An otherwise curious reporter and I began a conversation about Palestine’s UN vote to become a Non-Member Observer State. “Washington will veto it,” he said. I tried to explain that the veto does not operate in the General Assembly, only in the Security Council, and that what he had in mind was what happened last November, not what was to take place on November 29, 2012. He was adamant. Another joined us, this one from a cable news channel. She was also sure that the US could stop anything it wanted in the UN. Fair enough, but wrong.