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Remember when Fox Newsies loved democracy in the Middle East? That was when George W. Bush needed excuses for his invasion into Iraq. Now that democracy has actually spread there, not so much. Today on Fox & Friends, Laura Ingraham openly expressed a preference for Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak - and met with approval from host Steve Doocy.

In a discussion about cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, Ingraham said:

The Muslim Brotherhood? Well, we’ll see if they’re gonna be able to be honest brokers in any type of negotiation. I think any type of agreement for a cease fire is going to be probably brokered in Egypt. Mubarak would have been a much clearer and I think far more honest broker than (current president Mohamed) Morsi but we’ll see.

As she said that last sentence, Steve Doocy murmured “Sure” in agreement. He added, “The Arab spring has certainly changed a lot of stuff over there.” It was clear he did not mean it had changed for the better.

Yes, if only Egypt had stuck with a brutal leader the citizens didn’t want – because it would have suited us and Israel better.

Via Raw Story, some horrible news if true - since an Israeli attack on Iran means they're seen in the Middle East as our surrogate. The Associated Press is still trying to confirm:

As unconfirmed reports of an imminent Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities pick up steam in the Middle Eastern media, a US-based strategic intelligence company has released a chart showing US naval carriers massing near Iranian waters.

The chart, published by Stratfor and obtained by the Zero Hedge financial blog, shows that over the last few weeks a naval carrier -- the USS Harry S Truman -- has been positioned in the north Indian Ocean, not far from the Strait of Hormuz, which leads into the Persian Gulf. The carrier joins the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was already located in the area. The chart is dated June 23, 2010.

Reports of mass movements of Israeli and US naval warships have been circulating through the media for weeks. On June 19, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported that 12 US and Israeli warships were seen moving through the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.

You would think that a country that's so very dependent on the U.S. for economic subsidies would be hesitant to pull stunts like this, wouldn't you? And yet, that doesn't seem to be the case:

WASHINGTON, Dec 28 (IPS) - U.S. intelligence has concluded that the document published recently by the Times of London, which purportedly describes an Iranian plan to do experiments on what the newspaper described as a "neutron initiator" for an atomic weapon, is a fabrication, according to a former Central Intelligence Agency official.

Philip Giraldi, who was a CIA counterterrorism official from 1976 to 1992, told IPS that intelligence sources say that the United States had nothing to do with forging the document, and that Israel is the primary suspect. The sources do not rule out a British role in the fabrication, however.

The Times of London story published Dec. 14 did not identify the source of the document. But it quoted "an Asian intelligence source" - a term some news media have used for Israeli intelligence officials - as confirming that his government believes Iran was working on a neutron initiator as recently as 2007.

The story of the purported Iranian document prompted a new round of expressions of U.S. and European support for tougher sanctions against Iran and reminders of Israel's threats to attack Iranian nuclear programme targets if diplomacy fails.

Talking Points Memo: New Ambassador Needed

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Greg Palast: "Medical Loss Ratio" [MLR] is the fancy term used by health insurance companies for their slice, their take-out, their pound of flesh, their gross - very gross - profit.

The Plum Line: GOP Rep again accuses gay Obama advisor of covering up child abuse - even though his office was infromed the charge is false

Corrente: Leading Blue Dog suggests opening up Medicare for everyone

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Business as usual instead of change you can believe in - and believe me, there are few foreign policy issues more pressing than dealing with the fact that America's unquestioning support of Israel and its policies has been a detriment to us around the world. Thanks, Senator Schumer!

WASHINGTON — When Dennis C. Blair, the director of national intelligence, announced that he would install Charles W. Freeman Jr. in a top intelligence post, the decision surprised some in the White House who worried that the selection could be controversial and an unnecessary distraction, according to administration officials.

Just how controversial the choice would be became clear on Tuesday, when Mr. Freeman, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia under the first President Bush, angrily withdrew his name from consideration and charged that he had been the victim of a concerted campaign by what he called “the Israel lobby.”

Mr. Freeman had long been critical of Israel, with a bluntness that American officials rarely voice in public about a staunch American ally. In 2006, he warned that, “left to its own devices, the Israeli establishment will make decisions that harm Israelis, threaten all associated with them and enrage those who are not.”

So far, I'm just not having a problem with this guy.

He did not soften his tone even on Wednesday, saying in an interview that “Israel is driving itself toward a cliff, and it is irresponsible not to question Israeli policy and to decide what is best for the American people.”

The critics who led the effort to derail Mr. Freeman argued that such views reflected a bias that could not be tolerated in someone who, as chairman of the National Intelligence Council, would have overseen the production of what are supposed to be policy-neutral intelligence assessments destined for the president’s desk.

Oh yeah, I remember just how concerned AIPAC was during the Bush administration about intelligence being policy-neutral! Or was that some alternate universe I saw in a dream?

Some of Mr. Freeman’s defenders say his views on Israel are extreme only when seen through the lens of American political life, and they asked whether it was possible to question American support for Israel without being either muzzled or marginalized.

Uh, no. This has been another edition of "Simple Answers to Simple Questions."

“The reality of Washington is that our political landscape finds it difficult to assimilate any criticism of any segment of the Israeli leadership,” said Robert W. Jordan, who was ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2001 to 2003.

The lobbying campaign against Mr. Freeman included telephone calls to the White House from prominent lawmakers, including Senator Charles E. Schumer, the New York Democrat. It appears to have been kicked off three weeks ago in a blog post by Steven J. Rosen, a former top official of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying group.

See, now, I find that a little odd that the Times didn't mention that Steven J. "Policy Neutral" Rosen is under federal indictment and awaiting trial for violations of the Espionage Act on behalf of Israel. Maybe it's just me, but it seems somewhat relevant.

Unless, of course, the country's most important newspaper understands that some things just aren't news, and lacks the courage to push for an actual debate on the sensitive topic of America's Israel policies and whether they're good for our country.