The Riddle in the Middle

Claudia Rosett remarks re Obama's now-you-see-it-now-you-don't middle-name-of-convenience and his insistence that Jews suspect his motives because of it:

I’ll venture a wild guess that the problem for Israelis is not Obama’s name — first, last, or middle — but his flim-flam fictions and negligence regarding too many hard and dangerous realities in the Middle East. Since becoming commander-in-chief of Israel’s most important ally, America, Obama has repeatedly bypassed or undermined Israel’s very real concerns about self-defense. He has been content to leave Israel in the impossible position of being constrained to wait upon his own feckless policy of apologies and “outreach” toward the “Muslim world,” while Iran races toward nuclear weapons and its leaders trumpet their desire to wipe Israel off the map, in concert with the goals of Iran’s terrorist allies Hamas and Hezbollah — bordering Israel out of Gaza and Lebanon.

Perhaps it’s Obama himself who’s been paying too much attention to his own middle name — betting that by sheer force of personal style, by extending his hand and averting his eyes, he can turn tyrants and terrorists into well-behaved pals. Step-by-step, realities have been interfering with that approach, and to some extent, this has begun moderating Obama’s policies. It’s been a while since he last advertised his abilities to conjure peace out of negotiating with Iran’s mullahs “without preconditions.” On July 1, presented with an overwhelmingly approved bipartisan bill by Congress, he finally gave the OK to enhanced Iran sanctions. And, having snubbed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in May, Obama recovered his manners during a meeting this week.

If this is Obama’s public education we are observing, it is an unnerving performance — slow, shaky, half-baked and resting on no discernible set of principles likely to instill confidence in any of America’s allies...

I don't know why you say that, Claudia. I'm confident that the man who for twenty years sat through the toxic smoke and mirrors of Rev. Jeremiah Wright and who later claimed a la Bill Clinton that he "didn't inhale" is not our friend, is out of his depth, and is about to drown.