SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 7:45 P.M. ET:

WHAT A JOKE – I received an e-mail earlier today from a very loyal subscriber, alerting me to a warning that Dick Morris issued, to the effect that some agreement with Iran may be Obama's "October surprise."  And sure enough, not many hours later we learn "exclusively" from The New York Times, a division of the Obama administration, that Iran has agreed to one-on-one talks with the U.S. on its nuclear program.  This is announced two days before the presidential debate on foreign policy, to take place Monday evening.  You don't think it's a coincidence, do you?  It is, and it's a mean-spirited farce.  It is nothing at all.  We and others have been "negotiating" with the Iranians for decades, with no results to speak of.  The Obamans will advertise this as a "breakthrough," but it is a gimmick, and I hope Romney has the sense to hit it hard Monday night as a pre-election device, another attempt by the Iranians to stall for time.

GALLUP GALLUPING – Gallup's daily tracker still shows Romney up by six among likely voters.  Just as important, Obama's approval rating has been deteriorating daily in the Gallup poll.  It is pretty apparent that the second presidential debate changed no minds in any number.  Even Candy Crowley couldn't help Obama. 

ANOTHER FAMOUS OBAMA VICTORY – A new poll taken in Egypt shows that Egyptians have an increasingly favorable view, not of the United States, but of Iran, and think that both Iran and Egypt should have nuclear weapons.  Wow, Barack Obama certainly has done a great job of moving Egypt, the most important Arab country, closer to the West.  Of course, Obama really doesn't care, as he doesn't have much respect for Western civilization, or, for that matter, his own people.

October 20, 2012