AND IN THE REAL WORLD – AT 7:29 P.M. ET:  We should remember that important things are happening in foreign affairs, the kinds of things that may come back to bite us later.  Today, for example, the "Palestinian Authority," in which Mr. Obama has invested such effort and high grovel, knifed him once again:

In a final thrust to persuade reluctant Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to enter direct talks with Israel, the EU coupled strong exhortations on Wednesday to Abbas to immediately begin them, with statements designed to give him confidence that once at the negotiating table, he will have strong support for a number of his key positions.

Abbas arrived in Cairo on Wednesday for a two-day visit to attend a special meeting of Arab League foreign ministers that begins on Thursday. The parley will evaluate the current proximity talks and discuss the possibility of starting direct negotiations.

Despite pressure from the US and the EU, Abbas has signaled in recent days that he does not intend to enter direct talks until Israel stops all settlement construction, as well as construction in east Jerusalem, and commits itself to the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967, lines. He is expected to seek Arab League support for these positions.

COMMENT:  Question:  Why should the Palestinians need persuading to sit down with the Israelis to work out an agreement?  Second question:  How can anyone say that the Palestinians "want peace" when their leaders refuse direct talks?  (And the Palestinian Authority is the more "moderate" of the two branches of the Palestinian leadership, the other being the ultra-militant Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist.)  Third question:  Would Abbas and his crowd be acting this way if Obama hadn't done everything in his power to humiliate the Israelis before trying a recent election-year kiss-and-make-up campaign?

Just asking.

July 28, 2010