Because I'm feeling lazy and relatively uninspired at the moment but there's lots of interesting stuff going on out there that may not have otherwise come across your radar screen, here are a few links to check out.
From Herb Keinon in the JP, " 'Disengagement' out, 'leaving Gaza' in"
or "Arik has a brand new meme."
In "A stark Palestinian choice," the Chicago Tribune says "Barghouti is no Mandela." Well, they got that right. But:
Abbas is running as a moderate and practical politician who will avoid repeating the abject failures of the Yasser Arafat years. Although a close confidant of Arafat, Abbas nonetheless has courageously and publicly condemned the violent methods of the second intifada, calling it "the total destruction of all we have built and all that had been built before that." In recent days, he has ordered a halt to anti-Israel incitement in government-controlled media, a key Israeli demand and a sign of goodwill.
Suckers.
Meanwhile, Steven Plaut tries to put the lie, once more with feeling, to "The Anti-Zionist Claim that Jews Are Usurpers of Palestine". Good job.
And last but certainly not least, the Supreme Court finally heard the interstate wine shipping cases this week. I say "finally," because for wine geeks like me, it's been far too long in coming. And from the reports I've read, it looks like the dormant commerce clause is going to trump the leash in the 21st amendment, which is to say that the Justices appeared to be less than comfortable with the state bans on direct shipping that were at issue.
Unfortunately, most of those states that are hell bent on committed to preventing their residents from having an occasional case of their favorite boutique chardonnay delivered to their door have an easy out. They can just stop allowing in-state wineries to ship, as well, thus eliminating discrimination and protectionism from the picture. The only state likely to have a problem with that would be New York (can you guess why?). Anyway, more on this anon.
