Open Mike Picks Up Good Signal

The frenzy of indignation surrounding President Obama’s open-mike chat with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has yet to subside, as his political opponents think they finally have a sliver of evidence that he is, indeed, the Manchurian president. The Republican National Committee already has a fundraising ad: “What Obama tells world leaders when he thinks you aren’t listening.’’ From what we could hear when the leaders met privately at a nuclear safety summit in Seoul this week, Obama asked for “space’’ and “flexibility’’ in resolving dramatic differences over missile defense systems. The reason for his request, if it wasn’t obvious, was because we are in the midst of an election. The more surprising line in the public tete-a-tete was actually what came after. For those who view a continuing détente between Russia and the United States as a relatively helpful goal for world order, Medvedev’s response to Obama (a WikiLeaks moment without the wiki or the leak) was heartening.