You know it's getting bad for Obama's foreign policy when Jimmy Carter attacks him for being weak and vacillating. On Thursday's Morning Joe, co-host Mika Brzezinski read the Carter critique on the air, and they talked about Leon Panetta's argument against Obama's weakness.

Mika Brzezinski argued "Some of this, I think, is easy to say when you're not the president." Mark Halperin insisted Panetta's and Carter's critiques have created an "image problem" for Obama both here and abroad, and added that the Panetta view is "shared by a lot of senior people still in the government." This was too much for former Boston Globe columnist Mike Barnicle, who shot back:

MIKE BARNICLE: I would like to see a poll on how many Americans would feel more comfortable with Jimmy Carter leading the United States right now rather than Barack Obama. I would expect Barack Obama to --

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Down, boy!

MIKE: -- win a resounding success on that. We are surrounded in the Middle East with no allies. Joe Biden came pretty close to the truth last week --

MIKA: Yes! He always does!

MIKE: Yes he does. He was pretty close to the truth. We are surrounded by allies who are not allies

He then talked about Turkey, and avoided mentioning Israel, as if Israel has never been an ally of the United States in the Middle East.