Mum on the Mideast?

Does an opinion writer have to have an opinion on everything?

More to the point, does such a writer have to weigh in on the Middle East?

Let's be candid: The war between Israel on the one hand and Hamas and Hezbollah on the other--along with the roles played by Iran and Syria, the question of U.S. influence and the 5,000-year history of animosity in that region--is complicated business. If there were any easy answers, someone would have found them long ago.

So while a blogger might have gut feelings about the Mideast mess, are those necessarily worth sharing with the rest of the world?

I raise this because apparently some lefty bloggers have been shying away from the subject, and the Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum offers up an explanation:

"Matt Yglesias suggests that I address the topic of why the liberal blogosphere doesn't write very much about Israel-related subjects. I can only speak for myself, of course, and my own reasons for light blogging on this subject are both predictable and banal. Still, here they are:

"1. It sparks unusually vicious comment threads, something this blog hardly needs since comments here spin out of control often enough anyway. Needless to say, this phenomenon is fairly universal. For examples, see here and here. . . .

"2. The fight between Israel and the Palestinians is over half a century old and seems intractable. It follows the same rhythms decade after decade, full of hypocrisy and posturing from both camps, and there seems little to say about it that doesn't eventually boil down to, 'Both sides need to ratchet down the rhetoric and rein in their own extremists.' Aside from being pointless, there are only just so many ways you can say this.

"3. The conflict is fantastically complex, and the partisans on both sides are mostly people who have been following events with fanatical attention to detail for many decades. Ordinary observers can hardly compete in this atmosphere. . . .

"4, As with the conflict itself, punditry is heavily dominated by extremists on both sides. . . .

"5. Posts that display any sense of sympathy for the Palestinians run the risk of provoking . . . accusations of anti-semitism...

"I'd add that liberals have a bigger problem here than conservatives. As near as I can tell, most conservatives simply take the uncomplicated stance that Palestinians are terrorists and that Israel should always respond to provocation in the maximal possible way. The fact that this hasn't worked very well in the past doesn't deter them. Liberals don't really have a similarly undemanding position that's suitable for the quick-hit nature of blogging."