SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET:

IRAN – What becomes clear is that the U.S. violated virtually all of its red lines in reaching an agreement with Iran, an agreement whose purpose seems to be the greater glory of Barack.  The deal does not permit the kind of inspections originally promised, and does grant concessions that even Obama's own chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff warned about only last week.  Republicans are properly appalled.  Many Democrats probably are as well, but their party has changed, and going up against Obama is not considered a wise career move. 

CYNICAL – Some of the reactions to the Iran deal are remarkably cynical.  The most disgraceful – the foreign minister of Germany criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's rejection of the agreement.  Imagine, the foreign minister of the nation that committed the Holocaust is rapping Israeli concerns about a pact with a regime that denies the Holocaust, while preparing for another one.  German businessmen are salivating over new trade with Iran, and I guess money does talk.

MADNESS – From Reuters:   A nuclear deal clinched between Iran and six major world powers that caps more than a decade of negotiations has stoked talk of a joint Nobel Peace Prize for Tehran and Washington this year, despite the likelihood of strong objections from some quarters.  US President Barack Obama, who won the prize in 2009 for promoting nuclear non-proliferation, hailed the Iran deal on Tuesday as a step towards a "more hopeful world". But Israel pledged to try to halt an "historic surrender".  Awarding the prestigious award to Washington and Tehran would fit a pattern of nuclear-themed peace prizes in years ending in '5', commemorating the bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.  Giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Tehran is like giving the Girl Scout man-of-the-year award to Bill Cosby. But the prize has been so discredited in recent years that it really doesn't matter. 

TOUGH HILLARY? – It's probably just Hillary being devious, but reporters have noticed that her comments on Iran became tougher as the day wore on and more facts came out.  From AFP:  Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton vowed Tuesday that Iran will never be able to acquire atomic weapons if she is elected to the White House.  Clinton’s tough words came as critics in the US Congress, as well as skeptical US allies around the globe, criticized an agreement with Tehran as providing a path — albeit a somewhat delayed one — toward an eventual nuclear weapon.  “As president, I would use every tool in our arsenal to compel rigorous Iranian compliance,” Clinton said in a statement.  “The message to Iran should be loud and clear: We will never allow you to acquire a nuclear weapon; not just during the term of this agreement –- never.”  A former US secretary of state who oversaw the placement of some sanctions on Iran, Clinton said she is “still studying the details” of the plan, but gave it her qualified backing.  I have no idea what her statement means.  She has such a history of dishonesty that it's hard to take anything she says seriously. 

July 14, 2015