I'm Ali Khamenei, And I Approve This Message

Sounds to me like the Iranian Queerless Leader has placed his bets on who he thinks will be the final pair in the U.S. presidential race - if, you know, orthodox Muslims engaged in such sinful pursuits as gambling, and plotting mass murders, and stuff like that there:

Iran's supreme leader suggested on Thursday that ties might one day be possible with the United States, the Islamic state's arch foe for almost three decades, although he said it would harm Iran to restore relations now.

"Not having relations with America is one of our main policies but we have never said this relationship should be cut forever," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in the central province of Yazd, state television reported.

"Certainly, the day when having relations with America is useful for the nation I will be the first one to approve this relationship."

Not that the Bush Administration hasn't been softer than a black banana on the mullahgarchy over the past few years, or that our enemies are necessarily all that conversant about the details of American domestic politics, but would "conciliatory" rhetoric like this be issuing forth from Tehran if the mullahs thought that the next president of the United States wasn't going to be Hillary Clinton?  Or, if a miracle on a par with the parting of the Red Sea were to take place, Mike f'ing Huckabee?

At the very least, it would seem that they drew wilier conclusions from that recent mullah-smooch known as the latest National "Intelligence" estimate than our own "intelligence" community did.  Certainly nobody in the presidential race who would buck that monument to pacifist ignorance (if there is any such candidate) is anywhere near serious viability.

The only question seems to be, shall we say, the degree to which Islamic Iran will be the rider in this "relationship," and conquered America will be the horse.

Sure lends the suddenly not-inconceivable possibility of a president named "Obama" an....intriguing context, doesn't it?