The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
News of the Tautological
“Woman Is State’s Oldest Female Inmate”–headline, Associated Press, May 4
News You Can Use
“How to Lose $100 Million”–headline, Politico Magazine, May/June issue
Bottom Story of the Day
“No Endorsement in the Race for Mahoning Probate Judge”–headline, Vindicator (Youngstown, Ohio), May 3
This Time It’s Obvious
In a press conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Obama “voiced support for the Ukrainian government” Friday, “the day of its first major offensive aimed at driving out the insurgents occupying government buildings across the east,” the Associated Press reports.
“Obama says violence escalating in eastern Ukraine is making it obvious to the world that pro-Russia militants there are not peaceful protesters,” the AP adds. If only his administration had such a strong command of the obvious back in September 2012.
‘I Guess We Need Another Intifada’
Speaking of trying to explain John Kerry’s foreign policy, consider this quote from an unnamed “bitter American official”: “I guess we need another intifada to create the circumstances that would allow progress.”
That was part of a “withering assessment” of the failed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which “American officials directly involved” in the negotiations gave, under condition of anonymity, to Nahum Barnea, a columnist for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth. The Times of Israel translates from the Hebrew:
A third intifada, the Americans made clear, “would be a tragedy. The Jewish people are supposed to be smart; it is true that they’re also considered a stubborn nation. You’re supposed to know how to read the map: In the 21st century, the world will not keep tolerating the Israeli occupation. The occupation threatens Israel’s status in the world and threatens Israel as a Jewish state.”
At least the word “apartheid” doesn’t appear in the Times’s account. It’s troubling, to say the least, to think that U.S. officials view the prospect of an intifada–which literally translates as “shaking off,” but refers to a wave of terrorism against the Jewish state–as a force for progress.
But it isn’t surprising: As blogger Jeff Dunetz notes, the secretary of state himself has said as much on the record, albeit in the form of a rhetorical question: “When asked by an Israeli reporter why the peace talks were important, Kerry answered, ‘Does Israel want a third intifada?’ ”
(Note: The excerpts above are from the May 5 BOTW Archives.) For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”
