He Sure Did Push a Big Pile of...

You think you knew how I was going to finish that one, didn't you? But Fineman tells us it's a big pile of...political capital! Fineman: Iran holds Bush, GOP hostage

Yes, he did push a big pile of political capital on the table, and we're all suffering from the stench of that gamble. (OK, I guess I couldn't resist the mixed pile metaphor.) But the reason he lost, and that we're all losing, is not because he had a bad hand. Indeed, if the President had been honest with Americans about his neo-conservative wet dream strategy, if he had played down the imminent threat, and if he had actually conducted any part of the war correctly--he would likely be sitting on top of an even bigger pile, so to speak.

I like what Fineman does, but he's overlooking some very important parts of the Iran/Bush problem. First, Americans know Bush and Cheney are going to be dishonest about the threat because they cried wolf(owitz) once before. But more importantly, Americans don't trust Bush and Cheney to be able to get anything right. We want him to sit out this deal, to fold his hand and go back to the ranch. He's not a player we trust our chips with.

That's the most dangerous part of this Iranian nuclear nightmare.