Rumi Nations

So, the Nobel Committee has sprung a surprise -- or, as one might say, sprung a rabbit out of the hat. And the deabte is raging in full bloom! My first reaction was one of happiness as I have no qualms admitting that I'm an Obama fan. Is this premature? Perhaps as the Nobel Committee has said this is a recognition of the window of opportunity that Obama has been able to open by the very fact of his being President. Whether these opportunities turn into real victories ... only time will tell. Often, or usually, that depends on many players ... in complex international affairs. If one were to debate the deservedness of Nobel winners, one might debate whether Peres, Rabin and Arafat were deserving winners ... did they manage to carve out some sort of enduring peace deal out of their efforts? I guess these are often open-ended questions with no definitiveness about them. I have a feeling that Bill Clinton might have reacted with a lot of surprise ... I would love to see his public reac...

Americans seem to have a confused attitude towards extramarital relationships — at least, with respect to their public figures indulging in them ... John Edwards suddently found that the ground beneath him had disappeared when his one time relationship with a woman came to light ... Similarly, Eliot_Spitzer had to resign from the post of Governor of New York state when his liasions with call girls became public knowledge. In Bill Clinton 's case, his fling with Monica Lewinsky almost brough down his presidency. In the case of John F. Kennedy , some of his adventures are coming to light now — more than 40 years after his death. A former White House intern is going to publish a book about her relation with the then president. In spite of JFK's well-documented relations with many women, his stock continues to remain high in the public's opinion. Is there a contradiction here? Perhaps, the public is willing to condone personal mistakes in public figures as long as they don...