SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE: 

CHRISTIE TRAVELING – Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, having told one visiting delegation after another that he won't run for president next year, is suddenly off to make an appearance in Iowa, leading to speculation that maybe the governor has heard the call, or at least heard that a call is waiting for him.  A word of caution is required.  Republicans adore Christie because he's blunt-spoken and has taken on the entrenched liberal interests.  You want to cheer him.  You want to chant, "Run, Chris, run!"  But we're in the NY/NJ television market here, and we see him all the time.  He has the personality of a governor, not a president.  That confrontational style makes you applaud for the first ten minutes.  Then you yawn.  He might make a good president.  I don't think he can get there.

OBAMA DISSES CLINTON-SIGNED MARRIAGE LAW – President Obama has thrown his support to a Democratic effort in Congress to overturn the Defense of Marriage Law, signed by President Clinton.  It shows how far the Dems have drifted on this issue.  The law defines marriage as between a man and a woman.  The Obama Justice Department has already said it won't enforce the law because they believe its unconstitutional.  A congressional overturn in the near future, though, is highly unlikely, as Republicans control the House, and they favor the Clinton-signed legislation. 

BARBARISM – The supreme court of Iran has refused to stop the planned execution of a man sentenced to death for being a Christian and advocating Christianity.  This court operates within a regime that will soon have nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles, a regime whose president denies the Holocaust.  Yet, we have lost any sense of urgency in dealing with the Iranian government, although it is supplying weapons to forces in Iraq and Afghanistan that are killing American soldiers.  There were plenty of American "sophisticates" who, before World War II, refused to see Japan or Germany as enemies.  I'm afraid we're seeing that same psychology today.

MICHELE ADVANCES – We've reported today on Michele Bachmann's latest problem, a charge by anonymous former staffers that she gets migraines that interfere with her work.  She answered that charge vigorously, although probably didn't put the issue to bed.  At the same time, a new national poll has her leading in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, while another has her in second place and gaining.  She's clearly become a phenomenon, in some respects this year's Sarah Palin, although, of course, Palin never ran for president.

July 19, 2011