What does failure look like?

Washington Post Opinion Writer Robert Kagan’s recent column extols five foreign policy victories for President Obama in the month of June. RedStateVT wondered why we hadn’t heard of any, so we read on. Here is number two:

The second success was the U.N. Security Council resolution on Iran. Yes, it was too mild, badly watered down by China and Russia. Yes, the administration oversold how much Russia acceded to American desires. But the administration did get a resolution, only a little later than planned, and passage kicked off additional sanctions by Europeans and others. Will this by itself stop Iran from getting a bomb? No. But it does increase the pressure on the Tehran regime, which may indirectly help those Iranians who dare to struggle for a new kind of government. Nor did Turkey and Brazil's votes against the resolution, following their pro-Iranian diplomacy, do more than discredit their leaders in decent world opinion -- imagine voting no even as China and Russia vote yes. (Robert Kagan, Washington Post, 6/29/10)

So to summarize, success according to Kagan is defined as a mild, badly watered down resolution that was oversold and late, that will not stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb and that was not supported by U.S. allies Turkey and Brazil! Talk about defining success down. We will not even share the other four “successes” with you. It is not surprising perhaps, as we learn that Kagan hails from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Works for Us
The Supreme Court’s ruling on the right to bear arms puts lives at risk. (New York Times, 6/29/10)

Yes, but the lives at risk are the criminals!

Uneven Bars
The death last year of Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts — who was second only to Mr. Byrd in length of Senate service — and his replacement in January by a Republican, Senator Scott Brown, forced Democrats into procedural gymnastics to enact the health care law. (New York Times, 6/29/10)

Wow! RedStateVT does not recall the New York Times referring this derisively to Democrat shenanigans to pass the health care bill at the time.