Sunday START Reading

Are Rethugs really more interested in scoring political points against Obama than in safeguarding U.S. national security by ratifying the START treaty? Will the Washington punditocracy call them on it?

On the first question, read Joseph Picard's take in the International Business Times.

On the second question, read Doug J's post in Balloon Juice on how David Broder -- the personification of the Washington old-boy "insider" (very old boy)-- sees the START treaty as an opportunity for President Obama to proffer his posterior on the altar of Sen. Jon Kyl (Rethug-crAZy), for the sake of proving his seriousness about "bipartisanship." (Broder chooses to ignore the fact that a substantial bipartisan consensus already exists to move ahead with START: Sen. Lugar, Henry Kissinger, James Baker, George Schultz, Brent Scowcroft, Robert Gates, Adm. Mullen, etc., and the majority of the national security establishment, for example.)

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.