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Personally, I harbor such deep antipathy toward Sharon. In addition to all the things, Hitchens mentioned—about, you know…..um…war crimes—our friend “The Butcher” nearly single handedly triggered the 2nd Intifada.

Yet, I find myself surprisingly undone by his disappearance from the stage…even though I don’t trust him for a second. As Hitchens said, it’s not Nixon in China….it’s far more complex than that.

I haven’t gotten over to read Arianna’s take on Olmert, the new Kadima guy, Sharon’s deputy, but I will. Thanks for the heads up.

And no, I haven’t watched the Springsteen documentaries yet. I’m waiting to do it with my kid, and we’ve both been insanely busy. But I have the whole Springsteen package on the coffee table like an art book, so I can walk by and gaze at it affectionately. (No, I’m not a well person, but what of it???)

The remastered BTR alone album is really wonderful. They did a fine job. It makes a difference.

PS: Re: Sharon: This LA Times piece is somewhat worth reading.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-arabs7jan07,0,3634703.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Generally, I’m a total pessimist – if not a cynic – when it comes to the question of Israel and the Palestinians. I’m sympathetic to both within a certain context, but also find the political extremes on both sides noxious and unhinged, and they seem to hold most of the leverage. The West Bank settlements have always struck me as a key ingredient for a long-term recipe for disaster. And when a bunch of hyper-fundamentalist screwballs like Hamas can, in fact, rationally be seen as a preferable alternative for Palestinian voters to the decadence of Arafat’s boys, you know you’ve crossed over into the Twilight Zone.

You were putting forward the notion that Iran was more likely to nuke Israel than the USSR or Mao’s China had been to ever actually use nuclear weapons in battle, rather than as chess pieces. Wouldn’t the proximity of the Palestinian enclaves in the almost ridiculously small territorial environs inhabited by both Israelis and Palestinian Arabs make the use of nuclear weapons as anything other than a bargaining chip to assert regional stature a totally absurdist scenario. Yeah, yeah…suicide bombers and all that, but the notion that Iran would launch a nuclear attack on Israel for the hell of it is, if you’ll pardon my French, deranged from any concievable political or historical context one can imagine. And whatever one might think about their crank press releases and hysterical rhetoric, I don’t believe the folks who run Iran are completely crazy at the level of suicidal psychosis. But I’m supposed to politely treat your paranoia as a rational debating point….

Give me a break ! (Of course, if a Pat Robertson – who’s had substantial impact on GOP politics over the last several decades – can float musings that Sharon was struck down by God for dividing the Holy Land, I guess we’re supposed to be prepared for damn near anything coming from the environs of the right, nuevo-right, neo-cons, con-cons and Christo-cons.)

A New York Times story that made my jaw drop – Bush rounds up all of these “elder statesmen” to consult on Iraq and…what happens – 5-10 minutes of discussion.
I don’t know what turns my stomach more….the gullibility of folks who would show up for this or the arrogance of the foreign policy team most unfortunate ratio of competence vs. hubris in my memory.

Bush and Former Cabinet Members Discuss Topic No. 1: Iraq
The president promised to “take to heart” suggestions on Iraq he heard from ex-secretaries of defense and state.

By DAVID E. SANGER
Published: January 5, 2006

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 – Colin Powell said nothing – a silence that spoke volumes to many in the White House today.

His predecessor, Madeleine Albright, was a bit riled after hearing an exceedingly upbeat 40-minute briefing to 13 living former secretaries of state and defense about how well things are going in Iraq. Saying the war in Iraq was “taking up all the energy” of President Bush’s foreign policy team, she asked Mr. t Bush whether he had let nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea spin out of control, and Latin America and China policy suffer by benign neglect.

“I can’t let this comment stand,” Mr. Bush shot back, telling Ms. Albright and the rare assembly of her colleagues, who reached back to the Kennedy White House, that his administration “can do more than one thing at a time.”

The Bush administration, the president insisted, had “the best relations of any country with Japan, China and Korea,” and active programs to win alliances around the world.

That was, according to some of the participants, one of the few moments of heat during an unusual White House effort to bring some of its critics into the fold and give a patina of bipartisan common ground to the strategy that Mr. Bush has laid out in recent weeks for Iraq.

But if it was a bipartisan consultation, as advertised by the White House, it was a brief one. Mr. Bush allowed 5 to 10 minutes this morning for interchange with the group – which included three veterans of another difficult war, the one in Vietnam: Robert S. McNamara, Melvin R. Laird and James R. Schlesinger. Then the entire group was herded the Oval Office for what he called a “family picture.”

Those who wanted to impart more wisdom to the current occupants of the White House were sent back across the hall to meet again with Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, and Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. But, as several of the participants noted, by that time Mr. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had gone on to other meetings.

When cameras were in the room, though, Mr. Bush was appreciative. “I’m most grateful for the suggestions that have been given,” he said. “We take the advice, we appreciate your experience and we appreciate you taking the time out of your day.” (snip)

(Disturbingly enough, I seem to know an inordinate number of people who can hum “Boomer Sooner” on command. I have no adequate explanation for this.)

A New York Times story that made my jaw drop – Bush rounds up all of these “elder statesmen” to consult on Iraq and…what happens – 5-10 minutes of discussion.
I don’t know what turns my stomach more….the gullibility of folks who would show up for this or the arrogance of the foreign policy team most unfortunate ratio of competence vs. hubris in my memory.

Bush and Former Cabinet Members Discuss Topic No. 1: Iraq
The president promised to “take to heart” suggestions on Iraq he heard from ex-secretaries of defense and state.

By DAVID E. SANGER
Published: January 5, 2006

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 – Colin Powell said nothing – a silence that spoke volumes to many in the White House today.

His predecessor, Madeleine Albright, was a bit riled after hearing an exceedingly upbeat 40-minute briefing to 13 living former secretaries of state and defense about how well things are going in Iraq. Saying the war in Iraq was “taking up all the energy” of President Bush’s foreign policy team, she asked Mr. t Bush whether he had let nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea spin out of control, and Latin America and China policy suffer by benign neglect.

“I can’t let this comment stand,” Mr. Bush shot back, telling Ms. Albright and the rare assembly of her colleagues, who reached back to the Kennedy White House, that his administration “can do more than one thing at a time.”

The Bush administration, the president insisted, had “the best relations of any country with Japan, China and Korea,” and active programs to win alliances around the world.

That was, according to some of the participants, one of the few moments of heat during an unusual White House effort to bring some of its critics into the fold and give a patina of bipartisan common ground to the strategy that Mr. Bush has laid out in recent weeks for Iraq.

But if it was a bipartisan consultation, as advertised by the White House, it was a brief one. Mr. Bush allowed 5 to 10 minutes this morning for interchange with the group – which included three veterans of another difficult war, the one in Vietnam: Robert S. McNamara, Melvin R. Laird and James R. Schlesinger. Then the entire group was herded the Oval Office for what he called a “family picture.”

Those who wanted to impart more wisdom to the current occupants of the White House were sent back across the hall to meet again with Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, and Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. But, as several of the participants noted, by that time Mr. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had gone on to other meetings.

When cameras were in the room, though, Mr. Bush was appreciative. “I’m most grateful for the suggestions that have been given,” he said. “We take the advice, we appreciate your experience and we appreciate you taking the time out of your day.” (snip)