My bicycle mechanic and I were discussing the Presidential election today as I

[cliffordu]

installed a replacement part on my single speed and as we were talking about October Surprises and the very real possibility that if the race gets close enough the NEOCONS could steal this one too....

I mentioned the voting machines, and then HE said (and I paraphrase):

"I think the White House is going to instigate Israel to hit Iran while Obama is there, actually right there in Israel, and then he'll either have to stand there and condemn Israel from the middle of the conflict, or he'll have to admit that talking to Iran is off the table.

They'll make it look like Israel is defending itself."

I get home after 2 hours in the woods flogging myself stupid on that very singlespeed and lo-and-behold BUSH is sending an envoy to talk to Iran during some UN palaver to the surprise of the talking heads and then I realize that if (when) that meeting proves fruitless, Bush has all the ammo (!) he needs to green light the strike.

'Can't talk to the Ter'rists, We tried that and they go and bomb Israel'

Low blood sugar? Histamine reaction to blackberry thorns?

Is my mechanic on to something??