You Can Say What You Like... But

If, like David Rothkopf, you're a hotshot USraeli news analyst, you can probably say what you like about the First President, but definitely not the Second.

Now don't get me wrong. You can criticise the Second President, get that feeling of intense irritation - never revulsion, God forbid! - at the very sight and sound of the bugger off your chest, but your criticism must always be tempered or softened in some way, along the lines of: 'Yeah, he's a bit of a pain, but he means well':

"A key to good prognosticating is always to throw in a few sure things. Predicting Benjamin Netanyahu will irritate the world is like predicting that the US Congress will fail to come to grips with America's deficit problem or that Lindsay Lohan will get into trouble with the law. We've seen this movie before. We don't like it but when in doubt, the universe repeats itself. The Israeli Prime Minister is - no doubt with the best of intentions - a dependable pain in the world's tush." (Read all about it: how 2013 unfolded, SMH/Foreign Policy, 5/1/13)

It goes without saying, of course, that if you're talking about a world leader who doesn't get with the USraeli program, someone like Hugo Chavez for example, then there's no need to muck about. Feel free to trash him good, OK?:

"In Venezuela, the death of Chavez after his long battle with cancer will produce a successor regime that is increasingly weaker but tries to ride sympathy for the dead Bolivarian bully." (ibid)