POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

When Bibi met Barry; a tale of two receptions

Boy, what a difference an election year makes, eh?  And it's not only with respect to the usual chicken-in-every-pot demagoguish posturing, or the sudden embrace of a sense of fiscal awareness and responsibility by the same Congress that, in concert with "Diddy-Our Big Bucks-Obama", enacted both the nearly trillion dollar failed stimulus as well as increased discretionary spending by 125%; all while lacking the intestinal fortitude to, you know, do their job and actually enact a budget, owing to the legitimate fear of electoral repercussions due to the oceans of red ink.  No, this year, in addition to the usual and cutomary cynicism and hypocrisy surrounding matters of domestic policy, there is a foreign policy component to the calculus as well.

President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet on Tuesday seeking to show they have turned the page on an unusually rocky period in relations between Washington and its close ally.

Visiting the White House for fence-mending talks, Netanyahu will get a warmer welcome than in March when Obama kept him at arms' length in what was widely viewed as a snub over settlement policy seen by Washington as an obstacle to a Palestinian state.

Obama is not likely to risk another diplomatic clash with Netanyahu with pivotal U.S. congressional elections looming in November and pro-Israel sentiment strong among American lawmakers and voters.

Carefully choreographing what some analysts have dubbed a "make-up" visit, Obama's aides have arranged press coverage at the end of the Oval Office talks, when every bit of body language is sure to be scrutinized. Afterward, the leaders will attend a White House luncheon.

I wish that I could take this report at face value, and believe that O!&Co are truly interested in patching their self-inflicted, and seemingly intentional, rift with the Israelis.  In a perfect world, Mr. Obama would be conferring with PM Netanyahu over retaining their current geo-political balance, and concomitantly, that the US would be taking the lead in any military strikes on Iran; actions that, unfortunately, are looking increasingly imminent and necessary.

Unfortunately, I've witnessed too many actions that seem to be calculated rather than coincidental, and too many consequences that instead of being unintended are instead purposefully achieved.  I've seen one too many crises exploited for cheap political advantage.  And, while not placing me squarely amongst the tin-foil-hat-crew, I am a bit jaded because of the more breathtaking events we've all witnessed over the last 18 months; and I'm not talking about Obama's drives here.

No, behind this demonstrative reconciliation I see the urgent need to reclaim a part of the traditional Democratic electoral coalition that the progressives thought could be safely written off.  It's no secret that part of Democrat's electoral victory margin in recent cycles was due to a large number of young voters, as well as an uncharacteristically high number of white male supporters.  But, unsurprisingly, as the President's popularity has waned, so too has his large support cushion among these non-traditional Democrat voter groups.  In fact, the Democrats are publicly hand wringing about what actions to take in order to "put the band back together, man!"-the coalition that supported them in 2006 and 2008; because otherwise they will perhaps suffer a more crushing defeat at the ballot box in November than has been speculated.

Nope, in my humble opinion, it's as plain as the nose on my face.  The mid-summer strokage of the Israeli PM has more to do with wooing disillusioned Jewish voters, "back to the fold", than anything; it's to give the fightin' nutroots something to talk up to their Jewish allies.  But, in an interesting twist posited by Cap'n Ed at Hot Air, will Obama also placate the Jooooooooo haterz too by demanding that Israel apologize to Turkey?  Although there is less than a snowball's chance in sheol of that happening, it would certainly fit Obama's modus operandi by allowing him, once again, to try and vote "present".

Rocketman