Slogging to victory

FLEXING his presidential muscles, Obama got the Senate to advance START today. Senators voted 67-28 to put the arms treaty up for near certain ratification tomorrow. Most Republicans fought it tooth and nail. And getting here was politically messy, as usual. Then again, consider the last paragraph in the New York Times article which reported the news: “For the treaty to take effect, the Russian parliament must ratify it as well. But given the Kremlin’s control over the Russian political system, that is viewed as a formality.” That’s the difference between us and them. Yes, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, democracy remains the worst form of government – except for all the others.