Déjà vu

Here we go again. Iran has detained embassy personnel on trumped-up charges trying to justify kidnapping and interfering with diplomacy. This time it is the British, who are being accused of pushing the current anti-government protests going on in the country.

But we have heard it all before. Once again, an Iranian government has chosen to create yet more problems, locking up diplomatic personnel, instead of negotiating with them in good faith. Where will this stop?

Medical malpractice reform

Mr. Obama was elected on a platform of change. But where is the change, when he advocates keeping the existing malpractice system in place? Malpractice reform is sorely needed to assure that our best medical practitioners are not run out of business by big insurance claims.

The Administration would have you believe that this enables us to assure a better quality of medical care. But that has not worked in the past, and what assurance do we have that it will do so in the past? The only way to assure good care is to assure good medical practitioners. When we allow our best to be run away by unfounded lawsuits and huge judgements, we harm our system. This is one of the problems we have today, and without this change, it will continue in the future.

Interfering and rude?

The British ambassador to Tehran has been summoned before the Iranian government to receive a warning that the British government are being "interfering and rude" over the current crisis. But like most Western nations, British remarks about the upheaval clearly underway in that troubled country have been mild. In fact, compared to some of the other EU countries, they could even be considered rather tame.

The problem is, that the West is in a quandary. Do we wish for the devil we know or the one we don't? Either way, Iran will continue to be a problem, but it is at least interesting to watch this process to see where it takes the country.

We can only hope that widespread bloodshed will be avoided. So far the protesters have shown no interest in violence, but the government supporters have not been so kind.

A Fair Election?

One must at least consider the process of yesterday's election in Iran that lead to a "landslide victory" for President Ahmadinejad. Protests in the street will most likely be unsuccessful in leading to any change or even recount, because the Ayatollah has now officially "blessed" the process. But the process itself may yet be the undoing of the Regime. The original election cards marked by the voters are never seen by anyone except the government who then tally them and present the results to the world. Perhaps the President did win fair and square - but can he prove it?

Still in charge...for now

Gordon Brown seems to have survived last evening's crucial meeting with his fellow Labour MPs through a reported display of uncharacteristic humbleness in which he promised an attempt to rectify past mistakes. There are still large numbers of his clan who do not believe that he can lead them to a victory in the next election, but for now, at least, they are holding their protests.

But Mr. Brown may not yet be out of trouble, as Conservatives are continuing to call for an election. An upcoming vote in a few weeks will offer some interesting insight when we see if any of the Labour back-benchers might join the Conservatives in simply wishing it all to be decided.

Meanwhile a completely new Cabinet meets this morning, tested and proven only to the extent of their loyalty to the PM. They profess to be ready to get down to business, but inexperienced in their new positions, it will remain to be seen how effective they can be early on in dealing with the country's continuing problems.

A Government "Falling Apart Before Our Eyes?"

A time of great political upheaval has fallen upon the United Kingdom, the outcome of which is yet to be written. An almost perfect storm of the recent monumental economic woes with all it's accompanying damage, accentuated by a growing scandal over the expense claims of Members of Parliament (MP's), has created an increasingly untenable position for Gordon Brown's Labour government.

Last week was a particularly disaster with with at one point 3 cabinet members resigning in 3 days. The most damaging perhaps was the public letter published in The Times by promising young Work and Pensions Secretary, James Purnell, MP, who in resigning his cabinet post stated that "Gordon Brown's continued leadership makes a Conservative victory more likely not less likely". This prompted Conservative Leader David Cameron's remark that "what we are watching is a government falling apart in front of our eyes".

Further troubles ended the week with big losses by Labour in the local elections and a complete disaster over the weekend when Conservatives took a large share of the European Parliament seats. Even the ultra-conservative British National Party managed to gain a seat in the election backlash that clearly showed the distrust of the British voters of all the major parties.

Today Mr. Brown is trying to recoup, but he will face serious questions by his party's MP's tonight about why only 15% of those polled in this most recent election voted Labour. Some say it is time for the "men in grey suits" to advise Mr. Brown that his continued presence is detrimental, but so far he holds on with the an almost sureal tenacity.

This is a truly interesting time to be in the UK, observing all this strife first hand. Only time will tell the final outcome, but my guess is that sooner or later Mr. Cameron will finally have his chance.

One for Mr. President

Let's get this one out of the way up front - as a conservative, I am not a fan of Barack Obama for reasons that will no doubt become obvious later in my posts. However in all fairness, I cannot let last week's Mid-East speech by Mr. Obama go by without notice.

One of the concerns we had early on as the US mulled the prospect of intervention in Iraq was the seeming lack of understanding brought to the table by the previous administration. Having done business in the Middle East, I learned long ago that success depends on an understanding of the unique ways the people there negotiate and do business. And it seemed to me that if a simple business person could learn this, the Administration could surely do so. But in fact, although it seems as if Iraq at least may have been pulled back from the brink, an almost embarrassing lack of this understanding was almost the demise of the whole plan.

Mr. Obama, however, is of a different lot. Last week's speech showed much thought in consulting all those requried to not only understand what best to say but even how to present it in multiple terms that would make sense to his diverse audience, even from a religious basis. Some will say he was pandering, but in my view it was an excellent beginning. Because what he accomplished was the beginning of a building of confidence in the region which can pay off big in the long term.

So whatever I may think about his domestic policies and liberal tendancies, I must give credit where it is due, and in this case it certainly is due. Now the stage is set for action, and this is the most difficult part. We can only hope that Mr. Obama can build on this oratory success with concrete changes that will eventually lead to a new, more peaceful era. And if he can accomplish this, there is little doubt that he will have earned a well deserved place in history.