Will Benjamin Ben-Eliezer be the next Prime Minister of Israel? Yoel Marcus writes "Churchill, he's not; but don't underestimate people who are easy to underestimate."

Cloudy Thinking: Prof. Dana Cloud of the University of Texas condemns our "corrupt nation" and wrote this alternative Pledge of Allegiance to "the people of Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan". Prof. Cloud is hereby awarded lifetime membership in the Academy of Fools. (item courtesy of Andrew Sullivan)

Egyptian immigrant and LAX shooter Hesham Mohamed Hadayet went to the airport with the intent to kill, the FBI tells us. "Why he did that is what we are still trying to determine," say the Feds. But you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to see the obvious. Whether or not he was acting "alone" is irrelevant. Hadayet's own government orchestrates a climate of hatred. Its official press publishes all kinds of wild anti-Semitic filth and applauds terrorism . The LAX shooter was doing exactly what he thought his government wanted him to do.