That was the week, that was..........

The world turns and what a week for news.  Jeff Randall put it well; the Queen was in Ireland, Netanyahu was in Washington and Dominique Strauss-Kahn was in jail. Our dear leader has been madly backpedaling after having been interpreted by media wolverines as having given Israel away to the Palestinians. His restructured Middle East policy, at least the Israeli bit, was quickly endorsed by Agnela Merkel, danke schoen madam hausfrau. Wait a bit, we did not really mean that Israel must retreat to its 1967 boundaries, but rather those boundaries should be recognized as the point of departure for further peace negotiations. By the way, the outcome should include a contiguous Palestinian state. Aside from Angela, nobody seems to be very happy.

Netanyahu's reaction appeared to be untypically statesmanlike. What's more, both he and O took on professorial airs in explaining their perceptions. It will take some time to sort this all out, but we have made every assurance that we will continue to defend Israel and its people.

O's policy speech to the non-Palestinian Arab world was not bad at all, indeed it was quite good. Too bad his credibility remains in question. For one thing, O insists on casting the demonstrations conducted under the umbrella phrase of Arab Spring as a popular movement of disaffected youth seeking work, democracy, and a greater slice of the economic pie. Others disagree stating that the demonstrations were motivated by tribal and religious grievances against a dictatorial, ruthless and corrupt ruling elite. Others go on to say that whatever the issues, the movements are being hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood or other even more sinister Muslim groups. While we are led to believe that nice little boys and girls are struggling to institute Western democratic standards, the prevailing institutions remain corrupt, elite, despotic and heavily influenced by the national militarily.

This observation has not escaped the Arab populations who remain steadfastly suspect of American intentions. This does not mean they are correct in their suspicions, but rather they want demonstrable evidence of our sincerity rather than polemics and rhetoric. I would like to think that O is sincere in his objectives, but sadly unable to put action into his words owing to our own moribund institutions and, more importantly, the need for restraint in supporting popular movements that were not there yesterday, have no recognizable leadership, and are untested with respect to their own national and international policies. One thing for sure, they all seem to be taking a much harder line on Israel that was previously seen among the dictators we supported for so long a time.

Our having abandoned these dictators also leaves a bad taste on the Arab palate. Whether they support or condemn their former leaders, they feel America has betrayed their friendship and hospitality. Everyone is wallowing in the muck of conflicted values and policies, indecision, poor intelligence, unstable and poorly led popular movements, and the threat that Muslim extremism may piggy-back on the newfound inspiration and confidence of the Arab Spring.

O is the most energetic US President since Kennedy. The White House is aglow with parties, fetes and festivities ranging from classic to banal. When its not party time, O is delivering a speech or on tour somewhere in the US or abroad. At present he is busy giving a new dimension to the term 'Black Irish'. Finding their Irish roots seems to be a national pastime among our Presidents. Everyone figured this would surely end with O giving the Paddys a chance to return to their Guiness and grief.