Shadow Government

Since when did Suzanne Malveaux become Karl Rove's sock puppet? She's spent the past several days helming CNN's Situation Room, during which she has called Nancy Pelosi "the most controversial speaker yet," asserted that opposing the war is a bad strategy for Democrats, and then busted out with these greatest hits:

Here she is in a comfy chat with shit-canned former UN ambassador John Bolton about Speaker Pelosi's trip to Israel and Syria:

MALVEAUX: Do you think that this also perhaps portends to something that might happen in the future? I'm being somewhat flip. But, you know, Syria today, Iran tomorrow, I mean, where does it end?

BOLTON: I think that's part of the problem.

Additional comments to Paul Begala on Speaker Pelosi's trip:

MALVEAUX: Now, Paul, she has no standing officially to do any negotiations here. She is on her own. I mean, if Syria was serious about peace, they would be reaching out to Secretary Rice or the president. Why isn't this any more than a political theater? What can she accomplish?

For a moment, let's dispense with the notion that these comments are right out of an RNC fax list (which they are). It's no surprise that Malveaux doesn't read the foreign press, but it appears that Pelosi actually is accomplishing something in Damascus, at the behest of the Israeli government, who clearly trusts her more than Condi Rice:

Israel's political and military leadership has been preparing in recent weeks for the possibility of a Syrian attack on the Golan Heights that will start as a result of a "miscalculation" on the part of the Syrians, who may assume that Israel intends to attack them.

Israel, however, has delivered a calming message, and has no plans to attack its northern neighbor.

According to information Israel received, the Syrians are concerned that the United States will carry out an attack against Iran's nuclear installations in the summer, and in parallel Israel would strike Syria and Lebanon.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who visited IDF forces in the North last week, heard an intelligence assessment and was informed of the dangers of a Syrian "miscalculation."

Following his visit to the forces in the field, a decision was made to publicly address the concerns of a possible deterioration with the Syrians, and to send a message that Israel has no intention of attacking Syria, nor is there any coordinated plan with the U.S. for a joint attack against Iran.

The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is scheduled to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus today, and will deliver a message of calm from Israel.

"We hope the message will be understood," political sources in Israel said yesterday. "The question is whether Assad is looking for an excuse ... so that he can carry out an attack against Israel in the summer, or whether this is a mistaken assessment."

So when the Israelis are worries about the wrong message being sent to Syria, to relieve the tension they turn to... the Speaker of the House of Representatives, because the State Department is in such disarray and the chief executive is such a belligerent cowboy that they simply can't trust him. This is perhaps the biggest indictment of the Bush Administration yet, that the rest of the world would rather deal with a shadow government at this point than these fools.

And all the insaneosphere gets out of this is yelling about Pelosi wearing a scarf on her head. It's amazing that there are literally two separate realities going on in this country.