Yeah, I know. Today is all NSA all the time. I haven't seen this many hits in a Technorati search ever before. This is bigger than a wardrobe failure.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, Iran has decided to bypass the paralyzed US government, mindlessly thrashing about in partisan politics run amok, and negotiate with the real power in America. Or at least what they perceive is the real power.
They have directly opened negotiations with Time magazine.
NO, I'm not making this up. When the Iranian psychopathic loony President sent his rambling laundry list of lefty talking points gleaned from Daily Kos letter to the President of the US, a separate two page letter was sent directly to Time magazine. In it Hassan Rohani,representative of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini gives a strategy for opening negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
Hassan Rohani,representative of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, on the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and Iran's former top nuclear negotiator, defends Iran's nuclear posture, decries American bullying, and puts forward a plan to remove the nuclear issue from the U.N. Security Council and return it to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, a long-standing Iranian goal.
The letter also offers some specific Iranian starting points for negotiation. Rohani said Iran would "consider ratifying the Additional Protocol, which provides for intrusive and snap inspections," and that it would also "address the question of preventing 'break-out'" — or abandonement of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Independent nuclear experts consulted by TIME said these proposals were "hopeful" signs. p> However, on the key U.S. demand that Iran forgo uranium enrichment on its own soil, because of international fears the process would permit Tehran to develop weapons-grade fissile material, Rohani said Iran would agree only "to negotiate with the IAEA and states concerned about the scope and timing of its industrial-scale uranium enrichment." And while Rohani promised that "Iran would accept an IAEA verifiable cap on enrichment limit of reactor grade uranium" on Iranian territory, that would not meet the concerns of the U.S. and most of its European allies.
Rohani also pledged that "Iran would accept an IAEA verifiable cap on the production of UF6 — uranium hexafluoride, which is used for enrichment." Finally, Rohani promised that "Iran and the IAEA would agree on terms of the continuous presence of inspectors in Iran to verify credibly that no diversion takes place."
Now, there is no indication whatsoever that Time magazine turned this letter over to the White House, but they did go directly to a good reliable Democratic Senator for his outlook:
Senator Joseph Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee noted: "If this is Iran's position, there may be something to build on, but after two decades of deception, and outrageous threats from its president, Iran has to do much more than Rohani suggests to regain the world's trust. For our part, we should talk directly to Tehran, as we did with the Soviet Union during the Cold War."
Anyone else besides me think this is a) wrong and b) wrong? This is information warfare and Time is being quite useful to the Mullahs.
Treasonous. I always knew Time Magazine was suspect. They are aiding and abetting. And giving comfort to our enemies. Bad patriots! Bad!! BAD!!
Did I miss anything?
Oh yeah. CLINTON SUCKS!!!
Congratulations Dan! You’ve just been indoctrinated into the Right-Wing Lemming Club.
Dan, what exactly are you going on about? Does this constitute diplomatic channels in your world?
Just about as much as “rambling laundry list of lefty talking points gleaned from Daily Kos” is, smart-guy.
I’m mustering all my maturity for this one…”You started it!”
on a seperate note:
Am I to believe that Bush is so deranged they named a syndrome after him? Cool.
Ah, I see. Well, that’s from my original posts on the whackjob’s letter. I’m not the only one who noticed it, either. It’s also interesting how few lefties blogged about the letter.
I just find it interesting that:
a) Your are so dismissive towards anything that isn’t fundamentally Right-Wing. That “Angry Left” crap is getting old. All I have to do to even the score is point out that Westboro Baptist Church is part of the Republican base. Sean Hannity berating Ms. Phelps for 10 minutes doesn’t change that. Even Captain Ed has the cahones to admit that the Right is faltering all over the place right now and that the mid-term threat from Dems should be taken seriously. “Hate” may not win Presidential elections, but this isn’t a Presidential election.
b) You feel you can throw out whatever demeaning, demonizing, anti-Left vitriole you see fit, and expect not to get the same in kind.
c) You are blogger who presumably believes in the whole “free press” thing. Don’t you find it at all dangerous to assume that all media outlets should report to the federal government?
A) I’m dismissive of certain things.
B) My vitriol is reserved for certain people and behaviors
C) I do believe in a free, accurate and responsible press. It’s those last two that are missing.
Gaius,
Trying to judge “the press” as if it were a monolithic entity gives you a false picture. Some press organs are accurate, some are inaccurate, to varying degrees. But with a free press, people such as yourself can sift through the information to make up your own minds. That’s what a free press is all about.
I understand that it is not a monolith. It’s very awkward to try and qualify each segment as it applies to each instance.
In other words, it’s shorthand.
I understand. But shorthand descriptions of “the press” bother me quite as much as shorthand descriptions of those untrustworthy bloggers in pajamas. I’ve had a few words to say on that subject in my own blog in recent days. Main point: Credibility is individually earned and lost. The medium is not the message.
BTW, you see to be getting more comments. Congrats!
I see your point, but I’ll likely end up using shorthand no matter what. Remember, Bradley, this is commentary, not reporting.
Yeah, comments and regulars are up. I have a regular reader from Bangkok – which he calls “the Big Mango” – I got a heck of a kick out of that name.