It has been a busy time. From what little I remember the Purim tish was fun. I recall dramatic readings from the Satmarer Rov's Al HaGeulah ve-al HaTemurah to Stairway to Heaven. I guess you had to be there.

All that is way in the past, though, because since then I sent off my second son to the army. Yes, him. Not easy. (For me, that is; he seems fine with it.) Hashem yishmor tzeito u-vo'o.

It seems sacrilegious to discuss mundane matters when my head is elsewhere, but it's all connected. I mean, of course, this spat we're having with Obama. A few thoughts about that. First, it is becoming more and more clear that Obama is a genuine third-worlder. He has abandoned Honduras, Iranian dissidents, Poland and the Czech Republic and Israel. He has appointed (or attempted to appoint) genuine U.S.-hating wingnuts like Van Jones and Jennifer Daskal to sensitive positions. This is not Carter-style weakness. This is an administration that has embraced the vision of the anointed big-time and seeks to create a new world order in which the West is significantly weakened.

The current kerfuffle is not peevishness. It is carefully orchestrated. Mitchell has promised the Palestinians that the outcome of the proximity talks will be an imposed solution that, inter alia, divides Jerusalem. The silly spectacle we have witnessed for the past week is designed to cow Israel and to signal the Arabs that the U.S. will deliver on its promise.

In the days ahead, we will find out if Democrats are prepared to defy Obama on this issue or not. If not, and support for Israel officially becomes a partisan Republican issue, we are screwed.

As for Israel's response to all this, we are much better off avoiding proximity talks now than having to defy an American diktat a year from now.