Leon Wieseltier, the most pretentious writer who has ever lived, writing as badly and grandiosely as only he can, about the Gaza disengagement in the new issue of the New Republic: “When I behold the photographs of the settlers in Gaza uprooted by Israeli soldiers, empathy almost completely deserts me.” Yes, he used the verb “behold” to describe watching people on television. Hear, O Israel, Leon ben-Wieseltier hath beheld thee and thou art unpleasing to him. Feel the wrath of the Man With Important Hair! Every knee shall bow, every tongue shall scrape!

Note to Marty Peretz: It’s been 25 years already. Get this guy an editor, will you?