Word: grand
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...diplomatic fluttering about? What's going on? Part of it is the Bush Administration's desperate desire to wring good news from the mess it has caused in the region. But there is also a new twist on a familiar Middle Eastern dance: the collision between a grand geostrategic scheme and implacable tribal realities. The novelty is that the grand scheme has been proposed by the Saudis, not imposed by outsiders, and it is appealing to the Administration: it holds the prospect of an alliance of moderate Arab states, and Israel, against the growing influence of Iran. "The world...
...Alpha Arabs--were again holding out the possibility of diplomatic recognition in return for a settlement with the Palestinians (on terms Israel could never accept, but it was a start). So I asked the Prime Minister if he might leverage his utter unpopularity into something positive with a dramatic grand gesture--after all, what did he have to lose? Olmert was skeptical: "Even if [I] have something in mind that might be headlined as dramatic, it will be labeled as spin," he said. But later, when I asked him about the Saudi initiative, he made a creaky effort...
There is another grand gesture open to Olmert, but it dare not speak its name--mostly because the U.S. doesn't want it to happen. Various Israelis have been quietly talking about opening peace talks with Syria--which actually does have some power over the Palestinian extremists, since it allows the militant wing of Hamas to be based in Damascus. The deal seems obvious: Syria gets back the Golan Heights. Israel gets recognized. Hamas gets the boot. Two years ago, Syrian President Bashar Assad told me he wanted to reopen talks with the Israelis. When I asked Olmert about Assad...
...Democrats' situation is different. For them, recent history does not feature a grand triumph (Reagan) preceded and followed by mixed results (Nixon and the Bushes) - a narrative that yields the hope of reliving the moment of success. The modern Democrats are more a party of tragedy than of triumph: John F. Kennedy assassinated; Lyndon Johnson's Presidency wrecked on the shoals of the Great Society and Vietnam; electoral defeats in the '70s and '80s interrupted only by the (failed) Carter Administration; Clinton's victories in the '90s accompanied by the Republican takeover of Congress. And at the heart...
...Bobby Kennedy vs. Ronald Reagan - it's the grand matchup we were denied. They debated once, mostly about Vietnam, on a 1967 CBS telecast that featured Reagan in Sacramento, Calif., and Kennedy in New York City answering questions from students in London. (It was generally agreed that Reagan bested Kennedy, who asked afterward, "Who the f___ got me into this?") Who would not have relished a repeat confrontation between the conservative champion and the liberal prophet? Perhaps in October, when Thompson and Obama stand across the stage from each other, the hopes and dreams of both parties riding on their...