India ink on Mumbai attack

Remember all of the flack Vice President-elect Joe Biden got for suggesting Barack Obama might be challenged by foreign powers early in his term?

How about before he takes office? Having convinced George Bush to over-rule his neo-cons and take it off of the terror list, North Korea is back being its obnoxious self. Russia is threatening to put tactical missiles on the Polish border. That's just off of the top of my head.

Then there's India, where newspapers are suggesting that Pakistani intelligence, or a rogue element of the ISI, is behind the Mumbai terror attacks:
Three Pakistani militants held in Mumbai: Reports,
Pak may be pushing hardened jihadis
and Terrorists may have hijacked Porbander fishing boat.

Pakistan seems to loom large in all of the region's problems.

Weekend at Ralph's

Am I the only one who thinks Ralph Nader's latest foray into politics is a bad zombie movie? Weekend at Bernie's was fun, but the remake? Lame and repetitive.

Okay, he can't help looking like he's recovering from a stroke. That doesn't explain the shrill talking points we've heard in his latest reincarnation. Wooden? Yep. Emotionless? Check. Disconnected from reality? You betcha.

Let's see, how could he make himself relevant again? I've got it! How about casting Barack Obama as an Uncle Tom? Perfect! Let's see if his few remaining followers will follow the zombie into the water.

Interests in Iran

President George Bush is thinking about opening an Interests Section in Iran, according to Newsweek. I like it.

Like Richard Nixon going to China, Bush can shrug off the "soft on" label. Barack Obama doesn't need that kind of controversy in his first 100 days, especially after John McCain's unmerciful attacks on his willingness to "sit down" with Iran.

Bush appears to be relying less on his neo-conservative wing (the Dick Cheney fans) as his duck gets lamer. Michael Rubin, one voice from that direction, argues that Iran's hardliners would take advantage of such a move politically. Exactly. Let Bush get the flak from Iran's hardliners too.

An interests section doesn't suggest approval, or even friendliness. We've had an interests section in Havana for years. It just makes it easier for countries to communicate.

Iran already has an interests section in the U.S., in the Pakistani Embassy.

Mr. Smith defends Washington

It's come to this, Shepherd Smith getting a back-pat from The New York Times in an editorial.

Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher probably thought going on Fox News was like a company mountain ball game. Imagine his surprise when Smith brushed him back with a hardball about a vote for Barack Obama being "death to Israel." That wasn't in the script: most Fox newsreaders would let the line lay there and move on to the next attack.

It was pretty good television: