So why oh why oh why did the American people re-elect this fuckwit in 2004?

Sadly the realists don't understand Israel, and cannot be trusted on this most important of issues.

If not watched carefully, some realists write articles that say a more even handed approach to the Israel Palestine conflict is in American interests.

This is not the policy of the New York Times or indeed any other American media outlet.

Only the likes of David Brooks and William Kristol have a perfect understanding of Israel's desperate plight.

Is there any other functioning democracy in the world where this sort of man is taken remotely seriously?

This obnoxious clown was recently seen shopping in a newly owned jewelry store in New York.

The store owner is an enthusiastic financial supporter of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West bank of Palestine.

Furthermore the store sells 'blood rubies' from Burma, and 'dirty diamonds from Angola. Both countries have vile human rights records.

Foolish people still view this obnoxious clown as a liberal, and an academic.

But for the rest of us, the obnoxious clown's act stinks.

Forgive me if I'm skeptical but...

I have clear memories as a boy in the late 60s/early70s reading articles such as this.

The text was frequently accompanied by rather nice illustrations of 'futuristic' vehicles along with graphs and predictions about the world's oil supplies being exhausted by 1980, or 1985, or maybe THE YEAR 2000 (drum-roll).

If you'd told me back then that in the year 2008 I'd be driving a steel bodied car with a gasoline powered internal combustion engine at the front, on four wheels with a manual transmission I'd have been amazed and rather sad. To think that conceptually this vehicle would be virtually identical to the one my Dad drove...

What have I learned since then?

That predictions are almost always too pessimistic (who wants to write or read about a fairly benign prediction?).

That technology is almost always slower to become widespread.

That with over 100 years of intense engineering development behind it, we're not going to be throwing the internal combustion engine away anytime soon.

A very long period of economic growth seems about to end with a downturn or a recession.

This is a normal phenomenon which has afflicted governments of the right, the center and the left in all countries.

The pattern is always the same. A comparatively small number of people have their lives completely ruined by bankruptcy and house repossession.

A much larger number of people have to cancel that second vacation for a couple of years and cannot afford to purchase a new car for a while.

All but a tiny percentage of people feel insecure and anxious.

Within 3-5 years of the recession, politicians, the media, and opinion formers urge everyone to 'move on,' 'look to the future' and 'proceed from here.' The people ruined or permanently damaged by the recession have at this point no political power, no voice, and are regarded as 'losers.'

Time marches on, along with the famous American dementia. Few now remember the shocking 'double dip' recession that blighted the early years of 'The Gipper' - an administration marked by corruption and incompetence on an epic scale. Fewer still remember that when Bill Clinton took office in 1993, a best selling book was entitled "America - What Went Wrong?"

There is little doubt that America, and the world are headed for a recession. The only interesting questions are how long will it last, how severe is it likely to be, and how long will it take before its tossed down the collective memory hole?

Actually Israel built the wall that divides Gaza from Egypt. In addition, Israel also found it necessary to bulldoze hundreds of Palestinian homes and businesses 'close' to this wall.

But, as Nulla would remind us, the demolitions were done in the most kind and humane and loving way possible and any casualties incurred, like the 23-year American Rachel Corrie crushed to death by an amoured bulldozer, were regrettable accidents. Most regrettable accidents. Deeply regrettable accidents. It's simply tragic and inexplicable the way the IDF is accident prone.

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As for the article itself, its clear the author isn't very familiar with the Strip itself and has hardly thought about his arguments before writing.

For instance, there's his curious claim that there are 'hundreds' of tunnels linking Egypt the Gaza strip but their entrances (and presumably exits) are so perfectly camouflaged they are never seen. I wonder if the author realises that these 'hundreds' of tunnels would have to breach a frontier little more than 6 miles long? The idea that Israel would miss hundreds of smuggling tunnels over such a small piece of land is ludicrous!

The presence of *some" tunnels seems certain, but they are clearly inefficient, small in number, and are unable (under the most perfect market conditions imaginable) to supply more than a tiny fraction of the fuel, food and other basic goods the people of Gaza so desperately want.

Likewise the pathetic crudity and almost complete ineffectiveness of the rockets the militants manufacture and fire at Israel speaks volumes for the effectiveness of the blockade. Modern or even semi modern weapons (such as those deployed by Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon) are noticeable by their absence.

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In short, this was a poorly researched, poorly written and poorly argued piece.