horse of george

I think what is being missed here concerning Obama's promise to talk directly with Iran and sundry rogue states is not whether it's good policy or not [I personally believe there is no wholesale right or wrong answer here - each case would demand a specific approach, although in general it seems to make little sense strategically to play your big card first] - but what's being missed, or if not missed then not paid close enough attention to, is Obama's apparent belief that he personally can effect some dynamic change for the good simply by speaking with his counterpart. That strikes one as delusional and a very dangerous sort of delusion if one believes Obama has gotten this far in his career by taking that very approach - dangerous because in his rise through the ultra left wing politics of Chicago and a presidential primary process that was, because of the war, very much controlled by the left wing of the Democratic party, he has essentially been speaking to people who want to believe him, long to share in his point of view and hope in their hearts that he is right. He's not gonna find such a nice, receptive audience in the big boy world of international relations - in fact if he is thusly delusional and this delusion is naively based on a misunderstanding of his putative success up to this point then guys like Putin et al will I imagine eat him alive.