START Celebrating

The Senate today ratified the New START treaty with Russia by a vote of 71-26. It deserves to be noted that, in voting for the treaty and against the wishes of the scurrilous Missy McConnell and Jon Kyl, the following Republicans voted for country rather than party: Lamar Alexander, Bob Bennett, Scott Brown, Thad Cochran, Susan Collins, Bob Corker, Judd Gregg, Johnny Isakson, Mike Johanns, Richard Lugar, Lisa Murkowski, Olympia Snowe, and George Voinovich. We'd like to hope this is a trend that will continue in the next Congress, but we're not holding our breath.

START Stopped & Obama in Portugal

-- The Russians are mystified why the START treaty has apparently been stalled by the likes of Sen. Jon Kyl (Rethug-crAZy). What they need to know is that it's not about the treaty, it's about giving Obama anything that could be construed as a victory.

-- Meanwhile, Obama is attending the NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal, where it's expected the alliance will set a goal of ending its combat role in Afghanistan by 2014 or sooner. A partial NATO troop drawdown will begin in July 2011.

Mittens: "I See BMs!"

The Kaplan Daily gave Willard "Mittens/ Muff/ Flip Flop" Romney primo op/ed space yesterday (refuse to link) to demonstrate his chops on a major foreign policy issue: the new START treaty. Why the Kaplan Daily would do this is questionable. Were they just giving him enough rope to hang himself with (nope), or was it because they see Mittens as a Serious Person with a Serious Position (yep)?

Well, the reviews are in. Sen. John Kerry provided an immediate rejoinder in today's paper; Washington Monthly cites people who know better than Mittens (one of whom characterizes Mittens' droppings as "shabby, misleading and...thoroughly ignorant"); and the SadlyNots finish with a coup de grace, pointing out a basic flaw in Mittens' terminology.

Mittens. What passes for a Serious Person in the Rethuglican presidential sweepstakes, and on the editorial pages of the Kaplan Daily.

(Image: Ask Mittens anything, unless it has something to do with technical stuff.)