John Kerry

It is interesting to think of the cynical articles that appeared every time it looked like Iran would fail - referring to his self assurance and persistence as delusional. In fact, success of failure or anything in between, what they seem to describe is a man well grounded in his own values, keeping his head down and working to find ways where others would not even try.

That is so NOT the current way to "play the game" and you can still see many in the media - like a CNN article that says Kerry is on a roll, but can it last? - who see everything as a game where the worst thing is losing. Given that the next key think Kerry is working on now is an even longer shot that than the long shot Iran deal or the long shot of getting a climate deal - Syria, he may not succeed. Yet watching his speech the day after the state of the union, watching where he speaks of the horror that is now Syria, how does a good statesman NOT try for a political solution. True, he could stand with his Iran deal, climate change deal, etc laurels taking on only any sure things, but his job is not a game to be defined by wins and losses. Just as Frank Lowenstein said of the failure to get an Israel/Palestine deal, he was glad they tried.

What I do like is that for people on the left 50% of the country, there is pretty unanimous approval for the excellent, exceptional job he has done. That might be as good as gets in a polarized country.