Well, that was a neat little political stunt that accomplished nothing. On any given day of the week, a small section of America wakes up with full blown rage at Obama. When he is replaced, they be enraged at the next POTUS if they are Democrat. I read the Bibi's speech rather than watched it, and all I can discern from it is that 1) He doesn't have an ounce of respect for Obama, 2) He doesn't have a plan for dealing with Iran and 3) the decline of America's politics has gotten so bad that the leader of a country who is heavily dependent on America feels he can just walk in the door and blatantly demand that our elected officials operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Israeli government. That takes some real fucking balls.
MSNBC had on some dude who apparently used to write speeches for Israeli prime ministers and one of his first comments was, "Bibi didn't say anything new. He said Iran was the world's biggest threat in a 1996 address to congress." It struck me that since then, our country was attacked by thugs we backed and supported, many of whom came from a country who is allegedly one of our allies. Since then, we also attacked a country that was purported to be "this close" to having nuclear weapons, and we subsequently paved the way for ISIS. What has Iran done in that time frame? Who's country did Iran invade? This is not to say that I consider Iran to be some bastion of peace. Their Mullah run government is as ruthless and bloody as any out there. Still, the bottom line is that Iran does what every other country does, it looks out for it's interests, regardless of how whacked those interests may be. Throughout the middle east, many foreign states have engaged in proxy wars, funded and supported dictators and have turned a blind eye to any and all exploitation of people who live in countries that have oil or other resources.
Bibi has a right to his opinion of course, as he is also looking out for his best interests.......through his very right wing colored glasses. Despite his rantings and the endless rantings of the far right in this country, the POTUS has an obligation to, above all others, to the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Of course Israel is an ally, and always will be. Additionally, they are also a dependent who receives enormous aid from the US. Bibi's message today was very clear, that message was, "Fuck you Obama and Fuck You to everyone in America who has even an ounce of skepticism to question me."
What Bibi said is not the issue to me. But the reality that he can brazenly walk into our congress and openly disrespect not just Obama but our entire political process is deeply troubling. The words of his speech, predictably said nothing of value. The theatrics of his visit, however, made it abundantly clear that he has cast his lot with the Republican party and that he expects them to obey their lobbyists and bypass Obama entirely.
ReplyDeleteBoehner invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - a fierce critic of Obama's nuclear negotiations with Iran - to address a joint meeting of Congress on March 3rd.
http://www.msnbc.com/hardball/watch/boehner-invites-netanyahu-to-speak-to-congress-387932227930
Obama Sees an Iran Deal That Could Avoid Congress
By DAVID E. SANGEROCT. 19, 2014
WASHINGTON — No one knows if the Obama administration will manage in the next five weeks to strike what many in the White House consider the most important foreign policy deal of his presidency: an accord with Iran that would forestall its ability to make a nuclear weapon. But the White House has made one significant decision: If agreement is reached, President Obama will do everything in his power to avoid letting Congress vote on it.
Continue reading the main story
Even while negotiators argue over the number of centrifuges Iran would be allowed to spin and where inspectors could roam, the Iranians have signaled that they would accept, at least temporarily, a “suspension” of the stringent sanctions that have drastically cut their oil revenues and terminated their banking relationships with the West, according to American and Iranian officials. The Treasury Department, in a detailed study it declined to make public, has concluded Mr. Obama has the authority to suspend the vast majority of those sanctions without seeking a vote by Congress, officials say.
But Mr. Obama cannot permanently terminate those sanctions. Only Congress can take that step. And even if Democrats held on to the Senate next month, Mr. Obama’s advisers have concluded they would probably lose such a vote.
Seem he was invited and it also appears O will attempt to bypass congress which is nothing new.
"Seem he was invited and it also appears O will attempt to bypass congress which is nothing new."
DeleteIf my wife catches me having an affair, I will remember to say I was invited. I kind of read your comment like this,
Obama may not have authority to undue sanctions against Iran without congress
Netanyahu is talking about Iran,
Therefore these things are connected and there is nothing wrong with Netanyahu talking to congress to openly criticize a plan that he feels isn't in the best interest of Israel. You actually won't get an argument from me that Obama may not have the authority to undue the sanctions. However, it's immaterial to me in this setting. If that's Boehnor's beef, let him rally his fractured group of misfits to do something about it. Instead, he has invited a foreign head of state into our congress to openly chastise our president because Obama isn't Dr. Strangelove enough for his liking. Netanyahu clearly knows the message this speech sent. He threw in a few lines of kiss ass, a few lines of NEVER AGAIN, and blew a middle finger kiss to Obama. What he didn't do was offer any sort of alternative.
I guess all those standing ovations were fake then.
DeleteBut the White House has made one significant decision: If agreement is reached, President Obama will do everything in his power to avoid letting Congress vote on it.
DeleteGet it?
Is the solution to let Iran have nuclear weapons in 10 years with the hope they mellow in their old age?
Where is O's inclusion of Israel in the discussion? Seems nuclear weapons will certainly be more of a problem for the Israelis than the good ol USA. But this isn't about world peace but all about Obama. I loved how Iran had a display on how to sink a carrier while we are in talks of peace with them. Was that contempt in the death to America chant I heard?
Seems the contempt goes both ways. Maybe O should attempt a reset like he did with Russia, that's worked so well.
I'll answer this on the other thread
DeleteYes the standing ovations were fake. Read your own thread of those not in attendance. I liken it to say Rand Paul speaking at the CPAC, it's all a one sided freak show.
DeleteNancy almost pee'd herself. That made the entire exercise worth it for me.
DeleteI'm meltttiiinnnggggg
It is/was no more then a republican play to grab the Jewish vote. Nothing more, nothing new learned.
Delete" I liken it to say Rand Paul speaking at the CPAC, it's all a one sided freak show."
DeleteAnd how funny was it after the fact to read about whack jobs ripping into Paul for not being enthusiastic enough with his clapping. It's funny, but also kinda scary. It's one thing when that kind of blood thirst is only a small segment of one party. It's now, however, becoming very mainstream and every Republican candidate will have to promise to slake that thirst if they want any chance of getting the top spot on the ticket.
And how is the demo party any different?
DeleteBoth parties are essentially the same promise, promise to get elected.
The demo party is differnt in that whoever they elect will ultimately drift toward the center and largely cater to the same monied interests that the right does. I think we agree that both are quite beholden to lobbyists from wall street, the MIC and AARP. Under both Bush and Obama, only a ver small segment of America has done well. People can label the announcement of this fact whatever they want, but it doesn't change the fact. Republicans make no promise to do anything for the middle class and the irony is that a lot of their base (and the Democrats base for that matter) are too stupid to realize they are openly being told the candidate they are voting for will do nothing for them.
DeleteI guess O is the exception as he continues his journey to the left.
DeletePeople seek change when things aren't going so well. They voted that change in 2010 and again in 2014. To bad the change isn't really change at all as the right caves to Obama's demands after promising to address issues. Did they GOP in the Senate cave to Reid's demands, Yep. Did the GOP in the House cave to the Senate, yep. Do we have any change from 2013? Nope.
Business as usual.
Not to worry, one day it will all be over and we will start again. Hopefully without the career politicians we current have.
I don't say this snidely, but the "change" meme has also become long in the tooth. In Obama's alleged journey to the far dark side of the left, he largely continued much of what Bush had started; from bailouts to war mongering to extending Bush's tax cuts. Since tax cuts have expired, the budget deficit is shrinking. I've seen little constructive plans on how to cut the rest. I take your comments to be that we just spend to much period and we should just meat cleaver as much as we can. My view is that taxes should rise to meet our obligations until we decide to be adults and have an honest discussion about what we actually want to spend money on. Under current rules, there is no consequence to spending.
DeleteAs for the change thing, there are plenty of people that I consider to be moderate Democrats who are disappointed in Obama. They got a start to fixing healthcare, but not a whole lot else. Is the massive spending doing a damn thing for the middle class? Not that I can see. However, we you see that people voted for change in 2014, I see a country who just doesn't seem to give a crap. If they wanted change, they would have voted for people who are willing to let change happen. They didn't. As for the GOP caving, that's a little hyperbolic. The only thing they caved to were the people who vote in national elections who have made it clear they are tired of shutdowns. No matter how they spin it, they are blamed for shutdowns.