Pirate's Cove

Almost every poll shows that the Obama/Kerry Iran deal is underwater. The latest from CBS News has it at 30% disapprove, 20% approve, with the rest not sure. Most say it won’t be effective in stopping Iran from going nuclear, which is an important point. The main opposition comes from Republicans and Independents, with Democrats falling in line as typical. So, Obama’s going to make a speech, surely throwing out all sorts of strawmen and harsh words at those who dare defying Him

(USA Today) President Obama will deliver a crucial speech on the Iran nuclear agreement Wednesday, arguing that the congressional vote that could block the deal is “the most consequential foreign policy debate since the decision to go to war in Iraq,” the White House said.

White House aides said Obama would “point out that the same people who supported war in Iraq are opposing diplomacy with Iran, and that it would be an historic mistake to squander this opportunity” to contain Iran’s nuclear program.

The framing of that message appears to be a direct appeal to congressional Democrats, many of whom either opposed the Iraq War or came to regret their votes to authorize it. Obama will need their votes to get the one-thirds vote necessary to sustain a veto.

This is Obama’s strawman argument. There is, in fact, a better choice, namely, negotiating a better deal, rather than one which simply limits Iran’s nuclear weapons aspirations for a decade while essentially removing sanctions which won’t ever “snapback”, all while providing security for Iran. Plus all the other bad parts of the deal, which was negotiated from a position of weakness by Team Obama.

USA Today apparently missed the memo from the White House that the speech will channel John F. Kennedy. The Washington Post is running an article with a headline that mentions it, as do many others, including Politico

Obama channels John F. Kennedy to pitch Iran deal
The president plans to use speech at American University to argue for talking to enemies.

As he defends his nuclear deal with Iran, President Barack Obama is honing a larger vision of foreign policy — one in which military power alone can’t achieve the most important objectives, America is strongest when leading an international coalition, and even an imperfect agreement with a sworn enemy can be progress, not capitulation.

Now, in a speech Wednesday at American University drawing on Cold War history — namely, a 1963 address by John F. Kennedy proposing new dialogue with the Soviet Union — Obama will try to reframe the Iran debate around the grander worldview underlying his new dialogue with Tehran and Cuba.

“You don’t enter into these kinds of agreements with your friends. You have to resolve these kinds of differences with your adversaries,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.

There’s nothing wrong with talking to enemies, especially if it can stop them from Bad Behavior. It’s quite another thing to make an historically bad deal. And we still do not know about all the side deals. And this bad deal could very well lead to military action, which would mean war, after Obama has left office.

Obama will “describe how this debate is fundamentally about U.S. leadership in the world and how we can lead global efforts to address threats like Iran’s nuclear program the way we did when President Kennedy made the case for diplomatic efforts to address the threat of nuclear weapons and avoid catastrophic conflict,” Earnest said Friday.

Obama has already quoted Kennedy more than once in recent weeks, citing a famous line from the 35th president’s inaugural address in the context of the Iran talks: “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.”

Instead, they negotiated from a position of weakness, and showed that U.S. leadership is lacking. It’s capitulation. Expect him to whine at those who do not support his bad Iran deal (as he always does), because, as we all know, the best way to entice the opposition to come to your side is to verbally abuse them.

The remarks are scheduled for 11:20am, so, turn the TV on around 11:45 if you’re interested in watching. Nothing says “I respect you and want your support” like showing up late.

Crossed at Right Wing News.