It was locally understood that Beirut's revolutionary political opposition had declined to offer up a replacement for fallen Prime Minister Omar Karami, and that the independence front would simply hold any new government to the same major concessions. But if Karami was an obstacle to Lebanese emancipation ten days ago, his reappointment through Damascene machinations could not be what the opposition — looking for, in Walid Jumblatt's words, a "neutral cabinet" — had in mind:

President Emile Lahoud, buoyed by a mass rally in support of his Syrian backers, began consultations with parliamentarians likely to keep Syria's political grip on its tiny neighbour. Speaker Nabih Berri's bloc named Omar Karami as prime minister, as did the deputies of guerrilla group Hizbollah. Karami resigned as prime minister last week after huge anti-Syrian protests in Beirut but stayed on as caretaker. Other pro-Syrian deputies also named him, making it all but certain Karami would be reinstated to lead the country to elections in May.

Today, Beirut's parliament echoes yesterday's the city's square: what the Syrian office in Lebanon lacks in sincerity and popularity it will attempt to remunerate with dominant political influence and street numbers. And like Bashar Assad's Saturday address, Damascus' intent has been to answer its jurors' demands verbatim with a delivery bearing no resemblance to its order.

The European Union's dutiful promise for election aid was announced yesterday, and the halting clash between Strasbourg's pleasant remarks and Syria's dress-up is a bit like bringing goodies to a bedridden wolf in a bonnet:

The EU will offer Lebanon help in holding a May general election and sees a new chance for the country to rebuild after the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami, the bloc's presidency said on Tuesday.

"The resignation of the Karami government under popular pressure has led to a new situation which should be taken advantage of," Nicolas Schmit, deputy foreign minister of Luxembourg, which holds the EU presidency, told the European Parliament.

With Karami back in, would the situation grow old again? Could anything be "taken advantage of" if Karami's first obligations included dismantling the apparatus he'd helped represent for five months and his second, self-imposed resignation? With United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan suggesting that Resolution 1559 in fact does not necessitate any method or process to Syrian withdrawal, it's suddenly unclear whether Europe — including the heretofore adamant Jacques Chirac — would in fact call any cabinet "acceptable" and provide all the auspices needed for Bashar Assad to suture Lebanon's polity shut again.

Hardly a soul takes Syria's charades seriously; least of all President Bush, who has only sharpened his language. So will anyone cut the performance short?

THE BEST CANDIDATE: Walid Phares advocates Lebanon as the vanguard in the war's third, largely sociopolitical campaign. Let's ensure that dream becomes reality, shall we?

...NOT THE BEST: By a slim majority, Lebanon's parliament has nominated Omar Karami for Prime Minister. And no, this isn't what the opposition wanted.

EXCHANGE SEVEN, TBA: The White House's response since Saturday has been static, and that is surprising. It's also puzzling. President Bush has taken every opportunity to condemn Bashar Assad's impudence, today no exception, to his credit. However heartfelt the statement, "half-measures" or not, if Damascus can count a public spectacle and a ministerial twist as its own and receive the same Washington scolding for nearly a week, those "half-measures" will stay while Beirut is squeezed. Assad would smash Cedars the moment he believed the world would sputter, deliberate and settle for words.

GOD BLESS HER: Press coverage of Congress in Lebanon's struggle has been minimal but Capitol Hill may be the source for Washington's approaching course correction:

The "Lebanon and Syria Liberation Act" calls on the White House to push for tighter U.N. and other international sanctions against Syria. The bill would also withhold foreign aid to any country receiving U.S. assistance which could help Syria obtain nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, among other measures.

...[Ileana] Ros-Lehtinen, one of the chief authors of the earlier sanctions legislation against Damascus, said she was unimpressed by Tuesday's mass demonstrations in Beirut in support of Syria.

Such mass protests are something "I'm very familiar with, coming from Communist Cuba," the Florida Republican said. "People enjoy going to those marches when Castro calls for them because you get out of work, you get out of school and you get paid. I hope that you're not fooled by the numbers there are at those marches," Ros-Lehtinen said.

Lebanese deserve a better fate than Cubans. And Bashar Assad deserves not a day more to frustrate that.

WALID PHARES WITH BRIT HUME: On this evening's Special Report, Phares offered a three-point outlook. First, Syria is nowhere near the level of confidence sufficient to violently suppress the Cedar Revolution, even as the Ba'athists complete the maneuver they began with Karami's February 28th resignation. Second, the Lebanese can be trusted to withstand media and political manipulation. Third, if an authoritarian party resorts to killing, Phares is confident that an international force of arms will be ready to protect Lebanon.

AND FINALLY: Lebanon's Star juxtaposes Emile Lahoud slamming the door in democrats' faces with Omar Karami, prime minister in the wings, insisting on outreach. Both are Syrian flunkies, so perhaps the best observation is opposition MP Marwan Hamade's: "If Karami's government is not neutral, we will topple it again."