Thanks to the Peacemakers

I am one of those who think John Kerry and Barack Obama should be praised for conducting negotiations with Iran. You know the deal to slow Iran's development of nukes. Dread enemies sitting in hotel room, writing terms on a whiteboard, working to make a deal. Or as the NYTimes puts it: "A deal built on Coffee, All-Nighters and Compromise." It's not pretty, it's not sexy or exciting. And it's easy to pick apart. And it seems as soon as a tentative framework was announced, all the critics came out to take shots at it. It's so easy to sit back and criticize.

It is so rare to see great powers try to work it out in a room. Diplomats. They kind of get a bum rap. If you negotiate, you also compromise.  And well, in most political circles, compromising is considered weak. But of course, it's not. To talk, to engage in the give and take, is the smart, intelligent way to navigate a very dangerous, crazy world. So often the answer is to take up arms. Madness...

As they say, it's just a framework for an agreement, not a complete deal yet, but a pretty extraordinary development.  Thanks to the peacemakers - Kerry & Obama!

Oh yeah, then there are the malicious idiots on the conservative right, who always, always talk war!