* Re: UN envoy Susan Rice and her early Benghazi comments on those Sunday morning TV talk shows. We now know the intelligence community sanitized her talking points in the ostensible interests of national security. Rice, in effect, took one for the team when those better informed begged off. What is disconcerting is this: Key governmental operatives considered Rice expendable. She was an unwitting dupe in an effort to seemingly mislead and buy time. That’s who you might want running the State Department?
* Among the loudest Rice critics has been Sen. John McCain. But how credible is his foreign policy perspective? He still thinks Vietnam was a good idea and Sarah Palin was qualified to be a heartbeat away from being commander-in-chief.
* Consensus has it that Hamas came out a winner from its 8-day conflict with Israel. The bystanding Palestinian Authority is further neutered, the Arab Springers are on board with the Gaza plight, the Israelis are the heavy and Hamas, which still doesn’t recognize Israel, dodged the invasion bullet and remains entrenched in power in Gaza. Credit the Hamas strategy of lobbing hundreds of missiles into Israel from locations embedded in civilian contexts. It assured collateral damage with Israeli retaliation. In other words, you have to be willing to sacrifice a number of your children to get this outcome. The resultant images were graphically moving and powerful.
*The headline indicated Mexican President Felipe Calderon wants to change his country’s name. No, not Mexistan or anything radical. Seems that the formal name is actually the Estados Unidos Mexicanos (the United Mexican States), which sounds a bit too much like its yanqui neighbor to the north. The new formal name would be: Mexico.