North Korea and the October surprise

By Heraclitus

Perhaps it's just wishful thinking on my part, but if there's one good thing that may come out of North Korea's nuclear tests, it might involve the vaunted "October surprise" Karl Rove had been promising the GOP. Many assumed that the surprise would be an attack on Iran's nuclear plants (and it says a great deal about this White House that so many sober people believed that Karl Rove would be making that decision). Such a move would enable Bush and the Republicans to look tough and homeland-protectory. But now that North Korea has gone ahead and gone nuclear, a strike on Iran would seem rather beside the point. It's true that in some ways Iran seems like more of a threat to actually use their nukes than North Korea, but even if Bush bombed Iran's plants, he really couldn't claim much credit for himself, given that another card-carrying member of the Axis of Evil has already tested its nuclear weapons. So, if nothing else, this test may force the White House to make a decision based on principle or prudence rather than politics (oh, wait, I forgot whom we were talking about), or at least help bring a little bit of balance back to the government (in the form of Democratic control of one or both houses of Congress).