No more need for the State Department

According to the Republican Party, we appear to have no need for our State Department, because it simply duplicates Israel's, and our job, say all the presidential contenders (except for Ron Paul), is to jump when Israel's government says Hop!

Of course Israel is an ally. An important ally. But they don't always act in our interests, and we don't always act in theirs (unless the GOP gets control of both Congress and the White House, of course).

And actually even if we considered Israel's welfare more important than ours, if we state that our job is to obey the dictates of Benjamin Netanyahu, it diminishes our ability to act as an honest broker between Israeli and Arab interests--and given the turmoil in the Middle East today, that's more vital to Israel than ever.

The presidential candidates on the Right have let it be known--again, except for Ron Paul--that if they were president it'd be bombs away over Iran. This from people who have never served and have never had any other kind of military experience either.

Well, that has one benefit--to them: it drives up gasoline prices as speculators see huge opportunities for profit if we go to war with Iran and oil supplies are crimped.

And, by total coincidence, the higher the gas prices, the less likely the White House's incumbent will be re-elected.

Hmmm....