Iranian Breadcrumbs and Vice Presidential Clues

I know that the biggest item on the domestic agenda is our health care system. How we oversee the accessibility of quality health care has an obvious impact on the way we conduct our lives as Americans. It affects how we work, how we live, and what we can do to contribute to making the United States a better home for us all.

Government should be involved with providing better avenues for better health care, even if that means not running the health care system itself.

No, I don't agree with moving to an expansive universal health care system. And why is that?

It's because the federal government has a more important job, one that is clearly spelled out for us in the Constitution, unlike the vagueness of role it holds within the health care debate.

That job? Protecting America's sovereignty against foreign threats.

Is anyone paying attention to Iran?

The latest news from the Middle East stating that Iran has an "updated nuclear package" makes the presence of former Vice President Dick Cheney in the Sunday news more relevant that it may seem.

While many Americans may feel that Cheney's presence in the news cycles is nothing more than either a ploy to protect the Bush/Cheney historical legacy or a move to prod the Obama Administration while it's down, we should look at Cheney's continued arguments considering foreign affairs. Regardless of the arguments about EITs (Enhanced Interrogation Techniques) or federal spending (both conversations for another day), this is clear: the United States is facing a threat overseas that the nation - especially leadership in Washington, particularly the White House - must focus on moreso than universal health care.

With other world leaders taking sides on the results of the Iranian presidential election a few months ago (as countries such as Russia and China quickly "approving" of the Ahmadinejad victory while nations such as France expressed doubts about the validity of the results), Iran's determined march towards inclusion into the nuclear community is an item that must never lose focus.

America's prioritized attention towards foreign affairs not only follows the protocol of the Constitution, but it follows a logical argument as well. Without standing up for the freedom from fear that allies such as Israel are cannot enjoy due to the Iranian nuclear threat, our freedom as a powerful and safe nation risks compromise. As we continue to face a money crunch, a changing world landscape, and a shift from political apathy since the election of President Obama, we must focus on what's truly important - and what's truly the role of the American government.

Even to supporters of the president's domestic plan, universal health care doesn't hold its same allure without having American freedoms and security from attack as part of the package.

The former VP is dead-on. If leadership in Washington is spend more money on anything, it must look to stabilize situations in the Middle East, including the current wars we are engaged in as well as the nuclear threat from an unstable opponent. Iran keeps showing us clues that they are serious about changing the paradigm we live in globally. Cheney keeps bringing these items up to our attention. Despite our desires for domestic changes (of which many are needed) and some folks dislike of the former vice president (of which there are many), we need to piece together the signs out there and follow the breadcrumbs before they lead us to a foreign affairs reality that we may not like.