Never trust the predictions of a drunken frat boy

By GottaLaff

Once upon a time, not so long ago...

Thursday, January 10, 2008:

Bush Predicts Mideast Peace Treaty Before He Leaves White House

...there was a frat boy who liked to pretend he was the President of the United States.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008:

Israeli Prime Minister Won't Seek Reelection Olmert's decision to step down in September raises doubts about progress for U.S.-backed peace talks.

There is a happy ending. The imbecilic, drunken sham of a president will be replaced very, very soon.

The End.

Iran, Israel, and Karl Rove

By GottaLaff

Via Public Agenda

Think Progress, where I found the above graphic, also posted this little spine-tingler:

Daniel Pipes, a far right-wing pseudo scholar who called the NIE report on the halting of Iran’s nuclear program a “shoddy, politicized, outrageous parody of a piece of propaganda,” said he believes that President Bush will attack Iran if a Democrat wins the White House in November. During an interview posted at the National Review Online, Pipes said that the U.S. and its allies should tell Tehran to “watch out” for “an American attack”:

What I suspect will be the case is, should the Democratic nominee win in November, President Bush will do something. And should it be Mr. McCain that wins, he’ll punt, and let McCain decide what to do.

[...]The White House denies any intent to strike Iran, but that hasn’t stopped Vice President Dick Cheney or former U.N. ambassador John Bolton from promoting the idea.

Does this all sound a little familiar? But wait! This just in, again via Think Progress:

JTA reports that, according to Israel’s Channel 10, Israeli opposition leader and former Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu “may hire former White House adviser Karl Rove.” Sources “close to Netanyahu” said that “Rove’s name has come up on a roster of strategic consultants that the Israeli opposition leader is thinking of hiring as he prepares for a possible leadership challenge against the embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.” Olmert recently met with President Bush and reportedly urged him to attack Iran.

I much prefer my happy posts down thread.

"The United States should therefore prepare to attack Iran"

By GottaLaff

I interrupt our regularly scheduled basking in the glow of Barack Obama's victory for this bulletin:

Froomkin:

Both Olmert and Bush are badly wounded and looking for salvation. Olmert is facing corruption allegations that could drive him from office. Bush is wildly unpopular, desperate to salvage his legacy and fighting irrelevance as the general election begins in earnest -- with even the Republican candidate trying to keep him at a distance.

It's in this environment that the Jewish Telegraph Agency reports: "Ehud Olmert will urge President Bush to prepare an attack on Iran, an Israeli newspaper reported.

"Citing sources close to the Israeli prime minister, Yediot Achronot reported on its front page Wednesday that Olmert, who is due to hold closed-door talks with Bush in Washington, will say that 'time is running out' on diplomatic efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program.

"The United States should therefore prepare to attack Iran, Olmert will tell Bush, according to Yediot."

We need President Obama before January 2009. We need him right now.

While we count delegates, Israel PM calls for naval blockade of Iran

By GottaLaff

What conclusion can we draw when we see this.....

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has urged the United States to impose a naval blockade on Iran to pressure it to stop its controversial nuclear programme, the Haaretz daily reported on Wednesday.

Olmert raised the issue during a meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the newspaper said.

"The present economic sanctions on Iran have exhausted themselves," Olmert was quoted as telling the California Democrat.

Asked about the report, Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev would say only: "We do not confirm this information."

Rafi Eitan, a member of Olmert's security cabinet, said he also favoured air travel restrictions against Iran.

"A blockade of maritime and air routes against Iran is a good possibility," Eitan, the minister in charge of pensioners' affairs, told public radio.

"There are voices we hear in Washington that indicate the military option remains open," he added.

... and then, couple the above with this from Sidney Blumenthal:

He said that the US faces a "cataclysmic" final few months of the Bush term, and that Bush is determined to leave a lasting mark on the world regardless of who is elected the next president.

"Bush feels unconstrained right now, and a sense of urgency," Blumenthal said, later referring to a Jerusalem Post story that warns Bush plans to attack Iran before his term ends in January.

Uh-huh. That's the same conclusion I drew.