In the middle of the Traveling Circus moving through the Middle East stands the Ringleader and Master of Ceremonies, Barack Obama.

Step right up, he says.  I will show you wonders and miracles.  I will dazzle you with my charm and talents.  But first, fifty cents, please.  (Or $25,000….)

While in Jordan, he schmoozed with King Abdullah—-the meetings all private and off-the-record of course, except Abdullah and his fellow Arabs came away encouraged that Obama would be more “even-handed” in dealing with the Middle East (meaning more pro-Arab and less pro-Israel).  Charles Hurt in The New York Post writes that Ringleader Obama opted for no photo ops with any regular Arabs.  Can’t run the risk of reminding American voters that his father’s side of the family is Muslim.  (Maybe Jordanian Arabs should start a “Dissed by Obama” support group.  The two Muslim women bumped from a photo op here at home several weeks ago could be charter members.)

From Jordan, the Ringleader moved on to Israel, where he railed against the possibility of a nuclear Iran, calling it a “grave threat.”  Just weeks ago, however, he dismissed Iran as a small, relatively insignificant country that certainly didn’t pose a threat of such gravity.  What has changed?  Oh, right.  He’s standing in Israel, and with a general election coming up fast.

On talking to apocalyptic Islamic fundamentalists like Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, this week’s version is that he’s “always said” that he’d be open to talking to rogue leaders if he thought those talks could produce results.  One problem: that ISN’T what he’s “always” said.  He’s “always” said that he’d be willing to talk to Ahmadinejad and other maniacs “without preconditions.”  And he never mentioned the objective of such talks being “results,” or anything other than an ego-stroke for a sensitive listener like a President Obama.

What has changed?  Oh, right.  He uttered this latest variation while standing in Israel, and with a general election coming up fast.

He also said, “I think there are opportunities for us to mobilize a much more serious regime of sanctions on Iran, but also to offer them the possibility of improved relations to the international community if they stand down on these nuclear weapons.”

Welcome to the Bush policy, George W. Obama.

Of course, the Bush policy of ever bigger carrots has resulted in the Iranians laughing in our faces and proceeding with nuclear development.  Would President Obama continue that policy until Iran goes nuclear?  Or would he see the policy of sanctions and diplomacy as a failure, and if so, would he be willing to take more aggressive action?

None of the Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse traveling with him (Katie, Brian, and Charlie) ever ask the Ringleader the brutal follow-up.  (What?  And ruin the circus?)

In the Obama Three-Ring Spectacle, everything is an illusion.  Every statement morphs into something else.  Every policy changes into another.  The smoke billows and the mirrors move.  The floors shift beneath you, and the Funhouse beckons.

Step right up.

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