WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Obama Throws Palestinians Under The Bus As World Hails His Courage. If I were the Israelis, I wouldn’t count on this. Or at least, I’d expect to wind up under the bus myself. But then, sooner or later that seems to be where everyone winds up . . .

Tangential question: The phrase “thrown under the bus” is used a lot with regard to Obama, but where did it originate?

UPDATE: Various readers send this link from Word Detective. And reader Adam Odak writes:

The expression “thrown under the bus” was originated by Michael Irvin of the Dallas Cowboys. It occurred after a loss in which the entire team played poorly but ultimately lost on a last-second chip shot field goal miss by Lin Eliot. As the team bus was departing without Eliot, someone asked where he was. At that moment the bus went over a speed bump and Irvin famously quipped, “that’s him”. It lifted the team’s gloom and they went on to make the playoffs. Eliot was not on the bus because Jimmy Johnson had dismissed him after the game.

No link, though.