Barack Obama has rescued the nation—verily, the world—from economic collapse. He stands on the cusp of achieving higher quality health care at lower cost—for every American. Now he ROSS
MACKENZIE
is moving to extend his magic to matters foreign. Let’s see . . .

• At his direction, his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, is doing her best to compel the new leaders of Honduras to violate their own constitution, under which the Honduran Congress and Supreme Court have removed the Castro and Chavez acolyte who was about to impose Fidelism on the Honduran people. Secretary Clinton et al. want the deposed president restored to power—after the fashion of American practice in, for instance, Haiti.

HARRISONBURG—Israel must stop building settlements in Palestinian areas if peace is ever to be achieved in the Middle East, former President Jimmy Carter said last night as he received an award for his humanitarian efforts. “As President Barack Obama has made clear, the key factor that prevents peace is the continuing building of Israeli settlements in Palestine, driven by a determined minority of Israelis who desire to occupy and colonize east Jerusalem and the West Bank,“ Carter said.

HARRISONBURG—Former President Jimmy Carter planned to discuss how to achieve peace in the Middle East as he received an award yesterday from James Madison University for his humanitarian efforts. Carter, a Nobel Peace laureate, and former first lady Rosalynn Carter were to receive the award from JMU’s Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence.

Former President Jimmy Carter plans to discuss how to achieve peace in the Middle East as he receives an award for his humanitarian efforts.

Political press secretaries lead lives of excitement and intensity. They stand at the center of events. At the national level they occasionally become household names, and seemingly serve as surrogates for the lofty. Many enjoy access to Washington’s power and party scenes. Although their salaries do not approach the compensation and bonuses of the masters who ruined investors and drove Wall Street into the dirt, their pay isn’t peanuts.

Jimmy Carter wants the U.S. to drop Hamas from its list of terrorist organizations. His persistent scolding of Israel suggests he would prefer that the Jewish state be added to it. The Camp David Accords, which provided the framework for the peace between Israel and Egypt, stand as Carter’s signal accomplishment in foreign policy. Carter shares credit for the happy outcome, but the negotiations between Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat commenced in large part because of a Carter mistake. In Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East, Dennis Ross and David Makovsky explain:

Carter Precedent Sen. Barack Obama did not seek earmarks. Candidate Obama opposed them. President Obama supports a spending bill filled with earmarks. We are reminded of Jimmy Carter. Early in his administration Carter launched a crusade against the status quo when he removed various water projects from the federal budget. Congress erupted. Capital hands called Carter naIve and inept. A standoff ensued. A compromise was struck, and Congressional Quarterly reported that although the episode had no clear winners the process regarding federal water projects would never be the same.