WATCH THIS CAREFULLY – AT 11:23 A.M. ET:  President Obama announced that the U.S. and Russia have reached agreement on an arms-control treaty.  Actually, this is may turn out to be more about fat than meat, but we still have to look at it with two eyes.

The treaty takes a two-thirds vote of the Senate to ratify.  You can be sure Republicans will read every line.  There are concerns about the treaty's impact on missile defense.  The Washington Post reports:

President Obama and Russia President Dmitry Medvedev sealed a new nuclear arms reduction treaty during a phone call this morning, committing the two nations to a significant new reduction of the strategic missiles each side has deployed, U.S. officials announced Friday.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, flanked by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Michael Mullen, announced the agreement to reporters at the White House, calling it an historic step toward a world without nuclear weapons.

Obama called nuclear weapons "the darkest days of the Cold War, and the most troubling threats of our time." He hailed the new treaty as the start of a new effort to rid the world of that threat.

"With this agreement, the United States and Russia -- the two largest nuclear powers in the world -- also send a clear signal that we intend to lead," he said.

COMMENT:  This is going to be heralded as the Second Coming, or even the First.  It's Obama's first "triumph" in foreign policy and his second victory this week, the first being the health-care vote.  He's shown a bump in the polls since that vote, although it comes entirely from Democrats. 

This treaty really won't change much, but it will be sold as "peace in our time," Chamberlain II.  And some people will buy the line.

Look for informed reaction in the next day or two.

March 26, 2010