Go tell it on the mountain

WITH Senate ratification of the START treaty all but assured, President Obama is savoring a big win. The man, in effect, just climbed the North Face of the Eiger. But good news doesn’t sell newspapers. Faster than you can say “Congratulations, Mr. President,” the press is handwringing over the next mountain of problems facing Obama on nuclear weapons. And in the news business nothing sells like perpetual conflict. First out of the gate is David Sanger’s piece in the New York Times, headlined “Political Divide Undermines Obama’s Nuclear Goals.” Sanger says Republicans will fanatically oppose future pacts to ban nuclear testing. Nascent nuclear powers like Pakistan are gunning to kill U.S. efforts to reduce fissile material production. And any new treaty dealing with small, tactical nukes is certain to instigate barroom brawls between the White House and Congress. It could get ugly, Sanger hints. Look, I’m not really knocking the Times. These are legitimate and important issues that deserve scrutiny. But the Sherpa-less press too often fixates on the climb rather than the mountains themselves, thereby missing the larger point: We have, in Mr. Obama, a wily president who can actually summit them. That is rare. Go tell that on the mountain.