The Washington Post tells us that Dennis Ross is cultivating a “back channel” to Israeli officials to minimize the damage done by George Mitchell, the decidedly Israel-hostile State Department, and the president. Now the Post doesn’t put it quite that bluntly. But it comes close:
Ross’s role, described by officials and other sources close to the process, is highly sensitive because it might be seen as undercutting the mission of George J. Mitchell, President Obama’s special envoy for Middle East peace. Virtually no one interviewed would agree to be quoted by name because of such concerns. …
Sources in both the United States and Israel said that Ross has provided an element that had been missing from the bilateral relationship, which has been rocky since Obama took office.
But of course, if Obama really enjoyed a warm relationship with, or was even respected and trusted by, the Israeli government, no alternative channel would be needed, nor would the administration need to recite its bribes … er, promises … in writing to prevent the direct negotiations from unraveling.
But is Ross accomplishing anything? It doesn’t appear so. To be fair, he’s handicapped by the flawed approach that the president has clung stubbornly to, namely, the fixation on a settlement moratorium and a willful disregard of the PA’s inability and unwillingness to take the essential steps needed (e.g., recognition of the Jewish state) to reach a meaningful peace deal.
Ross may have convinced himself that things would be much worse were it not for his soothing presence, an unprovable hypothesis that one suspects is nevertheless necessary if one is to justify serving in an administration such as this. But frankly, all this remains a dangerous sideshow. As Abbas waits for instructions from his overseers at the Arab League, and Obama’s promises must be documented (we hope a notary is not required as well), those centrifuges keep spinning in Iran. No back channel to repair that debacle-in-the-making.
Earlier today I commented on what I think is the state of the race and why. But I just want to add something in reaction to Jennifer’s and Peter’s comments. Accept for a minute the argument that McCain and his staff have been inept, and then ask who could have done any better within the current environment? I don’t think any argument can be made that any one of the major candidates would be doing any better than McCain is right now. I have written repeatedly that, going back to late summer, McCain was wasting his efforts, but, my friends, people who see their assets decline precipitously in only a week, are naturally going to be firghtened and blame the party in power. It has always been like that and is now. So, why don’t we stop this increasingly strident blame game of McCain and his staff. I recall how many of you folks were singing how clever these same people were back in the days of the “celebrity” ads. Well, these are the same people running his campaign now. What happened to make them such political dolts? ECONOMY TANKS
Paul is right. Campaign tactics become almost irrelevant in the face of the category 5 economic storm now hitting the world. Everyone on this board, respectfully including the Commentary writers, should step away from the political news for a few days and just read financial news and analysis. Learn as much as you can about the global financial structure that has been built up over the past few decades, and about how many hidden financial “bombs” are still out there. After absorbing all of that, ask yourself if anyone should still actually want to be elected president in November.
Just one example to consider: Bloomberg has an article about how the 2009 Federal deficit could be as high as $2 trillion (about 14% of GDP). In other words, whoever is president is basically going to be a prisoner of the financial situation.
This is a contest between a broom and a Hoover. McCain-Palin is the broom. Obama-Biden is the (Herbert) Hoover who would apply leeches to the patient where a transfusion is already underway. In fact, the economy right now is a sick patient whichthe eugenics-friendly Democrats would strangle in its bed. And I’m sure Ayers the bomber-idealist would have no problem with that either.
McCain’s pundits have no economic plan, have nothing positive to say about their candidate, they just trash the other guy trying to make you even more scared.
Bottom line folks: these rich neo-cons don’t care about your job or your mortgage, the Republicans only care about giving more of your money to their pals on Wall Street. Don’t fall for the old tricks, this year your kids future is on the line.
Voting McCain is like voting for more Bush, we need to get these rich Republicans out and regular people a chance for a change.
Right, a Communist like No pasaran cares about regular people. Spare us your homicidal idealism.
Stephen Lins Says:
October 10th, 2008 at 9:02 AM
“Paul is right. Campaign tactics become almost irrelevant in the face of the category 5 economic storm now hitting the world. Everyone on this board, respectfully including the Commentary writers, should step away from the political news for a few days and just read financial news and analysis. Learn as much as you can about the global financial structure that has been built up over the past few decades, and about how many hidden financial “bombs” are still out there. After absorbing all of that, ask yourself if anyone should still actually want to be elected president in November.
Just one example to consider: Bloomberg has an article about how the 2009 Federal deficit could be as high as $2 trillion (about 14% of GDP). In other words, whoever is president is basically going to be a prisoner of the financial situation.”
You are exactly right,but there’s a lot to learn. I’ve been following this since Bretton Woods in the early seventies. Since we went to an all paper currency system,via that agreement,it has only taken 35 years to bankrupt our nation.
It’s still amazing to me that the economic issue is helping Obama. His plan is foolish, contradictory and will certainly take us from a mild recession into a deeper recession or potentially a depression.
But, according to the polls and assuming ACORN is fixing them as well, he seems to be benefitting. In light of this, McCain definitely needs to highlight, often, the blatant contradictions, inaccuracies and economically illiterate statements that Obama-Biden keep making.
When presidential historians take an objective look back at the campaigns, the only possible conclusion that they can draw from an Obama win is that the American people were asleep at the wheel. Obama’s economic policy makes no sense, doesn’t add up and certainly isn’t anything new.
I wish voting for McCain was like voting for Bush. Bush wouldn’t lose to a clown like Obama.
I don’t agree that McCain performed well in the GOP debates. I came out of the primary process thinking that McCain was not strong at all as a debater and that he would likely come up short againt either Democrat. I don’t remember anyone trumpeting McCain’s GOP debate performances. Like his predecessor, McCain seems to struggle in the communication area.
Also like his predecessor, McCain seems strangely reluctant to take the rhetorical fight to the enemy. This has proven a major limitation for President Bush, and would also limit the effective of a President McCain. That Bush managed to get elected twice despite this substantial limitation says a lot about the quality of his competition. McCain has drawn a more capable opponent than did Bush.
Name calling: they call a Senator for Illinois a Communist, a Muslim, a Terrorist. But they still have no plan, no solutions, they still don’t care about your job, your mortgage, your health insurance. They still have nothing positive to say about their own candidate McCain. All they care about is making sure that more of your money goes to their buddies on Wall Street.
You are losing, and the finger pointing has begun. But when you are assigning blame for this loss, make sure that you consider the role of Commentary and the others in the rightwing blogosphere. From day one, they have made character assassination, not policy differences, the centerpiece of their campaign coverage. Now, notice, they are pivoting. They are beginning to tell you that McCain is failing because he hasn’t made the policy case against Obama. Had Contentions spent as many pixels on the superiority of conservative positions as it did on snark and ad hominems, you might be in a different position. Certainly, one problem is, the folks at Contentions aren’t all that conservative. Sure, they want to bomb Iran, but they also failed to see why the bailout was a violation of conservative principle and an ideal place for McCain to create the kind of differentiation that might have given him a shot at winning. In the end, this is about credibility. Contentions analysis of this presidential race has been wrong at every turn. They cherrypicked information on the economy to argue it’s not so bad. They cherrypicked polls to show that you weren’t losing. They defended bone-headed moves like the faux campaign suspension and support of the bailout plan. Had you acknowledged earlier that the economy was bad and your candidate was in trouble, your strategy would have been entirely different. Commentary helped lead you here; now they want to shift the blame for failure to McCain. Soon they will be writing about how they knew all along that McCain was running a dumb campaign. Have they told you that before now? Exactly.
Name calling? If I used “Goebbels” as my screen name would it be illogical to infer I was a Nazi? Anyway, a fancy “plan” is not a solution, even if it gets votes.
I don’t need the Nanny State caring for my job, my health insurance, my mortgage or my hurt feelings. I need a government that keeps taxes low, regulation to a level that’s absolutely necessary and no more, and, more importantly, to stop picking winners based an the degree of their supposed “oppression.”
As far as my money going to Wall Street, that’s where I want it, in Wall Street. That’s why I have an IRA and other investments and I want Wall Street hotshots to make my pot o’gold even bigger-er. I’d much rather have it invested in Wall Street than in the MAE family of Fannie, Freddie, Barney and Chris.
McCain? Bob Dole.
What is it with us Republicans and doddering old white war heroes with heavy war injuries? Why do we keep running these guys? They can’t win elections on a national level and they won’t fight for what we want.
Geez. We have people like Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal and Fred Thompson and we have to run McCain?
We deserve to lose and we’re going to lose. Suck it up.
Just a note: the quotes above are not from the editors of The Wall Street Journal. Rather, they’re from a signed column written by Kimberley Strassel, a very talented writer on the editorial page staff.
I think it’s time to discuss the budget for various committments that are vital to US interests:How many $s for The War on Terror,Iraq,Afghanistan/Pakistan,Iran,dealing with Russian expansion,defending Israel/Taiwan.infrastructure improvements to all branches of the Armed Services,CIA restructuring,and Foreign Aid. We’ll discuss our infrastructure needs at a later date.
Seth, if anyone on Commentary used “Goebbels” as their screen name then at least that would be truth in advertising. This fabricated, exaggerated, racially motivated and completely coordinated Ayers nonsense is right out of the propagandist playbook.
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Still no economic plan, they’re even against a plan. I guess if you have a trust fund, other people losing their jobs, their homes and their health insurance doesn’t really matter. They want LESS regulation, even after this Bush mess….
Voting McCain is like voting for more Bush, hows that working for ya?
I am an independent voter who has voted fiscally conservative for most of the twenty years I have been able to vote. My parents are Republicans, I was raised in the flyover state of Kansas. I have had respect for Republicans principles and conservative values. I still do. But I am losing respect for the Republican party and those leaders who are staying quite about the extreme class warfare and hate mongering that is taking place through the McCain campaign.
If there is any violence during the rest of this election season, or during the first term of Senator Obama’s presidency, I will hold both the campaign that is stirring these sentiments and those who were silent during this time responsible.
There is much the Republican brand needs to answer for; do you really want this type of blood on your hands too?
I’m asking, at this time of national crisis, for a little sanity from our conservative leaders. You are losing the independent vote by silently acquiescing to this tactic.
We need at least two viable parties in our country. Please.
Ignore Abe and No what’s-his-name. Trolls.
Holy crow! This morning’s Battleground poll shows Obama 48%, McCain 38%
McCain below 40 is unbelievable.
Ayers! Ayers! Ayers!
DOW opened down more 7 percent.
Rezko! Rezco! Rezco!
R2000 had Obama 52, McCain 40, with Palins unfavorables oustripping her favorables by 18 points. Let me say that again: EIGHTEEN POINTS.
Jeremiah Wright! Jeremiah Wright! Jeremiah Wright!
Apparently, Obama has support among white and married women never seen for a Democratic candidate.
Muslim! Terrorist! Socialist!
Stupid sheep.
Abe, they’re not stupid, they’re greedy, and now they’re desperate. But it would be a mistake to think that these Podflotzim, Wissebots and Feithmongers are stupid, look how they got the puppet Bush to do their bidding….
Bush hasn’t done all our bidding unfortunately, he hasn’t bombed Iran yet, but there’s still time left. So, we’re still holding out some hope.
And don’t forget kids,
Troopergate report comes out today
I bet that after Obama loses in Nov, he ends up renouncing America and Christianity and joins a radical Muslim extremist group. Any takers?
The title for the next Obama-Ayers autobio, “Obama III: The Al-Qaeda Years.”
Abe,
Your number 11 was one of the best pieces ever posted here. A nice departure from your usual snarky sarcasm and crude gloating.
If only someone on my side had recognized what you did — that “the bailout was… an ideal place for McCain to create the kind of differentiation that might have given him a shot at winning.”
Triangulation might have worked. A clear alternative to the opagueness of Bush/Paulson and the passivity of Obama could have been a real game changer.
The psychology of those who gloat—when they think they have their foot on your neck they start bragging about how potent they are and how week you are—not a good sign of character. And not smart considering that the election hasn’t been held yet.
By the way, one of the keys to the financial crisis is restoring confidence in our economy. It’s too bad that when Sen. McCain spoke positively about the economic fundamentals, Obama ridiculed him and the idea that there was any reason to see positives in the economy. This talk served Obama but hurt our country.
#25
Inagua, I think those are two different Abes. Lots more typos in one. Entirely different tone.
“Any takers?”
I’d take it, but it’s a safe “bet” on your part since you know as well as I we’ll never see that assertion put to a test.