Ah, Obama in the Holy Land - suits the man I suppose - and the trip certainly sums up what trails in the wake of the illusion - incoherent, impractical, unworkable proto policy dressed up into a seeming something by charming celebrity and pretty speeches - liberals love it, more sensible people ask 'it's all very nice, I'm sure... but what now?'. Four years ago in Cairo he pissed off the Israelis while flattering the regressive enthusiasms of the Islamists by apologizing essentially for the sins of Western Civilization; and now he pisses off the Muslims by reaching out to Israel and essentially apologizing for... well, apologizing for being a naive fool I guess. Who knows really what the man is thinking. No doubt when he took office his thoughts were in keeping with liberal elites who believed all you had to do was whisper sweet nothings to the Arab street, get tough with Israel's nasty conservatives and then let the great power of the Obama persona sway the quivering Israeli public into demanding concessions from their stubborn, peace hating, light denying leaders. Sounded all so simple. I suppose this latest speech was in that sense a sad, timorous echo of those earnest times. No doubt that's why Kerry as he was leaving meekly intoned with astounding vacuity that peace was now in the hands of the people. Idiots.
Much more interesting though than Obama's increasingly pathetic intimations of a new world order with him I suppose at the center of it was his getting Bibi to apologize to Erdogan for the entirely reasonable attack on the Mavi Marmara - that indeed was news. Not because it marks a reset in Turkey/Israel relations as some are suggesting - any reset that happens will be illusory and short lived - Erdogan cannot undo the incendiary things he has said - what he's about is perfectly clear and there's nothing there that adds up to good news for Israel - or us, for that matter [see these comments from J Goldberg, that apply mostly to Mursi in Egypt but also with modifications as well to Erdogan]. No, what's interesting here is wondering what in the hell Obama had to promise Netanyahu in order to get him to make this painful obeisance - or, alternatively, how big of an IOU does Bibi now figure he's toting around in his back pocket waiting to be thrown down on the table when needed? Sure, I don't think it's 'let's bomb the crap out of Iran' big - but it ain't chicken shit either.
