Here is a round-up of some of the commentary following the special election in California to fill the seat of disgraced ex-Congressman "Duke" Cunningham. It is a solidly Republican district, and the GOP candidate ended up winning the seat. I think special elections are a poor barometer of behavior in general elections, primarily because the turnout in special elections is so much different than what one would see in a general election. Still, the Republicans will spin this to prove their contention that they are not in danger of losing control of Congress, while Democrats will say that the narrow nature of the loss in such a solidly Republican district is a harbinger of the landslide to come in November.

The Iranians are indicating that they are receptive to talks on their nuclear program. Michael Ledeen is very critical of these new negotiations, likening our Iran policy to the days of Bill Clinton. Ledeen believes the Iranian leadership is hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons and of continuing their war against the West. I believe he is right, but what he does not understand is that, for domestic political reasons, the President has no choice but to attempt a North Korean-style appeasement strategy. The American people are tired of the war we are fighting and do not want to add another to the list. The big war that Ledeen believes could be avoided if we played a tough hand against the Iranian government and aided the opposition inside and outside Iran is almost inevitable, in my view. We are currently engaged in a Cold War-style containment policy, with smaller wars fought directly or indirectly with Islamist states and their allies and special ops and CIA guys taking on the Islamists abroad and our law enforcement types taking them on here at home. Like the Cold War against Communism, this is designed to prevent the outbreak of a big war, while slowly wearing down the opposition until they collapse. I am not very hopeful that we can wear the Islamists down since, unlike the Communists, they have the power of faith on their side. They also do not have a state to protect, as the Soviets did in Russia. I am still betting on the big war.

More details are out on the alleged plot in Canada by some home grown Islamists.

While most of us worry about the high price of gasoline, or the terror war, or even global warming, here is another article about something that could cause the collapse of civilization before the end of the century...declining fertility rates.