When I read the Washington Post's story "Palestinians Seek Recognition through South America" this morning, all I could think of was Sarah Palin. Now, some might think that is a kind of a disorder that calls for therapy more than it does another blog post. But I suspect you are probably jumping to the wrong conclusion about what I think about either issue.

In defense of my mental health (which needs all the defending it can get), one reason I thought of Palin was that as I was reading the article, she appeared on the television. She was being asked what she thought about birther claims that President Obama was not born in the United States. Without the hesitation or weasel words that have made recent statements on this subject by Michele Bachmann and John Boehner such indictments of their ability to lead, Palin said that it wasn't an issue for her and that we ought to be talking about how to fix the economy. In this instance, she got it precisely right.

But the Palin comment and the birther debate also resonated with the story of the eight Latin American governments that in December and January recognized Palestinian statehood. representatives of the Netanyahu government including the prime minister himself apparently vigorously tried to persuade the region's leaders not to join the almost 100 nations that have also acknowledged the legitimacy of the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people.

Once again, the issue seems like a distraction to me. The response of Israel ought to be like the response of Palin, "Of course, the Palestinian people have a right to a state." In fact, it's only a bit of an over-simplification to say, the right response ought to be literally what Palin's was: That it's not an issue for them and we ought to be talking about how to fix the economy -- that is we ought to be focused on how you go from the indisputable right of the Palestinians to have their own state to working together to create one that is self-sustaining and can do a better job creating opportunities for the Palestinian people than neighboring states (other than Israel) have done for their citizens. That's the critical challenge for both Israelis and Palestinians together.

That of course, also requires that the Palestinian leadership actually get serious about both negotiating a deal and providing fundamental services to the Palestinian people. An honest debate about this subject, stripped of the distractions upon which both sides have depended on as cover for so long, would turn more to such practical issues.

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What is it about South Carolina's Latin loves? Or more precisely, what is it about their Latin passions that drives South Carolinian politicians insane?  First, we had Governor Mark Sanford falling head over heels for his sweet little alfajore from B.A.. Now, we've got South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint in a lovesick swoon for Honduras's de facto president Roberto Micheletti.

Despite the fact that Sanford lied to his constituents and betrayed his family, his saga was almost poignant. He clearly suffered acutely from that uniquely male disorder that involves the blood rushing from the brain and taking up residence in other parts of his anatomy. He went lovestupid. (It reminds of a true story told to me by a former Argentine ambassador. He ... who had five or six wives ... was having a conversation with his pal, then Argentine President Carlos Menem, himself a famous connoisseur of the opposite sex. Menem said, "you know, my friend, you and I are a just a couple of old putaneros." And the Ambassador responded, "No, Mr. President. You are a putanero. I am a romantic. Hence the five or six marriages.) Guys like that can't help themselves.

Then there is DeMint, who has fallen so hard for Micheletti that he decided to go visit him and whisper sweet nothings in his ear, despite the fact that his support for the interim president would run directly contrary to the foreign policy of the U.S. government. Apparently, the passion that draws DeMint down Tegucigalpa way is so strong and disorienting that he somehow thought no one would object. Senator Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee did and cancelled DeMint's trip. As of late Thursday, Senator Mitch McConnell then reinstated the trip under the aegis of a different committee. And no doubt there will be further chess moves on this front, with DeMint so goggle-eyed over the dubious appeals of the Micheletti government that he seems to think that this issue ought to be a top priority, taking precedence over say, everything else in U.S. foreign policy or policy in the region.

We know he thinks that the little telenovela that is playing out in Honduras is the most important thing happening in the hemisphere because -- apparently over this issue -- he has personally blocked the confirmation of the administration's two excellent, highly qualified nominees to be Assistant Secretary of State and Ambassador to Brazil. This issue has driven him nuts and he is going to drive the rest of the government nuts too, by golly! That's patriotism. Them's priorities. That's a South Carolina man in (ideological) heat.

However, in behaving in such an over-the-top fashion (and he's certainly entitled to his opinion ... the problem starts when he starts compromising the ability of the United States to conduct its foreign policy to make his point), DeMint is actually doing a service. Because he is making the most compelling case possible against the dangerous current argument that the appropriate response to the Obama administration's czarism is demanding Senate approval of even more presidential appointments.

As readers of this blog know, I was out there early tallying up czars and objecting to how many there were. But I was objecting because I felt that often (but certainly not always) such positions were redundant and didn't make for effective executive branch management. I never suggested ... or dreamed ... that the answer would be a push to give the Congress even more authority over executive branch appointments.

This Senate has an appalling track record of blocking appointments to advance personal agenda issues, pursue vendettas completely unrelated to the confirmation process in question and otherwise impede the ability of the government to get its work done in the most demanding times imaginable.   Senator Demented is a prime example of the problem ... but he is just one example.

Look at the appalling case surrounding the Senate's foot-dragging in confirming Lael Brainard as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs. It is not just frustrating or inappropriate ... it is a dereliction of duty for the Senate to have allowed the United States to go through its worst global economic crisis in our lifetimes without its senior-most international official. And according to several recent tallies I have seen, overall confirmations are lagging the slow pace of previous such processes, such as during the Bush transition, by a not inconsiderable margin. (Although some of the blame here admittedly must go to a White House vetting process that is responsible for its own share of self-inflicted wounds.)

Does anyone really believe that the U.S. Senate has somehow earned even more authority and power given its recent record of oversight failures, personal scandals and the inability to lead on the critical questions of the day? And don't reflexively roll out the constitutional argument. It has long been an established practice that only a modest fraction of executive branch appointments get Senate approval and many of those closest to the president, his direct White House staff including key posts like chief of staff, national security advisor, director of the national economic council, etc. do not. This is because it is recognized that the chief executive deserves autonomy in the selection of those who work directly for him-as many of these czars do. Frankly, given the way some senators abuse their power, I'm surprised the administration hasn't considered making the move to an all-czar government.

Frankly, what ought to be under review is the dangerous practice ... which is definitely not mentioned in the constitution ... which gives individual Senators the right to do such damage to the interests of the United States by blocking nominations. At the most there should be a time limit on their ability to delay confirmation processes ... although frankly, I think it is utterly inconsistent with the ideals of representative government that an individual should have the ability to abuse power the way DeMint has or his colleagues regularly do.

Through his actions, DeMint draws our attention to a crisis not in Honduran democracy but to one in the way democracy works right here at home.

Jose CABEZAS/AFP/Getty Images

Welcome to my life: My wife and I are padding around the bedroom this morning trying to avoid stepping on the little piles of clothing and half-assembled alebrijes that are the residue of a recent trip she made to Mexico. (She is a big fan of the Oaxacan wood carvings and our house, as a result, is full of them. Of course, those from the most recent trip came not only as contorted and fanciful as usual but each carrying a different strain of swine flu which makes them even more frightening than usual for our big, stupid cats.)

The bed is unmade. The blinds are down in the full blackout position that produces the crypt-like conditions my wife demands in order to sleep. (Although as I write this I wonder if sleeping with me is what has led her to require conditions that would have a bat demanding a nightlight and calling for his mommy.) Morning Joe is burbling in the background, the inside-the-beltway equivalent of one of those Sharper Image white noise machines.

So are we discussing her trip? The day? Her upcoming visit to the eye-doctor to have her faulty laser surgery fixed? How nice I look in my running shorts and polo shirt that still features remnants of last night's delicious dinner of Lean Pockets?

No, we're discussing blogging, bane of my existence. She was dead-set against it at the outset. But now she loves it. She says it is because people she meets talk about the blog all the time but that is implausible unless she travels in an even smaller, weirder circle than I thought. Instead, I am pretty sure it is because that when she does meet the odd Joe (or Jane) who reads the blog, she immediately gets waves of sympathy from them for having to put up with such a deranged curmudgeon. ("Do you really have to pretend to laugh at the jokes around the house?! You poor muffin...")

So I say, "I'm thinking of doing the blog today about Uribe." Yesterday there was a vote in the Colombian legislature that rekindled the prospect of President Uribe running for a third term. While I happen to think Uribe has done a pretty terrific job, all things considered, in one of the world's toughest jobs, I don't think it will enhance his legacy or Colombian democracy for him to run again. There are plenty of other talented Colombians and plenty of ways for him to continue to play a leading and constructive role.

She responds that many of my Colombian friends will be angry with me for this position because they think so highly of Uribe. She also notes that other people have made the point before and in so doing I might inflame discussions here that have some folks on Capitol Hill arguing we should go even slower on the approving the Colombia free trade deal if Uribe makes the decision to run again. Admittedly, she is the head of the Western Hemisphere Department at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and, although she is a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, she is also one of those old-fashioned advocates of free trade that you used to read about in business magazines before they were all forced to go underground and live in basements and practice their secret rituals of promoting global government and worshipping a border-free globe in secrecy. (Ok, I'll admit it. Me too) But she makes a good point. And she is my wife who brought home many beautiful alebrijes. So I drop the idea.

Instead, she suggests, I should do the piece on the insanity of the vetting and approval process that has left us with scores of gaps across the top levels of the U.S. government here in late August of the first year of the Obama presidency. As she puts it, we've got "local Kentucky politics" resulting in not having senior officials in place to deal with vital issues. "Here we are in the middle of a crisis and some of the most important jobs in the whole government are vacant for no good reason," she says while slathering herself in some strange cream that although it makes her look temporarily like a creature from a Roger Corman film actually smells pretty good and seemingly makes her immune to the effects of time, gravity and continental drift.

You don't argue with a woman who seemingly has discovered a cure for physics. And again, her argument has, as my old boss Kissinger used to say, the added benefit of being right. She lists a group of ambassadors, assistant secretaries, deputy U.S. trade representatives and others who are cooling their heels while Congress is at the beach or out trying to scare old people with "death panels." I jump on her bandwagon by reminding her of the story of the very smart, capable and talented Lael Brainard who is still in limbo despite the fact that:

• She has been nominated to be Under Secretary of the Treasury for International, one of the most important jobs in government in the best of times and even more important in times like these, which are not (you may have noticed) the best of times.
• She has already served with distinction at a high level in the government before.
• And, as noted in the Washington Post earlier this week, her husband with whom she shares a tax return, has already been confirmed as an assistant secretary of state. In other words, her tax returns have already been confirmed by the Senate but somehow she has been left behind.

That's it, I think, I'll write a "Free Lael Brainard!" piece. But then my wife reminds me the Post did that a couple days ago and I would look like a copycat. So that idea is also ditched.

What about doing a decline of America piece based on the quote I saw while reading U.S. News during a private moment this morning, I suggest? She says I shouldn't mention that I read the story anywhere in the vicinity of the loo because that would be tasteless. I promise not to. Then, I get to the thrust of the story which was a quote from former West Virginia Governor Gaston Caperton, a good guy I spent some time with once on some Clinton foreign mission somewhere who has since gone on to even greater power as head of the College Board. His observation was something to the effect that about a quarter of SAT-takers in 1989 said they had a GPA in the A range (A plus, A or A minus) but that today that number has climbed to well over 40 percent.

No wonder we've got problems, I thought. But then I thought the last time I wrote a piece about some of the intellectually-challenged citizens of America I got accused of being elitist and anti-American and a traitor and a Jew. And two of those things aren't true, one I feel bad about and the fourth one would probably be disputed by my rabbi who hasn't seen me since my youngest daughter's bat mitzvah. I've taken enough abuse this week and it's Friday, so maybe I'll just...and then I looked up and noticed my wife had quietly, like a Blackwater assassin going after an al Qaeda target, gone to work. So I decided not to write a post for the blog today. It's a summer weekend. And if I wrote all this stuff it would probably be way too long anyway. Why not give the readers a day off.

Flickr/Praziquantel

Congratulations to the world. Sometimes progress tiptoes in on little cat's feet, as Walt Whitman once said of the fog. But sometimes, it is right there marching down Main Street like a big brass band. That kind of progress is just what the world was putting on display while Americans celebrated President's Day Weekend by ignoring all the big sales and remaining huddled in their underground bunkers snipping their credit cards into tiny bits of plastic.

For example, we have Saudi Arabia entering the 20^th century at a trot, appointing Norah Al-Fayez the first woman to the country's council of ministers. Admittedly, she only managed an appointment as Deputy Minister of Women's Education (the top job for educating women was obviously not a job that could be entrusted to a female), but still, it's better than being sentenced to 200 lashes for being raped. Next up for the progressive desert utopia, allowing women to actually drive a car.   Princess Amira al-Taweel, wife of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the 13^th richest man in the world, boldly announced a week ago that she is ready to get behind the wheel as soon as her husband's uncle, King Abdullah, gives the thumbs up. She has been practicing whenever she leaves the country.  And readers in the U.S. can feel even better knowing they are probably subsidizing her spins around Geneva or wherever in the family Bentley.  After all, given her husband's status as Citibank's biggest private shareholder, one can only imagine what she would be forced to drive if it weren't for the Treasury Department and the taxpayers of the good old U.S. of A. And if they ever take that big step and actually let women drive themselves where they want when they want to, who knows  what modern innovation will they will next embrace. Democracy anyone? 

Speaking of democracy, let's hear it for Hugo Chavez and that feel-good story that just keeps on giving, his Bolivarian revolution. On Sunday, Venezuela's own Horatio Alger, the poor boy who made good through hard work (and ruthless suppression of his opponents), overcame prior setbacks on his campaign to get rid of presidential term limits in his country and won a referendum that will let him stay in office indefinitely... or at least until voters tire of his merry antics (or he runs out of oil money with which to paper over his government's feckless mismanagement). Just hours before, champion of democratic values that he is, Chavez kicked Luis Herrero, a Spanish member of the European Parliament, out of the country "to preserve the peace and guarantee the election's normal development."  Chavez won a big electoral victory and in so doing sent an important reminder that democracy alone is not enough. (Here Hugo and his onetime nemesis George W. Bush are linked as two of the best examples that sometimes the people get it wrong.)

Back to news of countries in which democracy is about as remote and theoretical as string theory: one of America's favorite tribal kingdoms in the Middle East scored another victory for our side by bravely standing up to the all-powerful Israel Lobby by denying an entry visa to Shahar Peer, an Israeli tennis player. Peer wanted to compete in the Sony Ericsson World Tennis Association Tournament in Dubai. The WTA immediately condemned the action and then announced that the tournament would go ahead as planned despite the clear violation of its rules by the organizers.  Not surprisingly, there was also no sign that the tournament's sponsors are pulling out either. (Who says invertebrates can't make it today's economy?) The UAE, despite its wealth, its close relationship with the U.S. military, the sales of advanced weaponry to the country and its special status as the first friend in the region we've decided to help unlock the magic of nuclear power, was seemingly intimidated by the 5'7", 21-year-old Israeli's two-handed backhanded and steady baseline game. (Admittedly, she does work as a secretary for the Israeli military and might, conceivably, singlehandedly takeover the country between matches.)  Nonetheless, if they think she is intimidating, imagine how they would have reacted to the previously highest ranked Israeli woman tennis player, the woman with the fiercest name on the tour: Anna Smashnova.

Finally, this just in: on Valentine's Day almost 40,000 people kissed in the Zocalo, Mexico City's main square, setting a new world record for mass kissing. This allowed spokespeople from the Calderon Administration to once again deny the country was at risk of becoming a failed state saying, "See, plenty of Mexicans are making out well."