care costs have been growing more slowly over the last three years than any other time period since 1965. "
For those seeking some sane analysis of Obamacare, the Post's new health care correspondent/blogger Sarah Kiff has been doing some good work!!

Obama Is Wounded. Obamacare Is Unstoppable (Francis Wilkinson) from Bloomberg
"It's quite possible that Obamacare will be a sufficient liability to cost Obama his popularity and Democrats their Senate majority. The party and individual politicians may sink for a time. (They may also recover far faster than many suspect. We live in volatile times.) But unless Obamacare is far more troubled than it now appears, the law will not sink. It floats."

It's The Fundamentals, Stupid: Elections Aren't Determined By Short-Term 'Game Changes' (Ed Kilgore) from Talking Points Memo
"... both the Democratic October and the Republican November have been grossly premature illusions built more on hope and hype than anything durable."

MOVIE REVIEW NUGGET!!
‘Frozen’ Is the Best Disney Film Since ‘The Lion King’ (Kevin Fallon) from the Daily Beast
"Who needs Pixar? Frozen confirms that the House of Mouse is capable of melting hearts again."

HOLIDAY NUGGET!!
8 Early Holiday Tips To Keep You Sane -- And Less Stressed from the Huffington Post
"Year after year we do the same things that result in us being miserable, stressed out and mad at ourselves for knowing better. And so, in following the lead of retailers everywhere who insist on putting up their Christmas items before Halloween, here goes our list of eight things we hope we don't do (again) this holiday season."