Before I get a comment that I want to bomb Iran, let me say that negotiations are always better than bombs.  This is especially true for those of us who have sons in the armed forces!  My friend at church lost a son in Iraq, so I know about the cost of war.

At the same time, we've learned from history that some thugs love to buy time with deals and arrangements.  Do you remember Saddam Hussein playing with U.N. resolutions for ten years?  Or North Korea negotiating with President Clinton in 1994?

We've also learned from history that these people can't be trusted – e.g., Chamberlain waving his paper about a deal with Hitler.

Please forgive me for being  a bit skeptical with people who keep cheating on previous deals.

I have three problems with this deal:

First, it's not really a deal, but an arrangement that we will get back together and talk again.  In street talk, this is giving Iran another few months to get closer to their goal of having a bomb.

Second, Israel does not like it.  It worries me deeply that our #1 ally in the region is not happy.

Third, the deal, or whatever they call it, gives away too much, as the Washington Post explains in an editorial:

THE “KEY parameters” for an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program released Thursday fall well short of the goals originally set by the Obama administration. None of Iran’s nuclear facilities — including the Fordow center buried under a mountain — will be closed. Not one of the country’s 19,000 centrifuges will be dismantled. Tehran’s existing stockpile of enriched uranium will be “reduced” but not necessarily shipped out of the country. In effect, Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will remain intact, though some of it will be mothballed for 10 years. When the accord lapses, the Islamic republic will instantly become a threshold nuclear state.

That’s a long way from the standard set by President Obama in 2012 when he declared that “the deal we’ll accept” with Iran “is that they end their nuclear program” and “abide by the U.N. resolutions that have been in place.” Those resolutions call for Iran to suspend the enrichment of uranium. 

So what exactly is the deal?  Maybe we will have to sign it to know what's in it.

We have a president desperately looking for a legacy, or what some of the cultists in the media call his "Nixon to China" moment.

President Obama needs to understand a couple of things:

Presidents don't look for a legacy.  They do a good job, and that's how they find a legacy.  You make the tough and unpleasant calls, and legacy comes your away, such as the way we look at President Truman today.

Also, a "Nixon to China" moment means that you go against your base on a major item.  For example, you tell Democrats that it's time to give parents a real choice for their kids' education.  Or you tell the gay lobby that there should be a place in our society for the photographer who is uncomfortable at their wedding.

So this is not a deal.  Of course, Iran keeps getting what it wants: time!

P.S. You can hear my show (CantoTalk) or follow me on Twitter.