Who Has the Leadership Character to Stop Iran From Attaining Nuclear Weapons?

When President Obama was running for office he said that he would physically meet with President of Iran Ahmadinejad, as if to say he would talk to him man to man, brother to brother, almost as if he were a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He explained to the world that we should open communication lines with our allies, trading partners, and even our enemies - "keep your enemies closer" theory I guess. Many called him naïve, and Hillary Clinton also running for office at the time stated that not only was it naïve for him to say that, but it was also dangerous for American diplomatic policy.

Apparently, Hillary Clinton is no slouch when it comes to international diplomacy, and she's done quite well as a Secretary of State. And realize my assessment of her performance is coming from a right-leaning libertarian, not a left-leaning socialist Democrat. Now then, I ask who has the leadership character to stop Iran from attaining nuclear weapons?

It doesn't appear that the Obama Administration has the character to lay down the letter of the law, as JFK did. Indeed, I wouldn't expect any hard-core Islamic fundamentalist to listen to the advice of a woman from a Western nation, so it really doesn't matter if Hillary Clinton demands in the strongest terms that Iran stop its nuclear weapons development. Indeed I'm sure you can see that point.

Indeed, if time goes on much longer, it won't matter if anyone has a leadership character because Iran will already have nuclear weapons, we are reaching crunch time. There was an interesting editorial in the Wall Street Journal on November 10, 2011 by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. He noted that; "Barack Obama is leading us towards a cascade of proliferation in the Middle East."

Yes, I agree with his assessment, but I would also remind my readers and the American people that it won't just be a cascade of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East if Iran gets a nuclear weapon. It will spread throughout Europe, and to South and Central America as well. It will also spread to North Africa, and then into sub Sahara Africa. At which point no one will be safe anywhere in the world.

Further, we have far too many hard-core rogue nation-state dictators on our planet. The last thing we need is the ability for them to buy nuclear weapons on the black market, or from nations like Iran. Lastly, once Iran does get nuclear weapons, and since they use proxy terrorist organizations to serve their political will throughout the region, we will indeed enter the age of nuclear terrorism. To that I say thanks a lot Barack Obama, and we can't get Mitt Romney into office fast enough. Please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Future Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

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Pelosi Faces Likely Leadership Challenge From Moderate Democrat - Fox News

Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, facing a growing rebellion against her bid to become minority leader, is likely to be challenged for the post by a moderate Democrat.

North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler, who has been sending signals since last month that he would run against the San Francisco liberal if she didn't step aside, is expected to launch his leadership bid on Sunday when he appears on CNN's "State of the Union." He's also appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Monday.

Shuler, a former NFL quarterback, told the Clay County Progress this week that he had no choice but to leave the sidelines.

"At this point, no one has come forward, no one in leadership for a long time," Shuler told the North Carolina weekly newspaper. "It will be very tough. It is probably a race we can't win. But we need a moderate voice in the Democratic Party."

Shuler's spokeswoman did not return an e-mail seeking comment. Neither did Pelosi's office.

The challenge comes as House Democrats just avoided a messy leadership struggle between Reps. Steny Hoyer of Maryland and James Clyburn of South Carolina for the No. 2 post of their new minority. Pelosi brokered a deal that will allow Hoyer to become second in command while Clyburn receives a new position that will be labeled the third-ranking post in leadership.

But several Democrats, most of them moderates from conservative districts, have made clear that they won't support Pelosi's leadership bid after their party suffered historic losses to Republicans last week. 

Democrats lost more than 60 seats, with a few races still up in the air. Many of the defeats came in conservative or swing districts and many of her critics are lawmakers who barely survived.

Party elections, which occurs behind closed doors, are scheduled for Wednesday.

Pelosi's quick postelection announcement that she would run for minority leader startled many Democrats.

Rep. Dan Boren of Oklahoma told Fox News last week that voters sent a message that they want the Democratic Party to move in a new direction.

"They want someone to lead the party who is going to be bipartisan," he said. "This is very disappointing for a lot of us in the center."

Pelosi told NPR on Friday that she decided to run so she can finish what she started.

"My motivation for running is to be in the strongest possible position to create jobs, to continue the work we did in the previous administration, to preserve Social Security, to protect what we did for health care reform and Wall Street reform," she told the network.

She also blamed the high unemployment rate for last week's election results.

"We didn't lose the election because of me," she said, adding that she believes she has been widely attacked because of her effectiveness as speaker.

"The reason they had to try to take me down is because I've been effective in fighting the special interests in Washington, D.C.," she said.

On Friday, 31 female House Democrats, including two members-elect, endorsed Pelosi for minority leader in an open letter.

"As the first woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi has borne the brunt of unfair criticism and attacks, but her record of accomplishment speaks for itself – particularly to women," the letter reads, citing her record-high promotions of women into committee chairmanships, among other things.

"At a time when the incoming Majority is expected to threaten the progress we have made for women and families, we need Nancy Pelosi as Democratic Leader to help us stay unified and fight back," the letter says.

But even some longtime supporters of Pelosi have said she needs to step aside as the party leader.

"I voted for everything she asked me to vote for," said Rep. Albio Sires, D-N.J. "You know, sometimes in this business it's difficult to know when to move on."

"With all the losses that we had with governors and all the redistricting that's going to be done, we don't need the target," Sires said, referring to the once-a-decade House redistricting process about to begin nationwide.

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