| Morning Jolt
. . . with Jim Geraghty August 1, 2014 Cheer up, this is the one e-mail you've gotten in the past 24 hours not asking you for money by the end of the quarterly FEC deadline. Call Us When an Israel–Hamas Ceasefire Lasts Longer than a Peter Jackson Movie Forget these 72-hour ceasefire proposals, guys. Try a 72-minute one — see how that works out. Because we could just run "Ceasefire Broken" headlines in an endless loop for the foreseeable future. Here's how it went down: Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said that government forces were moving to destroy a tunnel, as the terms of the cease-fire allowed for, when several militants came out of the ground. | | Don't Miss the Conservative Event of 2014! | | | | Colonel Lerner said the militants included at least one suicide attacker, that there was an exchange of fire on the ground and that initial indications were that a soldier was apparently dragged back into the tunnel. He was unable to offer details about the soldier's condition or whether others were killed in the attack. He said the episode began at around 9.30 a.m., about 90 minutes after the 72-hour cease-fire came into effect. "The cease-fire is over," Colonel Lerner said, adding that the military was carrying out "extensive operations on the ground" to try to locate the missing soldier. He did not identify the soldier but said his family had been notified. Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior official in the political wing of Hamas, the
Islamic group that dominates Gaza, told the Turkish news media that Hamas had taken a soldier captive but claimed the event took place before the cease-fire began. Did they check their watches? There's no Hamas equivalent of Daylight Savings Time, is there? Since they're not really in the business of saving anything or anybody, perhaps, "New Day Endangerment Time"? It's Day 25 of Israel's "Operation Protective Edge", by the way. Charles Krauthammer, summarizing the counterproductive work of our secretary of state: Kerry did not just trample an Egyptian initiative. It was backed by the entire Arab League and specifically praised by Saudi Arabia. With the exception of Qatar — more a bank than a country — the Arabs are unanimous in wanting to see Hamas weakened, if not overthrown. The ceasefire-in-place they backed would have denied Hamas any reward for starting this war, while what Kerry brought back from Paris granted practically all of its demands. Is everybody who voted for him in 2004 proud now? Or did they have more faith in his running mate? Obama Job Approval Hits . . . 40 Percent in Latest AP Poll Does anyone else hear a quacking sound coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Take it away, AP: Asked about world trouble spots: 42 percent say the conflict between Israel and Hamas is "very" or "extremely" important to them; 60 percent disapprove of the way Obama has handled it. 40 percent consider the situation in Afghanistan highly important; 60 percent disapprove of Obama's handling of it. 38 percent give high importance to the conflict in Ukraine; 57 percent disapprove of what Obama has done about that. 38 percent find the situation in Iraq of pressing importance; 57 percent disapprove of Obama's handling of it.
Opinion of Obama's foreign policy has slid nearly as low as his overall approval rating. Just 43 percent were OK with the president's handling of foreign relations in the new poll, while 40 percent approved how he's doing his job overall. AP-GfK polls in March and May show a similar picture. Talk about burying the lede! Obama's approval rating hit 40 percent in the AP poll! And in a likely related note . . . Remember How Americans Were Going to Warm Up to Obamacare? Yeah, not so much: Even after survey after survey has recently shown a major drop in the nation's uninsured rate, Obamacare just had its worst month in a key health-care poll. Kaiser Family Foundation, which has done arguably the best and most consistent polling on the health-care law in the past four-plus years, found that public opinion on the law sank to a record low in July. More people than ever (53 percent) last month said they viewed the law unfavorably, an increase of 8 percentage points since June — one of the biggest opinion swings ever. Was this an unusual sample? Or is reality setting in? As the foundation notes, more people seemingly made up their minds about the law last month. The rate of those without an opinion on the Affordable Care Act dropped from 16 percent in June to 11 percent in July. Eric Cantor, Leaving Congress a Little Earlier than Expected Er . . . Representative Eric Cantor . . . why? Less than two months after his stunning primary upset and just hours after stepping down as House majority leader, Rep. Eric Cantor said Thursday that he will resign his seat in the House of Representatives effective Aug. 18. "I want to make sure that the constituents in the 7th District will have a voice in what will be a very consequential lame-duck session," Cantor said in an exclusive interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Thursday afternoon. Cantor said he has asked Gov. Terry McAuliffe to call a special election for his district that coincides with the general election on Nov. 4. By having a special election in November, the winner would take office immediately, rather than in January with the next Congress. "That way he will also have seniority, and that will help the interests of my constituents (because) he can be there in that consequential lame-duck session," Cantor said. Except that this leaves your constituents without representation from August 18 to November 4. I suppose we could think of this as a nice gesture to Dave Brat; let your successor get a slight edge in seniority, giving him a bit of help in getting committee assignments and so on. Is some other factor at play here? Some post-Congressional job offer he's eager to begin? Congressional senioritis? Chuck Todd offers the cynical interpretation: "The lobbying ban for House members is one year. So one could start the clock in August or January." ADDENDA: Song for the weekend: Howard Jones's "Things Can Only Get Better." Howard Kurtz observed that the New York Times devoted one paragraph in an AP brief to the revelations of Lois Lerner's nasty e-mail comments about Republicans. On a related note, if you want to see me do a poor job of suppressing the urge to roll my eyes, watch my reaction to Kirsten Powers insisting that Lois Lerner's e-mails don't really indicate that she was inclined to treat Tea Party groups unfairly. 
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