1) At the beginning of today’s Impromptus, I have an item saying, basically, “Beware people who tell you that they know exactly how things will go in politics.” Often, the more a person knows, the less sure he is.
From 1992 to 1996, I told people that Bill Clinton would be a one-term president — because he was an accident of the Perot candidacy, which had received almost a fifth of the vote. I was especially sure that Clinton was a goner after the 1994 elections, which were a landslide for Republicans.
Since November 1996, I have been humbler in my political prognostications.
2) President Obama, along with other people, has had a cow over Bibi’s effort to get out the vote in Israel. Bibi said (essentially), “The other side will be at the polls in droves. They’re pulling out all the stops. If we expect to win, then our voters will have to be at the polls, too.”
In normal circumstances, this is called “politics.” When an Israeli conservative practices politics, it’s called “racism,” “divisiveness,” and other terrible things. It’s damned as illegitimate.
In the most recent presidential campaign, Obama ran an ad that said, “Mitt Romney. Not one of us.” If Netanyahu had done something like that — Obama would call for the abolition of Israel, or at least the Likud party.
3) This is a little item I meant to put in my column, but will offer here: “US opens criminal inquiry of resigning Illinois congressman.”
When the Feds announced they were going after Senator Menendez, a lot of people said, “Ah, New Jersey. What do you expect?” But doesn’t Illinois take the cake? I mean, shouldn’t it replace New Jersey in the popular imagination as the Home of Corruption?