MEANWHILE, IN THE REAL WORLD – AT 8:09 P.M. ET:   While we're fighting our campaign, events in the Middle East are troubling.  Hezbollah, a terrorist organization and one of the most dangerous groups in the world, is driving to take over Lebanon, once seen as a moderate state.

To help Hezbollah's henchmen do their black magic, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is making a guest appearance in Lebanon this week.  Reader Joseph J. Gallick refers us to this story, from the Wall Street Journal:

BEIRUT—Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived to cheers from crowds of adoring Lebanese Shiites in this Arab nation for his first state visit, a trip seen as a move to bolster Tehran's ally, Hezbollah.

Just what we need – Ahmadinejad and his friends on the border of Israel, and taking over a nominal ally of the United States like Lebanon.

The trip comes amid growing political tension with the group's pro-Western partners in a delicate coalition government and has put the region on a tense footing. Mr. Ahmadinejad is expected to visit southern Lebanon later this week, perhaps venturing as far as the tense border with Israel. That frontier was the site of a deadly border clash between Israeli and Lebanese forces as recently as August.

That incident sharply raised regional tensions and heightened worry in the U.S. that Lebanon's independent—and partially U.S.-funded—military is being influenced by Hezbollah, the Shiite political and militant group supported by Iran and Syria.

Tens of thousands of middle-class Shiites, workers, children and students alike heeded the call by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to greet the Iranian leader and thank him for the hundreds of millions of dollars funneled from Iran to Shiite communities here after years of discrimination by Lebanese leaders. Underscoring the sectarian divide here, Beirut's main thoroughfares and streets leading through Shiite neighborhoods were lined with slick posters and homemade signs greeting the Iranian leader. In comparison, streets were bare of such adornment in Sunni neighborhoods and other sectarian enclaves elsewhere in Lebanon.

COMMENT:  Do the words "civil war" ring a bell?  Lebanon has fought those wars, bitterly, in the past, and the country looks ripe for another round of civil strife, with Iran dictating the moves on the Hezbollah side. 

Oh, didn't Mr. Obama wage a major "outreach" campaign in this part of the world?  Results, please?  Results are zero.

Your move, Mr. President.  The election will be over in three weeks.  International turmoil will go on a bit longer.

If Hezbollah takes over Lebanon, I believe it will be the first time an officially designated terrrorist group controls an entire country.  Not change we can believe in.

October 13, 2010