I have a hard time sometimes figuring out the simple things. You would think things like the nature of the human soul or how far is up would be what tripped me up but I don't worry about those things. They are things I can't change and if I can't change it why worry about it?

What bothers me is how intelligent people ignore anything that doesn't agree with their preconceived notions and insist that because, in an ideal world of their creation, their view is the only one with any validity.

One problem with their thinking is that this isn't a world of their creation and it isn't an ideal one.

We live in a world we did not create and we have to make our way through it. We can beat our heads against a brick wall trying to change things or we can look around us and see if there is a way around or over the wall. Another problem is that often one person's ideal world is totally at odds with another person's ideal world.

Part of the problem is that idealists often ignore the mundane for the sublime and end up walking right into a trap most of us mere mortals would have seen a mile off, the differences between Israelis and Palestinians is a case in point.

The idealists always talk about what Israel should do to bring about this ideal world but they ignore what the Palestinians should do.

The idealists who keep harping that Israel isn't doing enough give the Palestinians a free pass when it comes to their obligations. And, yes, the Palestinians have obligations too.

Israel has done a lot that idealists ignore when stating the case for a Palestinian state.

Instead of always demanding Israel cave in to demands from Palestinians maybe statehood would come quicker if they acknowledged what Israel has done and demand some equivalent action from the Palestinians before asking any more from Israel.

In an ideal world Israel would accept a Palestinian state. In the world we live in--they do.

In an ideal world Arabs would accept the fact of Israel's existence and would work to assure that a Palestinian state would not threaten Israel. In the world we live in Palestinian children are taught in government schools that Jews use blood from Christian and Islamic children to spice up the unleavened bread used in Passover dinners.

In an ideal world Israel should not target civilians, women and children in attacks against the terrorists. In the world we live in--they don't.

In an ideal world Arabs would not send their children into Israel with bombs strapped to their bodies. In the world we live in Israel is forced to build a fence to keep these terror bombers out.

In an ideal world the U.N. would treat the two sides equally. In the world we live in they demand that Israel maintain standards that no country before or since has been asked to endure while at the same time they refuse to hold the Palestinians accountable for any actions, no matter how vicious and cowardly. An ideal world is a nice idea but in reality we're never going to see it. The best we can hope is that we will never stop trying to achieve it.