Obama era crashes as Trump takes White House! Electoral votes reject liberal fascism

The Republican victory over the Democrats is profoundly characterized in these posts from Daniel Greenfield in FrontPage Magazine:

"AMERICAN UPRISING" Everything is about to change. FrontPage Magazine Nov 8, '16

This wasn’t an election. It was a revolution.
It’s midnight in America. The day before fifty million Americans got up and stood in front of the great iron wheel that had been grinding them down. They stood there even though the media told them it was useless. They took their stand even while all the chattering classes laughed and taunted them.

They were fathers who couldn’t feed their families anymore. They were mothers who couldn’t afford health care. They were workers whose jobs had been sold off to foreign countries. They were sons who didn’t see a future for themselves. They were daughters afraid of being murdered by the “unaccompanied minors” flooding into their towns. They took a deep breath and they stood. They held up their hands and the great iron wheel stopped.

THE OBAMA ERA IS OVER

Obama's legacy was dashed to pieces. His frantic efforts to campaign for Hillary did no good. The public did not vocally reject him. What they did was in its own way even worse. They brushed past him. They sidelined him. They gave him passable approval ratings while dismissing his biggest accomplishments. They forgot him. They made it clear that he did not matter. 

And that is in its own way far more brutal and wounding. They didn't just destroy the Obama era. Instead they dismissed it as if it never existed.

"THERE IS NO PLAN": OBAMA NEVER BELIEVED IT COULD HAPPEN

For President Barack Obama, Donald Trump's presidential victory is nothing less than a nightmare.
His longstanding vision for progressive change faced sharp and unexpected repudiation Tuesday night from voters still fuming at their perceived diminished prospects. 

By Obama's own admission, the major pieces of his presidential legacy are now subject to a gutting by a successor he resents deeply.-

Susan Sarandon among celebrities at the Breeders Cup about the biggest race of all

Santa Anita attendees watch the horses parading to predict a winning order

Handicapping the presidential race at the Breeders Cup.

A benefit of having the 33rd running of one of thoroughbred racing's most prestigious international events, the Breeders Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park (Saturday for a record, 9th time) Hollywood, California is the celebrities who'll mingle among the horse-people. 

DemoCast asked some of the celebs who came to predict the winning horses who they like to win the presidential race. Of particular note is actress Susan Sarandon, a social activist who publicly broke with the liberal party line to reject Hillary Clinton as 'way more dangerous than Donald Trump.' She said, in an interview with the BBC, based on what she saw during the primaries, the DNC is "so corrupt, it's not worthy of our votes."

Susan Sarandon publicly denounced Hillary Clinton's candidacy 

We spoke with Allison Janney, Emmy-Award winner for her portrayal of C.J. Cregg on TV's "The West Wing; and

British, Channel Four TV Racing commentator (and Big Brother guest) John McCririck made his 33rd visit to the Breeders Cup, this time sporting a red, "Make America Great Again" golf cap; 

Finally, Kevin Dillon, star of "Entourage" TV series and motion picture walked down the red-carpet with his wife, actress Jane Stuart and discussed his appreciation for a good horse race track day.

Local favorite stallion, California Chrome (the all-time leading North American horse in earnings won) was upset by Arrowgate final furlongs of the Breeders Cup Classic. Will the political underdogs, Donald Trump or Jill Stein, catch such a break this Election Day? 

Britain's John McCririck sports Trump hat handicapping his 33rd Breeders Cup

UK has legal commercial gambling on politics and other real-life propositions

Allison Janney presented Breeders Cup trophy

Jockey Mike Smith — who received a trophy for his achievements earlier in the day from Allison Janney — became a four-time Breeders' Cup Classic winner. Singers, Boyz II Men serenaded the record-breaking 72,811 race fans, threatening to steal the show with their iconic harmonizing.

One of racing's most prestigious international events, the Breeders' Cup consists of 13 races and purses adding up to $26 million over the course of two days. It combines racing with lifestyle, cuisine, and entertainment.

Rational Repubs wrestle with anchor-teens taunting Trumpers in California

"Go back to Europe!" Latinos antagonizing outside of Trump-rally get physical when countered by diverse immigrants' knowledge, arguments 

Presidential candidate, Donald Trump, speaking to about 3,000 people in Anaheim, California (and partially broadcast live on CNN) offered an anti-immigrant message in a majority Latino city on May 25th.

Bandana masked Latinos confront Trump supporters at Disney-area rally

Citizens on all sides of the Trump spectrum clashed in and outside the Convention Center, as police from Anaheim and other cities, as well as Orange County sheriff’s deputies, used horses and riot equipment to control the crowd.

Pro-Trump attendees responded, "USA! USA!,” to protesters taunting them with, "Fuck Trump!"  a couple of fireworks exploded.  

Trump rally exitees confront Democrat antagonists in original DemoCast video. Two, Ventura college students say that, in the absence of police protection separating the clans, Bernie Sanders supporters drew switchblade knives against the Republicans. 


Several supporters and protesters nearly came to blows as the two groups screamed obscenities at each other. 

Around 2 p.m., police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and ordered people to leave, closing down a stretch of Harbor Boulevard. 

Youths cursing around family tourists were asked by an Hispanic-American adult to curb their vulgar tongues. They tore his Trump sign from his possession and ripped it to pieces.



The protesters and supporters eventually moved onto Harbor Boulevard as Orange County Sheriff's deputies and Anaheim police began moving forward. Boris Kushnir, a legal immigrant from the former Soviet Ukraine, had attempted reasoning to defuse the confrontation of aggressive supporters of Bernie Sanders antagonizing Republican rallyers. 

As riot-police marched us away, Mr. Kushnir publicly challenged Bernie Sanders to a debate regarding the realities of a Socialist society. 


Fourteen people, including nine adults and five juveniles, were arrested Wednesday following Trump’s speech.

Mrs.Mara of Rancho Cucamonga spoke of the many minority supporters for Trump inside the rally, including Asians and Latinos.



As proof of the devotion of Latinos FOR Trump, she left her home before 6am in order to guarantee admittance into the free, noontime rally. 

Mara said, "We need change, different. This country is free, but you don't come over here for gimme-gimme. America is no sugar-daddy no more. You need to work and come here legally. And I'm Hispanic! I love Trump!" She added, "I like him, he is a leader, he is my president!"

Employed text from The Orange County Register "Donald Trump in Anaheim: Police Arrest 16 protesters at day, evening rallies" 27 May 16  Contributing writers: David Montero, Chris Haire, Scott Schwebke, and Brian Whitehead.

Donald Trump, Steve Forbes address libertarian economic policies at FreedomFest Convention

Steve Forbes addresses FreedomFest dinner in Las Vegas

(Photo: Scott Jenkins)

Steve Forbes headlined the 2015 FreedomFest Convention which hosted a packed-house speech by candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump.

Mr. Forbes is the editor-in-chief of Forbes Magazine and a co-ambassador of the FreedomFest Convention in Las Vegas.  In both 1996 and 2000, Steve campaigned vigorously for the Republican nomination for the Presidency. Key to his platform were a flat tax, medical savings accounts, a new Social Security system for working Americans, parental choice of schools for their children, term limits and a strong national defense.

Presidential candidate, Donald Trump delivered a well-received address to a packed-house at the FreedomFest convention in Las Vegas on July 11, 2015.



In this press conference which followed his speech, Donald Trump addresses the need for America to negotiate better trade agreements with China than President Obama has.

Donald Trump fields questions from the packed audience including issues of illegal immigration and US Syria policy.



(All video is DemoCast.TV original, filmed by Scott Jenkins).

DemoCast documentary series, "Israel under Obama" highlights philo-Islamist, Obama administration's special risks to liberty, safety from terror, Middle-East instability, & anti-Semitism - 8:30pm & 11:30pm ET on JLTV - DirecTV & cable

Documentary, "Israel Under Obama," addresses Israel's difficulties with the Obama administration as endemic of its philo-Islamist ideologies- and the threat that poses for Americans and the world.  Two episodes will be telecast on JLTV: 
At 8:30pm ET/7:30 CT/ 5:30 PT, and the other at 11:30pm ET/10:30 CT/ 8:30 PT.  Find JLTV nation-wide on DirecTV on Channel 366. On cable, check local listings or at the end of this article.

An Op/Ed on CNN.com, Israel doesn't swing Jewish voters, by Amitai Etzioni, professor of international relations and director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies at George Washington University yesterday stated that "it's a myth that the Jewish vote goes to whoever supports Israel more fervently."

Most Jews who will change the party they vote for will not "swing" because of his position on Israel. 

For the vast majority of Jews, Israel ranks surprisingly low in their considerations as voters. Early in 2012, the Public Religion Research Institute found that among self-identified Jewish adults, 51% of those registered to vote cited the economy as the most important issue driving their voting decision. Fifteen percent cited the growing gap between the rich and the poor, while 10% cited health care and 7% the deficit. Only 4% cited Israel as the most important issue to their vote.

As when good Germans elected the National Socialist Party without considering its potential hidden-agendas, so, too many Jewish-Americans go to the polls tomorrow with so much willful blindness to what's behind the least amicable administration towards Israel, at the time when Iran poses the greatest threat to the world, with Israel first.

When Zionist-scapegoating, Statist ideologues like Barack Obama's regime vilify Israel and Jews to distract from their enabling of Statism and Islamist totalitarianism, dormant anti-Semitism proliferates.  As it was done in Germany, and exported to the Muslim world (carried out today by tyrants like Islamic Iran) anti-Zionism/anti-semitism is demogogues' ticket to power. But the power to punish the wicked Jews is not their end-all - as the Nazis showed, it's garnering power and expanding regional political conquest. It's Iran's objective and the Obama Administration has already demonstrated its complicity in empowering Islamism there, in Libya, in Egypt, soon in Syria.  Statism and Islamism are proliferating in American society under the protection of the Obama Administration.  The mainstream media is complict in shielding Obama from scrutiny and culpability regarding recognizing the spread of Islamist influence in American government, politics, and society.

In the DemoCast original series, "Israel Under Obama," savvy celebrities, clergy, a former presidential candidate & Zionistic Americans caution to how Obama Administration's pro-Palestinian, philo-Islamist bent imperils Israel, America & the world.  Watch Episode 2 of "Israel under Obama" here (in 3 sequential segments) in this window.




DemoCast's complete, original documentary series, "Israel Under Obama," was aired over the past month nationally by LegacyTV (aka The Walk.TV). 

Jewish Life TV (JLTV) broadcast Episode 2 yesterday and will rebroadcast it tonight (at 11:30pm Eastern/10:30pm Central/ 8:30pm Pacific). 

Watch the concluding Episode 3 of Israel under Obama, "Hearken!  Modern-day prophets caution us to the perils Obama" below and on JLTV tonight, Nov 5th at 8:30 ET/ 7:30 CT/ 5:30 PT. Inform your friends and neighbors to see it by forwarding this article. 


Episode 3: Jewish & Christian activists have taken steps to alert voters to perils of empowering Obama's philo-Islamist agenda - since the 2008 presidential campaign. Most liberals have shut their eyes. Rabbi Moshe Parry endeavors to open liberal Jewish donors' (and voters') ears at the visit of Pres. Obama to a Hollywood fundraiser. A Hal Lindsey Ministries Christian minister appeals to voters Americans to protect Israel by denying Obama a second, more perilous term.

Former presidential hopeful, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, condemns the Obama Administration for breaking with Washington's historic relationship with Israel and championing Islamist revolutionaries. The late Andrew Breitbart discussed with DemoCast Obama's hidden personal history holds his pro-Palestinianist/Leftist, anti-Zionist upbringing. He praises conservative Christians for valuing Israel in their voting, more than liberal Jews- dedicated more to social issues.

Rabbi David Algaze, Jon Voight, Ed Ames, Obama's rabbi cousin in the concluding segment of "Israel under Obama." What transformed Barry Soetoro into Barack Hussein Obama? With so much undisclosed about him- except his demonstrated transforming the Middle East into Islamist-dominated societies- how can we risk he and Valerie Jarret won't continue "running interference" for Iran to nuclear weaponize - and be used to nuclear-blackmail the world? 

Rabbis David Algaze, Rabbi Moshe Parry, Obama's cousin Rabbi Funnye, actors Ed Ames and Jon Voight all espouse their observations about the Obama Administration's ideology and renewing its reign.

["Israel under Obama" was drawn from DemoCast's 29-hours of original, on-location (in Nashville, Florida, Washington, New York City, Dearborn, Michigan, and Los Angeles), video footage filmed since the 2008 Presidential campaign.]


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If you don't see your channel listed here, please check here to see where JLTV is available in your area.  Share with your friends who might receive the program to record it for later review and comment.

DemoCast's perspectives will be most vital in the coming crisis between Israel, Iran, and the West.  DemoCast is a grass-roots initiative. Generously contribute to continuing DemoCast's efforts- through the "donate" link in the column to the right.  Thank you for helping enlighten the world to a pro-West (including Israel) news and analysis perspective with which the mainstream media (even Fox News Channel) doesn't offer the public.  

Romney / Obama town-hall presidential debate - song-ified!

The morning after the town-hall style presidential debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, Schmoyoho released this entertaining recap:

"Israel under Obama" broadcast at 9pm edt Thursday 10/11/12

Barack Obama ran for president as a pro-Israel candidate -- but his performance tells a different story. Watch Daylight: The Story of Obama and Israel, produced by Noah Pollak and www.CommitteeForIsrael.com.



A new, 18-minute mini-documentary follows the journey of Irina, a 23-year-old liberal, Jewish New Yorker who voted for Obama in 2008. Yet as her connection to Israel has grown, and she has learned more about the President's policies across the Middle East and towards Israel in particular, Irina has come to realize that "when the chips are down," the President may not "have Israel's back" as he says.



The short film, produced by RightChange features:

• Exclusive interviews with leading journalists and politicians in Israel (Bloomberg, London Times, Jerusalem Post, etc.)

• Mainstream news reports (CNN, MSNBC, ABC, BBC, etc.),
  
• Clips from longtime Democratic supporters including: Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY)

"Israel under Obama" slated for broadcast 9pm 10/11/12 Thursday on LegacyTV network (check website for regional availability).

"The press have become an enemy of the American people"- Pat Caddell

Roger Aronoff in Accuracy in Media Sept 27, 2012 writes about analyst, Pat Caddell's address at their conference last week:



In remarks to the Accuracy in Media conference, “ObamaNation: A Day of Truth,” on September 21st, former Democratic pollster and analyst Pat Caddell said, “I think we’re at the most dangerous time in our political history in terms of the balance of power in the role that the media plays in whether or not we maintain a free democracy.” Caddell noted that while First Amendment protections were originally provided to the press so they would protect the liberty and freedom of the public from “organized governmental power,” they had clearly relinquished the role of impartial news providers.

Nowhere was this more evident than during the tragic death of a U.S. ambassador in Libya that was covered up for nine days because the press and the administration did not want to admit it was a terrorist attack.

“We’ve had nine day of lies over what happened because they can’t dare say it’s a terrorist attack, and the press won’t push this,” said Caddell. “Yesterday there was not a single piece in The New York Times over the question of Libya. Twenty American embassies, yesterday, are under attack. None of that is on the national news. None of it is being pressed in the papers.”

Caddell added that it is one thing for the news to have a biased view, but “It is another thing to specifically decide that you will not tell the American people information they have a right to know.”

Watch Mr. Caddell's entire "Audacity of Corruption" speech and/or a transcript of it here.

What effect will events at AIPAC's Policy Conference have on presidential campaigns?

The annual AIPAC Policy Conference is the largest gathering of the pro-Israel movement. Thousands of participants come from all 50 states to take part in “three of the most important days affecting Israel’s future.” The 2012 conference will be held March 4-6, 2012, in Washington, D.C.

Confirmed speakers: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Israeli President Shimon Peres; Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY); House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Senator Carl Levin (D-MI); Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT); Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA).

How will the early AIPAC Policy Conference this year factor in the Republican Primaries?

In this DemoCast video clip, filmed in Los Angeles in 2010, the current Republican polls leader, Gov. Mitt Romney emphasizes his view of American and Israeli moral exceptionalism.



Republican candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have been more outspoken about their support of Israel and opposition to political Islamism than Gov. Mitt Romney.



Speaker Newt Gingrich reinforced his Middle East-policy bona fides at this salon appearance following the keynote speech of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at AIPAC '11.

Candidates evaluated on keeping America safe - political jihad expert, Walid Phares

Dr. Walid Phares (an academic, author and analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies) prioritizes the choice American voters face in this treatise published in American Thinker, "Vote for National Survival:

Evaluating the Candidates on Freedoms, and Educating the Public:

For the first time since the end of the Cold War, there seems to be a concern about a scrupulous respect for freedom of the press and of expression in some "ideological" quarters of a potential Obama Administration. Although I do believe that the Senator from Illinois has kept a strong record on the necessity of a balanced debate regarding the nation's fundamental issues, and although Senator Biden has been a proponent of free speech, there are signs that radical groups could use Government positions to harass media that would be critical of an Obama Administration on national security grounds.

What's more is the dangerous possibility that (short of a counter Jihadi doctrine) elements of Wahhabi and Khomeinist advocacy circles would take advantage of a "new direction" to strike at the counterterrorism community in the private sector, targeting the advances made for the last seven years in educating Americans about the threat. Such a development would be a red line for the nation's defense. To be direct about it, already under the Bush Administration, the Wahhabi and Khomeinist lobbies have wreaked havoc throughout the bureaucracy, blocking major reforms needed to educate civil servants and citizens to learn about the threats looming over the country and its next generations.

Under a McCain Administration there are no guarantees that the "Jihad-o-phile lobby" will recede, but chances are much higher for new counterterrorism education to make a breakthrough than under an Obama Administration.

Under the latter, Muslim reformers in America won't have an equal chance with the Jihadi pressure groups to have their message received by their communities. Middle East dissidents will have their stories marginalized in the public sector so that it won't perturb the deals to "be cut with the regimes in the region." All that is predictable and projectable, hence the options are really limited if not set in terms of choice.

The Choice:

On the one hand, Senator Obama has a character to be admired and has skills to make other politicians jealous. He would make America look very good. Had we not been in a confrontation with the Jihadist forces worldwide, I would have gladly voted for him. Strange as it may be for many of my colleagues, his alleged "socialism" doesn't intimidate me, nor does his "radical liberalism." America's society will only absorb what it can digest.

On the other hand, Senator McCain is a national hero and a product of real American traditions. I would have liked for him to have been elected in 2000 so that he would have been the Commander in Chief on September 11 (with all respect due to President Bush). There are other men and women who are also qualified to lead this nation in these politically and economically trying times such as Senator Clinton, Governor Romney and others. But our political process has selected McCain and Obama and one of them has to become the President.

"Primo vivere" says the Roman adage. You've got to survive first and you've got to be free too. I have learned this the hard way. Hence in this 2008 Presidential election, I will vote on national security, that is national survival. All other issues are linked to our ability as a nation to make it through these very critical years.

After having reviewed the two platforms from that perspective, and short of discovering what can change my analysis in the next few days, I wish Senator Obama good luck and, as a registered independent, I will vote for Senator McCain for the President of the United States.

"Don't Let the Polls Affect Your Vote. They were wrong in 2000 and 2004." Wall St. Journal Opinion

Polls can reveal underlying or emerging trends and help campaigns decide where to focus.

The danger is that commentators use them to declare a race over before the votes are in. This can demoralize the underdog's supporters, depressing turnout.

Some polls are sponsored by reputable news organizations, others by publicity-eager universities or polling firms on the make. None have the scientific precision we imagine.

Polls have proliferated this year in part because it is much easier for journalists to devote the limited space in their papers or on TV to the horse-race aspect of the election rather than its substance.


The last national poll that showed Mr. McCain ahead came out Sept. 25 and the 232 polls since then have all shown Mr. Obama leading. Only one time in the past 14 presidential elections has a candidate won the popular vote and the Electoral College after trailing in the Gallup Poll the week before the election: Ronald Reagan in 1980. Read full article

How would Obama's softness-on-Islamism reckon America with the God of Israel?

Critic Hanoch W. Weber wrote about the possibility of divine intervention in politics against the Jewish guardianship of Israel in Israel Insider: "So you think God does not exist"

The first rule of Western journalism, at least for the past century, has been never to explain any phenomenon by reference to divine intervention. Largely as a result of the increasing secularization of Western society, that rule has been strictly adhered to, so that today no "self-respecting" major newspaper, radio or TV station would dare abrogate the no-God rule.

However, it is particularly difficult for most Israelis -- especially in the past year and a half -- to ignore the great signs that the Lord has brought unto His people in His land. Despite the Israeli media's insistence on "God-free" reporting, the people seem more and more skeptical of its claim -- that God is not part of history and that His hand is not guiding and affecting events. Thus, the intentional ignoring and ignorance on the part of the media as to the real essence of the big events occurring in Israel, is a major cause of the disconnection and alienation between the Israeli media and the Israeli people. Read full article

Lewis Black discusses the media's election coverage with Anderson Cooper at Time Warner's Politics 2008

Lewis Black speaks to Anderson Cooper before a live, media-industry symposium audience at TW/Digital Hollywood's "Politics 2008" conference in NYC, October 15, 2008

"A threat bigger than Wall Street"- priorities on the Hebrew New Year, Rosh haShana, 5769

Iran is a problem from hell. by Greg Sheridan, Foreign Editor, The Australian

The next US president, be it Barack Obama or John McCain, is going to have plenty to worry about: the Wall Street financial crisis, the war in Afghanistan, Pakistan's internal crisis, the relentless military build-up of China and the temptation it will soon have of trying to retake Taiwan militarily.

But you can be sure of this: At some stage during the next presidency, Iran will blow up into a full-scale crisis that will dominate global politics and that may indeed be more important even than the other problems listed above.

The new president will have one modestly useful extra resource, a bipartisan report commissioned by two former US senators and written primarily by Middle East expert Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute. The Weekend Australian has obtained a copy of the report, to be released later this week. Before I got the report, I had a long discussion with Rubin.

Rubin is a Republican, but the report he wrote was the consensus work of a bipartisan taskforce that includes Dennis Ross, Obama's key Middle East adviser.

The report is sobering and in some ways shocking reading. It begins baldly: "A nuclear weapons capable Islamic Republic of Iran is strategically untenable."

It points to the disastrous consequences of an Iran with nuclear weapons: "Iran's nuclear development may pose the most significant strategic threat to the US during the next administration.

"A nuclear ready or nuclear-armed Islamic Republic ruled by the clerical regime could threaten the Persian Gulf region and its vast energy resources, spark nuclear proliferation throughout the Middle East, inject additional volatility into global energy markets, embolden extremists in the region and destabilise states such as Saudi Arabia and others in the region, provide nuclear technology to other radical regimes and terrorists (although Iran might hesitate to share traceable nuclear technology), and seek to make good on its threats to eradicate Israel.

"The threat posed by the Islamic Republic is not only direct Iranian action but also aggression committed by proxy. Iran remains the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism, proving its reach from Buenos Aires to Baghdad."

In one sense the report is ostensibly optimistic. It argues: "We believe that a realistic, robust and comprehensive approach - incorporating new diplomatic, economic and military tools in an integrated fashion - can prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons capability."

However, it is unclear whether the report's authors really believe this is possible. It would have been inconceivable to write a report saying without qualification that the game is up, nothing can be done short of direct military action. It would also have gone against the problem-solving, optimistic grain of American public life.

But the report provides overwhelming evidence for pessimism.

For a start, it states quite plainly that no approach can work on Iran that is not much, much tougher on the economic sanctions front, so that the cost to Iran of continuing to pursue nuclear weapons becomes too great, while the incentives of normalisation would become correspondingly more attractive to Tehran. But the report makes it clear that tougher sanctions cannot possibly work without the full co-operation and enthusiastic implementation by not only the US but the European Union, Russia, China and the other Persian Gulf states.

In what is a spectacular understatement, the report drily notes that recent events in Georgia may make Russian co-operation more difficult to achieve.

In our discussion, Rubin told me he thought the Russians might feel themselves to be in a win-win situation.

If they continue to sell the Iranians nuclear technology, they make a lot of money and frustrate the Americans. If the US or Israel ultimately strikes at Iran's nuclear facilities, it will do two things that will please Russia. It will cause great international discomfort for the US, thus lessening any US pressure on Russia over human rights, its treatment of Georgia or other such issues. And it will drive up energy prices when Russia is a huge exporter of energy, thus making Russia evenricher.

Long-term, enlightened self-interest would see the Russians recognise the dangers they too would ultimately face from a nuclear-armed Iran, but so far that long-term, enlightened self-interest has been notably lacking in the Russian governing class.

The report is an impressive document and deeply realistic. It recognises the real possibility that the strategy it proposes will not work. It is very difficult to imagine achieving the degree of international unity that would be required even to put the strategy into effect.

And even if that international unity is achieved and the strategy implemented, Iran's rulers may decide to go ahead with their nuclear weapons ambitions anyway.

One of the strongest pessimistic indicators in the report is that there is universal intelligence and diplomatic agreement that Iran was working hard on a nuclear weapons program during the period of its maximum apparent moderation under the reform president, Mohammed Khatami, when it also had the maximum international engagement since the revolution of 1979.

The report states: "The 2007 (US) National Intelligence Estimate's finding thatthe Islamic Republic maintained a nuclear weapons program until 2003 coincides with the European Union's period of critical engagement and former Iranian president Khatami's call for a Dialogue of Civilisations." The report further notes a recent statement by Khatami's former spokesman, Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, that a strategy of insincere dialogue on Iran's part allowed it to import technology for its covert nuclear program.

Rubin says there is significant criticism within Iranian leadership circles of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his confrontationist rhetoric and frequent threats against Israel, not because of ideological opposition to them but because they attract Western pressure. Rubin believes that Ahmadinejad, though significant, is not the real power in Iran. This is shared between the military Revolutionary Guard and the supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini.

Rubin believes that the Revolutionary Guard has become so powerful, and has infiltrated itself into so many positions of power, that it is fair to describe Iran as having undergone a kind of creeping military coup.

He is impatient with the unreality of much of the Western commentariat's analysis of Iran. When people say it would be better to have a strategy of deterrence against Iran than to try to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons, he wonders if they really know what deterrence means. The strategy of deterrence means the credible threat to deliberately inflict certain death on hundreds of thousands of people if Iran commits a nuclear transgression.

Similarly, the strategy of containment means that Iran's neighbours must be militarily equipped to fight Iran successfully should it attack until US military intervention can arrive.

Kuwait was not able to do this against Iraq when it invaded nearly two decades ago. Kuwait collapsed within hours and this required eventually a much bigger US military intervention.

Rubin does not think a military strike is a good option. It may require 1400 sorties to be successful and unless the US, or Israel, was willing to repeat the strike over the years, it might delay rather than eliminate Iran's nuclear program. And it could have all kinds of other consequences.

For example, Iran could attack Iraq's oil facilities, which produce two million barrels of oil a day.

However, the military option has to be there to give diplomacy any chance at all.

Finally, Rubin notes the divergence between European, US and Israeli views of the Iranian threat. The Europeans see Iran's nuclear program as a grave threat to the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

The US sees Iran's nuclear ambitions as strategically unacceptable but not ultimately a threat to the US's existence. Israel sees a nuclear armed Iran as representing the threat of annihilation to the Israeli people.

If that is really Israel's view, and if international diplomacy cannot stop Iran going nuclear, an Israeli military strike must eventually be more likely than not.

The problem from hell.

The Republican Convention's withheld biography of American Vice Presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin

At the Republican National Convention, Mayor Rudy Giulliani's introduction of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin ran over-time. The RNC prepared a biography video, which to keep ahead of TV schedule, they pre-empted showing. This enabled her to complete her speech- which was viewed by 37.2 million American households. Here (courtesy of Stop the ACLU) is 'The Sarah Palin video biography'.

How viewers watched Gov. Palin's subsequent speech: MSNBC.com reports: "Fox News Channel led the way Wednesday, with 9.2 million people watching Palin’s speech on the cable channel. It was the third-largest audience in its history, behind only President Bush’s speech on Iraq in March 2003 and a Bush-Kerry presidential debate in 2004.

For each night of the GOP convention so far, Fox’s audience has been bigger than any of the other cable or broadcast networks. That duplicates a feat accomplished at the 2004 Republican convention for Fox, the first time a cable network had outdrawn broadcasters for a major news event.

NBC had 7.7 million viewers for Palin’s speech, followed in order by CNN, ABC, CBS and MSNBC, Nielsen said.