Obama's sinking poll numbers: He did it to himself

Obama's approval ratings have fallen to new lows. Conventional wisdom-makers point to gas prices, but that isn't the problem. (The fact that the pundits insist on pointing away from the real problem is, in and of itself, a problem.) Here's the deal...

While his rating on the economy is about the same as last month, Mr. Obama's rating on foreign policy has dropped 10 points. Now, just 40 percent approve of his handling of foreign policy, while 41 percent disapprove.

All right. So what has happened in the realm of foreign policy during the past few weeks? First, Obama has said some very dangerous and belligerent things about Iran. Second, the situation in Afghanistan keeps finding ways to get worse.

Americans have sickened of war. Iraq disabused us of the fantasy that war creates prosperity, and of the equally dangerous delusion that the American military can be a force for good in the Middle East. Even many right-wingers now favor a pull-out in Afghanistan, although they'll howl like banshees when it actually happens. Like Vietnam, Afghanistan is a loss, and the infuriating finale belongs to Obama.

Polls show that the overwhelming majority of Americans do not want military action against Iran, yet both Obama and his Republican opponents keep heading in that direction. Even the Christian Zionists cannot escape the obvious fact that Israel is hammering us into an unwinnable conflict. Most citizens of the U.S. won't allow themselves to put their thoughts into words, but they are thinking those thoughts nonetheless. America's support for Israel is, as the proverb has it, a mile wide and a foot deep. Too shallow for battleships.