Politics

John Limbert does some much needed threat-deflating regarding Iran:

The facts do not support the fearmongers. Their warnings of “Iranian hegemony” and a “new Persian Empire” have no basis in reality.

March will mark a year since Saudi Arabia began its air campaign in Yemen, where Iran-backed militiamen drove President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi into exile in Riyadh.

The Houthi advance was a decidedly unwelcome event for the Saudis who aren’t keen on permitting Tehran to establish what would amount to an Iranian colony with a cozy view of the Bab-el-Mandeb on the kingdom’s southern border.

The same people that endorsed Romney for president in his first campaign are very concerned about the nomination of an opportunistic, unprincipled businessman:

If Trump were to become the president, the Republican nominee, or even a failed candidate with strong conservative support, what would that say about conservatives? The movement that ground down the Soviet Union and took the shine, at least temporarily, off socialism would have fallen in behind a huckster.

This morning, I was on CNN’s “New Day” with Alisyn Camerota talking about Donald Trump’s chances to “run the table.” You can see a slightly truncated clip of the interview here.

Where the clip cuts off, I was saying that in this cycle, it feels like Republican voters seem much more interested in someone who stands against the existing GOP power structure than in ideological litmus tests.

Exclusive: Since Israel decided that Iran was its big enemy – and made Saudi Arabia its quiet ally – American neocons have fallen in line, demanding that the U.S. government punish Iran and coddle the Saudis whatever their unsavory behavior, notes Daniel Lazare. By Daniel Lazare Bret Stephens, the deputy editorial page editor who writes…