House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi says it was inappropriate for House Speaker John Boehner to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress.
The California Democrat told reporters Thursday that Boehner should have consulted first with other congressional leaders. And she said the timing of the proposed speech on March 3 is not appropriate because Netanyahu stands for election a few weeks later and could benefit politically from the rare honor of addressing Congress.
Boehner announced Wednesday that he’d invited Netanyahu to address Congress and push for new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
The Obama administration has bristled at the move as a breach of protocol. Boehner has denied “poking anyone in the eye.”
(AP)
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7 Responses
We love you Jhon…
Pelosi WILL YOU RETIRE AND SPARE US ALREADY..
is that like obama telling congress about cuba?
obama making executive actions?
oh yeah i forgot they’re double standard democrats
So once again Netanyahu has demonstrated his total and disastrous inability with regard to foreign policy and how to deal with the U.S. and Europe.
He once again ticked off Pres. Barack Hussein Obama by not first consulting with him before accepting Boehner’s invitation and will have nothing to show for it.
Because of his awful skills in dealing with Europe, Israel has lost whatever positive attitude (and there wasn’t much) existed towards Israel from Europe.
What a disaster he has been!
Okay #3, silentmoshe, granted! Okay point! But can’t you see these ridiculous hateful democrats for who they are?? Will someone tell this wretched Pelosi that she’s yesteryear’s news – faaryuhriker shnay? She and her ridiculous party have been voted out!
Tell her that we have to let the PM speak so that we could know what he will say!!
The Democrats are forgetting that the Congress is the equal of the President, It may be unfortunate that the Israeli right is identifying with the Republicans, and the left is identifying with the Democrats (and vice versa). However the Congress if fully within its rights to invite foreign dignitaries.
It will be interesting to see if Democrats who are running for office (as opposed to the Lame Duck in the White House), will meet Obama (and in the case of Elizabeth Warren whether she will skip the joint session).
The US (meaning Obama and the Democrats) hostility towards Israel appears to be part of a policy of neutrality and appeasment that they are following through the “War on terror” in other places as well (Nigeria, Iraq, Yemen, Syria). Ironically it is now the French (remember “freedom fries” ten years ago) who are taking the lead for the free world, while the US are becoming the new “surrender monkeys” who are afraid to challenge the tryanny of the Islamic movement.
and to “silentmoshe” – Israel never had any positive attitude in Europe, ever. German friendship was an American imposed requriement to enable the US to reestablish the German army to bolster NATO. The Brits never intended to give up Palestine (that’s why they kept troops in Israel for most of 1948, waiting to be called in to rescue the Jews, and thereby preserve what was left of their empire) and were almost mad at the Israelis for undermining their empire. Netanyahu has nothing to do with it.
Akuperma is wrong. Czechoslovakia under its new communist government ran guns to the newly-declared Jewish state in 1948. And France was the main supplier of arms to Israel for a decade and a half; it was also the country that enabled Israel to build a nuclear reactor and become a nuclear weapons state. France and the UK also were allied with Israel against Egypt during and after the Suez War when the Eisenhower administration was threatening Israel with UN sanctions. (France probably would have vetoed them, which would have massively pissed off Eisenhower and Dulles!)
And he even misjudges Germany. The Chancellor of Germany from 1949 to 1963 was Konrad Adenauer, who as the only democratic non-socialist of any stature to have opposed the Nazi takeover. (He wasn’t in the Reichstag; he was mayor of Cologne until the Nazis kicked him out and he spent the next 12 years in hiding, on the run, or under arrest.)
Finally, he completely misunderstands the UK. The Labour Party under Attlee wanted out of Palestine and the sooner the better. (It was Churchill wanted to keep ALL of the UK’s oversees posessions.) The UK withdrew its troops from Palestine immediately after Israel’s independence in May 1948; 4 1/2 months did not constitute “most of 1948”. It did leave its officers in charge of the Jordanian Arab Legion as it had agreed with Emir/King Abdullah.
Boehner’s stunt has already backfired on him, as have serveral other stunts he has tried. The Netanyahu visit has already been postponed three weeks; Harry Reid was pissed that he hadn’t been consulted and he would have been favorable to a Netanyahu appearance. And silentmoshe is correct that Netanyahu has blundered again, in this case stumbling into an internal US domestic political fight.
Fact is, Obummer’s press rep vilified Bibi even before he announced his acceptance. He might have declined. At that time he hadn’t yet circumvented protocol. So the PO[TU]S’ issue here is really with Boehner, and he should have left Bibi out of it until public announcement of his acceptance. And as such, as usual, Obummer is full of it.