Since nobody else here is saying it, I will: President Bush’s remarks yesterday on Israel were utterly outrageous. They went so far beyond any of Bill Clinton’s woolly-headed concessions to the Palestinians that he may as well have been channeling his father’s secretary of state, James Baker, infamous for reportedly saying something like “Jews don’t vote Republican anyway, so f*** ’em.”

Here is what our incredibly shrinking president said: First, he called Israeli settlement lands seized as a result of Israel’s DEFENSIVE war in 1967 an “occupation.” In diplomatic speak, this is the a stink bomb of massive proportions. For Israel to give up its holdings on the West Bank would be akin to asking South Korea to let the North militarize the DMV. It is an outrage.
Even worse, he said that Palestinian refugees should receive compensation for homes they feld during the establishment of Israel. Ahem, Mr. President, that was 60 years ago. How, pray tell, are such claims to be adjudicated? And who forced them to flee? In most cases, they had an option to stay, in a democratic state no less, but chose not to remain.

So the same president who abandoned New Orleans (yes, ABANDONED), who long ago abandoned fiscal responsibility, and who abandoned his own veto power, now is abandoning Israel.

By Bush’s (il)logic, the United States ought to give Texas back to Mexico. Think about it. And see how he likes those tamales.