GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DIN-DIN – AT 11:12 A.M. ET:  I guess Obama just couldn't resist it.  A lot of foreign leaders are waiting for presidential invitations to visit the United States, but the president plays favorites.  And who has he chosen to visit, right in the middle of a presidential campaign?  Do we have any doubts? 

CAIRO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has invited Egypt's newly elected Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, to visit the United States in September, an Egyptian official said on Sunday, reflecting the new ties Washington is cultivating with the region's Islamists.

"President Obama extended an invitation to President Mursi to visit the United States when he attends the U.N. General Assembly in September," Egyptian aide, Yasser Ali, said after Mursi met U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.

Burns did not mention the invitation at a news conference earlier.

Washington, long wary of Islamists and an ally of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, shifted policy last year to open formal contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood, the group behind Mursi's win. Mursi formally resigned from the group when he won the presidency.

COMMENT:  We'll be waiting to see if Obama gives Mursi a warmer greeting than he's given to American allies, like the prime ministers of Britain and Israel. 

These summits are largely staged.  The real diplomatic work goes on before the meeting, to increase the chances of the summit being a success.  I have no faith that the in-the-tank press will ask Obama any embarrassing questions at the usual post-summit press conference, but some American diplomat, who actually understands which country he's representing, should demand that Mursi acknowledge his past "misstatements" in which he expressed doubt that the attacks of 9-11 were carried out by Muslims, and suggesting that they were an inside job.  That's the least the man can do before meeting the president.

Why do I think we will make no such demand? 

Why do I think Mursi will get a warmer greeting than allied leaders?

I guess we learn by watching.

July 8, 2012