"Ebbie...Do you think there may be personal /health reasons behind the story? It is noticable that she has not been as visible on the international scene lately.

"There could of course be several reasons for that, like being reined in by Mr Obama, if he feels that she is about to get off the blocks." ake

It beats the heck out of me how anyone- whether it be ake or Little Hawk or Joe Blow- can presume that their intelligence and their analytical skills surpass those of others who have an actual track record in intelligent analysis.

I'm sure there are people in Congress and in American government generally who practically despair at some of their countrymen's obliviousness and their willingness to be swayed by the windy ones but there are also people in those high places who know there are many, many aware, alert, focused and effectual people in the country and keep a steady hand on the course and know they - and we - can come out on the other side. Life rarely presents one test and it's over. It is far more often a hodge podge of events one meets on the road.

In the meantime, I am not impressed with shallow, cynical discourses on people in government and on Main Street - frankly, my dears, they actually know very little of what they speak. Keep your analysis to two generations ago. You have a much better grasp of that history and will have a much better chance of being correct.