harmonicminer

Drug war sends bullets whizzing across the border

The first bullets struck El Paso’s city hall at the end of a work day. The next ones hit a university building and closed a major highway. Shootouts in the drug war along the U.S.-Mexico border are sending bullets whizzing across the Rio Grande into one of the nation’s safest cities, where authorities worry it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt or killed.

Mr. President Obama, sir…..  what do you think is your responsibility in this?  Do we have to wait until an American citizen is actually killed by bullets coming across the border?  Or might you find it in your imperial wisdom to consider doing something about it NOW, before lives are taken?

I wish I believed you took this seriously.  But given your reluctance to do anything about it when Mexican nationals come into the USA and directly kill people after entering illegally, I don’t suppose you think think playing Russian roulette across the border is any big deal.

Powerline makes the obvious point that

Romneycare affords us a glimpse into the not very distant future if Obamacare is not repealed. Employers are dumping their health care plans. The governor is essentially attempting to impose price controls on insurers. If the governor is successful, insurers would just throw in the towel. When that happens under Obamacare, we will take our nationalized medicine straight. Just about every talking point Obama used to peddle Obamacare is a falsehood. Obamacare designates the fee imposed on individuals for failure to comply with its insurance mandate a penalty. The legislation justifies the penalty under the government’s power to regulate commerce. Obama himself flatly denied that the penalty was a tax.
However, for legal reasons, the Obama administration is beating a retreat on this key point. Randy Barnett points out that administration officials are now changing their tune. They are telling the New York Times

that the individual insurance “requirement” and “penalty” are really an exercise of the congressional tax power.

Unfortunately, we have many more such “surprises” to look forward to if Obamacare survives.

One can tell much by noting a person’s sleeves, that part of a person’s garment through which the arms pass.  As a musician I have had many opportunities to observe sleeves.  The favored condition among many of my peers is sleeves neatly pressed with cuff fixed neatly around the wrist by either button or better yet, by cuff link.  Less seen, especially just before or just after a performance is a musician with their sleeves rolled up.  This is because both literally and metaphorically when one has their sleeves rolled up it is an indication that they are doing or are about to do some sort of physical labor.

Many musicians I know feel such a condition is beneath them or to put it more politely, better suited for someone else.  After all, we are “artists”.  We have a gift.  We spend countless hours practicing, studying, preparing to bring glorious music to the world.  We can’t be expected to move chairs, carry equipment, or pick up the discarded sheet music from the floor.  That’s why we have roadies, cartage companies, and students.  Let others wrinkle their sleeves by rolling them up,  conductors, performers and composers must keep their sleeves fully deployed.

Yes it is a sad commentary on many, not just musicians, who for whatever reason decide they are above rolling up their sleeves.  Some feel as though they have paid their dues.  They spent a large part of their lives with sleeves rolled up, now it is someone elses turn.  Some have no idea how to roll up their sleeves.  The very notion that sleeves could be rolled up has never occurred to them.  Some understand the concept in theory only.  They are dreamers who  believe that if they have big enough dreams and can inspire others with a passionate articulation of the dream that those around them will be inspired, they will roll up their sleeves in admiration and then they will go about fulfilling the dream, having been captivated by the vision.

Sometimes this works.  Sometimes different kinds of sleeves can come together in a synergistic way.  The dreamer, with sleeves firmly buttoned leading a phalanx of those with sleeves wrapped up around biceps can bring a dream or vision into reality.  This can work great in the creative world of music, theater, film, and art.

But it doesn’t work so well when it comes to government. History has shown that.  Utopian dreams and those who dream them often become twisted, frightening caricatures of the dream when realized.  I fear such is the case with our nation now.  What will the dream of a “green” future look like when it has become reality?  Charles Krauthammer has a sobering commentary on this subject:

Obama is dreamer in chief: He wants to take us to this green future “even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks like. Even if we don’t yet precisely know how we’re going to get there.” Here’s the offer: Tax carbon, spend trillions and put government in control of the energy economy — and he will take you he knows not where, by way of a road he knows not which. That’s why Tuesday’s speech was received with such consternation. It was so untethered from reality. The gulf is gushing, and the president is talking mystery roads to unknown destinations. That passes for vision, and vision is Obama’s thing. It sure beats cleaning up beaches.”

I for one plan to pay great attention to sleeves in November.

You really need to check out this Powerline post, and watch the videos they linked here (don’t be impatient, the ad is short) and here.

Entertaining.  And educational.

Obama loses the Left: suddenly, it’s cool to bash Barack

Well, at least he’s still got Sir Paul McCartney. At the White House last week, the 67-year-old crooner was gushing in much the same manner as his own groupies did at Shea Stadium in 1965. “I’m a big fan, he’s a great guy,” McCartney told American critics of President Barack Obama. “So lay off him, he’s doing great.”

Later, McCartney serenaded the First Lady with a rendition of Michelle and, receiving a prize from the Library of Congress, took a cheap shot at President George W Bush that was as unfunny as it was unoriginal. “After the last eight years, it’s great to have a president who knows what a library is.” Bush. Doesn’t read books. Stupid. Geddit?

Imagine. A universe without puerile pop stars who think their ability to turn a tune translates into insight into the great game.

The problem for the President is that even if the former Beatle does speak for billions, the overwhelming majority of those are overseas. Polls show that around 10 per cent of those who voted for Obama in 2008 now disapprove of his performance and the heavy turnout of young people and black voters among the 69 million who back him will not be repeated again.

McCartney’s banalities were an example of a transatlantic dissonance that is all too apparent these days. Whereas Europe is stuck in November 2008 and still hopelessly in love with Obama, Americans have got over the historic symbolism of it all and are now moving on as they live with the reality.

That reality has now begun to dawn on some of Obama’s natural constituency – Hollywood and the Left. The “no drama Obama” demeanour that served him so well on the campaign trail is now becoming a liability.

This coincides exactly with my earlier point.

Obama takes action precisely where and when he shouldn’t, and does little or nothing when he should.

And the USA is catching on, even if the rest of the world’s left hasn’t, yet. Of course, they are perfectly happy for Obama to do anything that weakens the USA, and to avoid doing anything that will help it… it is an article of faith for them. But perhaps at least some of the USA’s homegrown left aren’t quite so lemming-like.

November 2010 is coming.

You know the scene from the movie Bambi.  The evil hunters are shooting up the entire forest, apparently possessed of limitless ammo, shooting at everything that moves, or makes a sound, or just shooting.  (Forget the fact that anyone who has ever hunted knows that hunters often spend days without firing a shot, and that one thing hunters never do is take random shots.  They go out looking for a specific thing, normally shoot only at one kind of animal, and then only if there is a likely hit potential.)

So the young bird is sitting in the bushes, hiding, as the hunters are blazing away.  The older, more experienced bird keeps saying urgently, “Don’t fly!  Don’t fly!”  But the young bird is just too rattled, and can’t bear the tension of waiting in the relative safety of the bushes, and flies anyway…  to the predictable end.

This has become a cliche in movies.  I’ve been in theaters where the audience actually tries to convince the people on screen not to open the door.

But, just lately, I’ve noticed something else.  It seems to be the blonde chick who can’t hold still and wait for the danger to pass.  The example that came to mind today is the 2005 movie (not even quite a grade B) Komodo vs. Cobra, about giant lizards and snakes on a tropical island, the result of (stereotypically) careless military experimentation.  The komodo can’t see people if they don’t move.  So everyone is holding still, but it’s the blonde chick who just can’t hold still, and alerts the dragon to their presence.

At least she was the one who got eaten, as the others ran.  There is some small justice in the movies, sometimes.

I have the impression that the Obama administration is in the role of the blonde chick regarding everything from the economy and the Gulf oil spill to health care and foreign policy, especially regarding threats to Israel, and threats from Iran, Russia and China, not to mention North Korea.

There are times when the Obama administration really should just hold still, let events take their course, and accept that there are realities in the world that it can’t undo and can hardly affect, except for the worse.  But it just can’t seem to hold still and wait for the predators to pass.

It’s risible.  The feds take action on health care (which will be about as useful as yelling “run” when you’re trying to hide from a tyranosaurus that’s 10 feet away).  They pass a “stimulus” bill that stimulates nothing but our national debt, and they “bail out” various banks and GM, about like giving a blood transfusion to a gunshot victim without sewing up the wound, all without dealing with the incoming gunfire.

Obama basically gave away our missile defense system for Europe, that would have provided at least some shield against a nuclear Iran, all because it just couldn’t seem to resist the urge to do something specific to “improve” our relations with Russia, to “reset” our Russian diplomacy.

The Obama administration just can’t resist the urge to take action when it will do no good, and probably do harm.

At the same time, when quick, decisive action is called for, such as on the Gulf oil spill (why, oh why, aren’t they throwing the full resources of the government into building the berms that Governor Jindal wants, skimming and burning, putting up booms, etc.?), Obama dithers, apparently flash-frozen in fear of being seen to do something whose outcome he can’t fully predict…  like that ever stopped him before.  Of course, even more frightening, maybe he really thinks he can predict the outcome of raising taxes, printing Monopoly money, and taking over national healthcare….  and thinks it will be good.

Holey moley.

And when a quick statement is needed in support of Israel’s right to enforce a blockade on Gaza (which is essentially in a perpetual state of war with Israel, under Hamas), all Obama can muster is a tepid “we’ll have to investigate.”  And his gutless response to North Korea’s sinking of a ship belong to one of our allies, South Korea, is not exactly inspiring.

From what I can tell, Obama exercises “statesmanlike restraint” at all the worst times, when he really needs to be doing something.  And when it’s time to recognize that natural events must take their course (mismanaged companies need to fail), Obama explodes in a fury of activity.

All this while sensible people are constantly telling him, “Don’t fly!  Don’t fly!”

I fear that there are some real predators who are about to see him as fair game.  I hope he doesn’t take too many of us with him.

From the Drudge Report, headlines, May 31, 2010:

Israel faces int'l fury over flotilla...
Bloody raid...
Israel: Passengers were armed, 'no peace activists'...
Video...
Turkey warns of 'consequences'...
Israel in eye of storm...
Thousands protest, clashes in Athens...
Paris: Demonstrators tried to break into Israeli embassy...
Netanyahu defends...
Crisis...

From the Drudge Report, headlines, May 31, 2010, in an alternate universe:

Palestinians faces int'l fury over flotilla...
Bloody set-up...
Hamas: Passengers were armed, 'no peace activists'...
Video...
Turkey warns of 'consequences'...
Iran in eye of storm...
Thousands protest, clashes in Athens...
Paris: Demonstrators tried to break into Iranian embassy...
Amadinejad defends...
Crisis...

We have come to this – instant global condemnation of Israel every time an incident occurs.  Israel is now officially presumed guilty until proven innocent.  Not many facts are yet known about this incident, but in our world today facts are little more than an annoyance.  No, what seems to matter most is to lay the blame on Israel.

And a sitting U.S. President has become a part of the condemnation chorus virtually from the day he took office.  All the while the terror-sponsoring state of Iran, whose own President has sworn to wipe Israel from the face of the earth, rushes full tilt toward becoming a nuclear power. And when they do I imagine our president’s reaction will be to bow a little deeper to Amadinejad, and he’ll wag his finger a little longer at Netanyahu.  Madness.

Mr President, your words and actions have emboldened not only our enemies but the enemies of one of our closest allies.  And at least in part, the blood shed today is on your hands.  Words have meaning, Mr. President.  You know that.  And your obvious lack of support for the State of Israel coupled with your failed attempts at diplomacy towards our enemies has made this world in which we live a less safe place.  This incident is just a drop in the bucket compared to what I fear is is coming.  And the headlines do not bode well for the State of Israel.

Yes, it’s true.  Woody Allen, moral beacon for our time, has said Obama should have dictatorial powers “for a few years”.  In the words of Allen,

it would be good…if he could be a dictator for a few years because he could do a lot of good things quickly.

Meaning, of course that those pesky people who don’t agree with Obama couldn’t stand in the way of all the “good”.

(Sidebar: who gets to decide what is “good”?  Oh, I guess that would be our new dictator…)

Read the entire article here.

This coming from the man who had an affair with Mia Farrow’s adopted teenage daughter while living with Farrow.  He then later dumped Farrow and married the step-daughter.  Allen is now 74 and his wife is 39.  It seems as though some of the “good” Allen hopes for might be to eliminate all laws pertaining to child pornography (nude pictures Allen took of the girl) and statutory rape (she was 17 when the affair was discovered).  Certainly the concept would find favor with Roman Polanski and his Hollywood crowd of defenders.  See my previous blog on the Polanski subject

And the film, Death of a President will become passe’ since there will no longer be the need for a public and messy assassination of anyone who might be elected that opposed the “good”.  With dictatorial powers vested in Obama he can follow in the fine tradition of other great dictators like Mao Tse Tung, Josef Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Adolph Hitler, Kim Jong Il, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, Ho Chi Minh and Pol Pot.  The disagreeing offender will simply disappear one day and that will be that.  Come to think of it, who wouldn’t want to have their name added to that list of luminaries?

There is so much to be sad about here; that someone would actually suggest such a thing in this country, that Allen is not the only one who feels this way, that the Obama administration seems to agree (though not all at once of course).  But dictatorial power is the endgame of ever expanding federal power.  Of course Obama will never publicly say such a thing.  Yet a reflection of just how much power and control has been transferred to the federal government in the past year should worry anyone who believes in personal responsibilty and individual liberty.

This comment by Allen is unconscionable.  It is outrageous and should be roundly condemned from every corner of our country.  But it won’t be…

Perhaps now is the time for us all to think twice before spending any money at the movie box office or the video rental store.  For if there is one thing Hollywood does understand, it is money.

‘Hizbullah a division of Syrian army’

Israel has warned Syrian President Bashar Assad that any missile attack against Israel by Hizbullah would result in retaliation against Syria, the Sunday Times reported on Sunday.

According to the UK paper, Israel’s missive – sent earlier in April – defined Hizbullah as a “division of the Syrian army,” a military branch of Damascus in Lebanon.

The warning was reportedly delivered to Damascus by a third party.

Meanwhile on Sunday, Al-Hayat reported that Hizbullah minister Nawaf al-Moussawi had said Israel’s accusations against Syria were only a ploy meant to divert attention from its failure to relaunch peace talks with the Palestinians.

Last week, the Kuwait-based Al-Rai reported that Syria had transferred Scud missiles to Hizbullah. According to the report, the missiles were recently transferred to Lebanon, prompting a stern Israeli warning that it would consider attacking both Syrian and Lebanese targets in response.

Scud ballistic missiles have a longer range than the rockets previously used by Hizbullah against Israel, and can carry chemical warheads.

On Thursday, the Kuwaiti paper reported that Hizbullah had confirmed receiving a shipment of Scud missiles from Syria. “It’s only natural for Lebanon to have the means to defend itself against an Israeli attack,” Hizbullah official Hussein Haj Hassan told Al-Manar TV on Friday.

The Syrian leadership has consistently denied the charge.

On Saturday, Reuters quoted US officials as saying that while the “intent” to transfer ballistic missiles to Hizbullah existed, it was doubtful such a transfer had actually taken place.

Obama may be about to find out what happens when Israel senses, correctly, that Obama is abandoning it. When Israel no longer feels a significant pressure from the USA to restrain Israel’s enemies, we should expect Israel to take matters into its own hands.

If Obama is smart, he will make it clear to Syria that the USA will also consider a Hizbullah attack on Israel as a Syrian attack, and take steps accordingly.  He doesn’t have to do it publicly.  But he should do it diplomatically, even via “back-channels.”  And if he’s smart, he’ll find a way to let Israel know that he has done so.

But he may be blinded by his presuppositions.

Obama is, once again, giving away the store… or at least the markets in Tel Aviv, by trying to make nice with the implacable enemies of supposed allies.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Syria has transferred long-range Scud missiles to Hezbollah. There have been rumors about this for a few days, but now U.S. officials, who at first refused to confirm them, are saying that the transfer has occurred.

The Scuds are believed to have a range of more than 435 miles. This means that Hezbollah can now bomb Jerusalem and Tel Aviv from Lebanon. During the 2006 war, the rockets Hezbollah rained on Israel had a range of 20 to 60 miles.

I hope you’ll read the entire article at the link above, and ponder the situation a bit.

One can only wonder: exactly how much damage can Obama-style foreign policy do in four years?

If the Carter administration is any guide, a truly immense amount.

Obama remains deeply confused about who are our allies and friends, and who are our adversaries. One hopes he doesn’t stay in office long enough to be educated directly by the course of events, though the next administration is going to have a lot of pieces to pick up.

When your life and career are predicated on how well you consistently lie to people it is inevitable that the truth will slip out on occasion.  After all, constantly maintaining those lies requires constant vigilance.  Here are three possible recent slips of the tongue that may give pause for one to wonder if they serve to illuminates a lie:

1. As the First Lady spoke to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender delegate back in 2008 before Barack Obama was elected to office, she proved that once again the truth may be right in front of us.

When we took our trip to Africa and visited his home country in Kenya….

Is it just slightly possible the birthers have a point?  Is it slightly possible Barack O. has a reason to spend so much time and money to hide parts of his past?

2. Polls and polling data can be manipulated to provide a desired outcome.  Many polls are simply false, but wrap themselves in a garment of non-partisanship legitimacy in order to sway public opinion, not report it.  I call this a lie.  Here a recent article from The Politico describing a couple of spring special elections for congress and problems for the Democratic party.

According to sources familiar with the effort, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has already assembled teams of top party operatives — including veteran pollster John Anzalone and longtime ad man Saul Shorr

So much for pollster neutrality.

3. We were told Obamacare was about providing quality health care to the uninsured.  Now that it is law we find out that maybe we were lied to about the intent of this legislation.  Commenting on issues raised by the Tea Party movement, Reid said,

They want things to be the way they used to be. They will never be the way they used to be.

Is it just possible this so-called health care bill was about much more than helping the uninsured?

Funny how an off-handed truth can slip past the lie like a small dog through a picket fence.  But if you don’t pay attention you might miss it.  That’s what the liars are counting on!

I just want to say thank you, once again, to all the young adults who voted for Obama. The fact that you volunteered to pay more for my health coverage and retirement is a sign of real respect for your elders.

Health premiums could rise 17 pct for young adults

Under the health care overhaul, young adults who buy their own insurance will carry a heavier burden of the medical costs of older Americans — a shift expected to raise insurance premiums for young people when the plan takes full effect.

Beginning in 2014, most Americans will be required to buy insurance or pay a tax penalty. That’s when premiums for young adults seeking coverage on the individual market would likely climb by 17 percent on average, or roughly $42 a month, according to an analysis of the plan conducted for The Associated Press. The analysis did not factor in tax credits to help offset the increase.

The higher costs will pinch many people in their 20s and early 30s who are struggling to start or advance their careers with the highest unemployment rate in 26 years.

Consider 24-year-old Nils Higdon. The self-employed percussionist and part-time teacher in Chicago pays $140 each month for health insurance. But he’s healthy and so far hasn’t needed it.

The law relies on Higdon and other young adults to shoulder more of the financial load in new health insurance risk pools. So under the new system, Higdon could expect to pay $300 to $500 a year more. Depending on his income, he might also qualify for tax credits.

At issue is the insurance industry’s practice of charging more for older customers, who are the costliest to insure. The new law restricts how much insurers can raise premium costs based on age alone.

Insurers typically charge six or seven times as much to older customers as to younger ones in states with no restrictions. The new law limits the ratio to 3-to-1, meaning a 50-year-old could be charged only three times as much as a 20-year-old.

The rest will be shouldered by young people in the form of higher premiums.

Higdon wonders how his peers, already scrambling to start careers during a recession, will react to paying more so older people can get cheaper coverage.

Of course, these people who are telling you that your premiums will go up by 17% are just trying to break it to you gently, to let you find out the truth in stages.  But this IS the government we’re talking about, and this IS an entitlement program, so you know, don’t you, that the real cost is going to be more.  Much more.  Social security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc., all cost much more than anyone dreamed they ever would.   So will this.

And, of course, for the many young adults who could afford health insurance but have simply chosen not to buy it themselves (something like 1/3 of the currently “uninsured” if memory serves), their cost under the new regime will be much more than they currently pay…  which is nothing.  But we really need to grab these deadbeats and shake some money out of them.  Don’t they know that their turn will come later, to have the generations after them pay for their healthcare?

The young musician in the article above, Nils Higdon, is a perfect representative for your demographic, because even though he’s about to be soaked, he is willing for it to be even worse, by being for single-payer health care (you can read about it at the link above).  Very generous of him.  And you, since I’m sure you agree, being a young Obama voter who really respects your elders, and wants to take care of them even more.

I suppose it’s just a good thing for me that most young drummers haven’t read Adam Smith, or F.A. Hayek, or Milton Friedman, or Thomas Sowell.  Undoubtedly, the screeds from these promoters of the greed motive would have poisoned their young, impressionable minds.

I see that Mr. Higdon is a self-employed drummer.  In the real world, in this economy, that sometimes means he makes most of his living as a golf caddy.  I’ve always thought that golf caddies should pay more for the health care of the old duffers, er, golfers, that they serve.  I mean, since the caddies already fund their retirement via social security and incompletely funded government pensions and so on, it just seems reasonable. 

If you’re going to carry their clubs, you may as well carry them, too.

Could moon rocket demise bring space shuttle reprieve?

The demise of NASA’s Constellation moon rockets is bringing faint hopes of a reprieve for the space shuttle.

NASA’s decades-old shuttle fleet has been headed for retirement since 2004, and only four more flights are scheduled. Now the White House’s plan to scrap the Constellation programme – a pair of rockets capable of taking astronauts back to the moon – has prompted renewed efforts to keep the shuttles running until new vehicles can replace them.

Two bills have been introduced in the US Congress to keep the shuttle flying while NASA works to develop replacements. The hope is that a modest extension – involving just a couple flights a year – could help retain jobs and maintain access to the International Space Station without relying on foreign launchers.

“If the space shuttle programme is terminated, Russia and China will be the only nations in the world with the capability to launch humans into space,” says Texas senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who introduced the first of the two bills this month. “This is unacceptable.”

An extension to shuttle flights may struggle to win approval. Safety has been a concern, but a bigger hurdle may be money. The cost of a modest programme could exceed $2 billion per year, according to agency officials. “Where that money comes from is the big question,” shuttle programme manager John Shannon told reporters last week.

They seem to be able to find plenty of money in Washington for things that they think actually matter.  Does this matter?  Only if you think it’s fine for the USA to be dependent on Russia to get people into and out of orbit.

Obama obviously does.  Maybe he, too, has looked into Putin’s eyes and seen a man he can work with.

Or maybe Obama just doesn’t think it matters.

Yoni The Blogger is a veteran of Israeli Special Forces. He can’t talk about much of what he used to do.  He is unapologetic in his defense of Israel, appropriately so.  He knows things about what goes on in Israel that seem rarely reported in US media.  Here is his take on the recent “summit” of Obama and Netanyahu.

Yoni the Blogger

We have seen the way President Obama treated Prime Minister Netanyahu during the recent visit.

It is clear that if Obama can’t push the Prime Minister into doing what he wants him to do, then Obama would like to force regime change in Israel.

Bibi must, make up his mind if he wants to be the Prime Minister.

I have my doubts.

Bibi upon return to Israel had the rules of engagement for our soldier tightened. Our soldiers if they are in a bullet proof vehicle can no longer shoot at Palestinians that are throwing molotov cocktails at them, it is now even prohibited to fire warning shots in the air at stone throwing Palestinians.

I have learned that IAF pilots stationed in the south are prohibited from travel alone from Tel Arad to Beer Sheva because of the Israeli citizen Beduin shooting at Jewish cars.

Let us not forget the multiple dozens of Buses that came from the north and south full of Israeli Arabs wanting to riot at the Temple Mount along side there Palestinian brothers.

So here is my advise to Bibi.

1. Declare that due to the financial situation in America, Israel is canceling the aid from America

2. Israel must start of PR campaign with ads on American TV showing the value of Israel to America

3. Declare an end to the peace process and annex Judea and Samaria

4. Behind closed doors tell American Military and CIA we will no longer going to give intel to America if the administration is anti Israel . George the first and Webster

5. Tell all Israeli citizens that if Palestinians throw stones at them it is a crime not to return fire. Allow more Jews to own guns

6. Order the IDF to remove all illegal Arab building in all parts of Israel

7. Lastly order the Chief of Staff of the IDF to hit Iran as soon as possible using any and all of the weapons at the disposal of the IDF as the situation warrants.

I am not holding my breath for Bibi to do any of this because he has folded every time the going got tough.

It is clear that, among US presidents, Obama is rivaled only by Jimmy Carter in his disdain for Israel.  I expect that Israel is simply counting the days till the 2012 elections, and hoping for the best.