Is James Baker the biggest American anti-Semite since Father Coughlin

… or is he just the Michael Richards of diplomacy? I always wondered if Baker was being fairly quoted when he supposedly said “F… the Jews! They didn’t vote for us anyway.” Now, after reading smatterings of the Iraq Survey Group report, I think that’s the least of it. He wants to have a regional conference in the Middle East without Israel but with Iran and Syria. From Insight Magazine: “As Baker sees this, the conference would provide a unique opportunity for the United States to strike a deal without Jewish pressure,” an official said. “This has become the most hottest proposal examined by the foreign policy people over the last month.”

Pressure for what – it’s own survival? “Most hottest” indeed.

UPDATE: There’s also this from the report: The final point in the list was: “Sustainable negotiations leading to a final peace settlement along the lines of President Bush’s two-state solution, which would address the key final status issues of borders, settlements, Jerusalem, the right of return and the end of conflict.”

“‘Right of return’ is not in Oslo I or Oslo II, it’s not in the Bush Rose Garden speech, it’s not even in UN 181, the original partition resolution — it’s part of the Palestinian discourse,” said the US analyst.