"I don't know what we're getting out of it."

I kind of buried it in a separate post, but the deal in Russia for the world's top two superpowers to reduce their stockpiles is a pretty big deal. This would eliminate up to 28% of all nuclear weapons on the planet. And the President followed on that success with an agreement at the G8 summit to reduce all nuclear arsenals toward a goal of eliminating them; strengthening the Non-proliferation Treaty; and cleaning up loose nukes and preventing them from falling into the hands of extremists. The President will also host a Global Nuclear Security Summit in March 2010, and has taken more legitimate steps to rid the world of nuclear weapons than any President in decades.

And in response, Lindsey Graham says:

Republicans are already demanding that Obama press Russia into allowing a missile defense system in Eastern Europe in return for the U.S. agreeing to reduce its nuclear arsenal to between 1,500 and 1,675 warheads.

“I don’t want the Russians to get something and we get nothing. I don’t know what we’re getting out of this,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), an influential member of the Armed Services Committee.

“I think the administration is going to make a mistake if they don’t recognize the missile-defense components of this debate have to be addressed.”

How about the ability to live without the threat of being vaporized?

This is really the problem with a philosophy of selfishness. The idea of eradicating nuclear weapons isn't good enough. We need a payoff as well.

So much for politics ending at the water's edge...