Heads up, Benjamin Netanyahu will be on Meet the Press tomorrow. I expect David Gregory to be adversarial, reflecting the new conventional wisdom– that Netanyahu is messing in our election process and dragging us into war. He will quote Barbara Boxer-- “deep disappointment” — and Joe Klein (see below) and David Remnick.
But of course Obama doesn’t have time for Netanyahu. And my headline is likely to be a rallying cry during the UN meetings in late September when Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting. From the Zionist Organization of America:
U.S. and Israeli officials confirmed yesterday that President Obama would not meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu during the latter’s U.S. visit. According to reports, the reason given for the non-meeting is that President Obama “will likely be on the campaign trail at that time.
However, on the same day, the White House also announced that the President will go to New York to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman” (‘Obama makes time for Letterman, but not Israeli PM Netanyahu,’ Washington Examiner, September 12, 2012). Surely it is more important that the U.S. President meet with the Israeli Prime Minister to discuss critical issues relating to Iran and the Middle East than to appear on the David Letterman show?
Joe Klein is very good on Netanyahu’s interference. He’s talking about the Israel lobby, of course, and utterly rejecting the dual loyalty charge by thumping about patriotic Americans.
The truth is, Iran is a political issue more than a national security challenge. It has achieved the prominence in the current debate that it was because Bibi Netanyahu and his neoconservative pals have made it an issue, because twisted American zillionaires like Sheldon Adelson have bought politicians to promote it, because Jewish organizations like AIPAC and the ADL and the AJC have conflated Israel’s national security with our own–and their perceptions of Israel’s long-term national security are, I believe, grievously flawed.
But think about it: What if David Cameron was pushing us to go to war with Argentina over the Falklands? What if India was interfering with the American presidential campaign in order to promote an attack on Pakistan? When was the last time a foreign leader tried to influence an American political campaign? ….
Netanyahu is doing two things that should be intolerable for any patriotic American: he is a foreigner trying to influence our presidential campaign and he is a foreigner trying to shove us into a war of choice in a region where far too many Americans have already died needlessly. The Romney campaign–as well as AIPAC, the AJC and every other American Jewish organization–should make it clear to Netanyahu that his interventions into our political process and policy-making are not welcome here.
heads up MJRosenberg has a most excellent article up discussing this
Netanyahu: Butt The Hell Out Of Our Election
link to mjayrosenberg.com
“He will exploit… Romney’s original point — it was all Obama’s fault.”
That one is fully justified. Obama’s mass murders blow back, too. Not different from other people’s mass murders. Even if said by the very turds who bought and instigated the Administration, the statement remains entirely true.
MTP has Netanyahu on yet no guest with divergent views on Iran. Nothing new.
No way gregory is adversarial. Boxer was criticizing netanyahu for “exposing daylight” between the US and Israel.
Ya know Phil, the last few months MW has shifted from “what is happening” to “what (I) would like to see happen” and it hasn’t been a change for the better. I get the feeling sometimes- when I read posts like this- that you are documenting your views and feelings on these matters so that when the great catastrophe you envision for american jews finally occurs, you can point to MW and say, “I’m one of the good guys.” And that’s why the Klein’s, Remnicks and Beinarts get a free pass to “change” their minds; why an apology for advocating an aggressive attack on Iraq makes it ok and so on. You’re looking to build your stable of “righteous Jews” in the M&W usage.
I think you really mean it. But when the real opportunists start singing your tune, it’s time to realize the horse has already left the barn. When Joe Klein has to make a call in a national magazine for (American) Jewish Organizations to remember they’re American, the battle is over.
i dont buy it Dan. i chronicle these folks because I think they’re important in mainstream consensus. i was against iraq and im against iran. also klein was against iraq.
Joe Klein said he was “skeptical in print” but he definitely said invading iraq might be the right decision (before the invasion):
“As for myself, I deeply regret that once, on television in the days before the war, I foolishly — spontaneously — said that going ahead with the invasion might be the right thing to do. I was far more skeptical in print.”
link to tnr.com
—————
And I remember him saying as much, so that’s Klein. Shall we continue on to Mr Beinart?
The trap here Phil is, you think Klein is criticizing “Israel” when he is only criticizing a political party within it. Klein wants another center-left government, who can be sold as peaceniks in the US. It’s a war of choice when Bibi is shaking Klein’s guy down before an election. But what if Bibi was a left winger? Does Joe Klein write that column? No way. He would be saying shit like, “Bibi MUST know something, we have to trust him.” I dunno, I took it as a right wing bash – he saw the greenlight so he’s gonna take a couple shots, and if he can get a pretty face back on the occupation, all the better.
Im saying, you shouldn’t get washed up in the back and forth between the zionist parties. You see cracks in the artifice, I see people who now feel comfortable enough discussing the “left/right” in public.
“The trap here Phil is, you think Klein is criticizing “Israel” when he is only criticizing a political party within it.”….Dan
No ..read it again. Klein is doing everything in that piece but literally jumping up and down and screaming…”look at Bibi trying to make f’ing traitors out of US Jews for Israel!!”
He hit every fricking note….AIPAC, Sheldon, Americans don’t want war or care about Israel, except for Jews, Netyanhau is interferring in our election, Jewish groups have conflated Israel interest to ours.
What the hell more could he have said?…he said it all….if he was just promoting the dems he could have left all that out or put it much less straighforwardly.
Phil might be overestimating the usual suspects in the msm, and we are far from outright honest discussion in the media but there is a getting louder movement among those like Klein…and I’m the biggest cynic here so if I see it, it’s happening…it’s not an avalanche yet, but some boulders are rolling down the mountain.
Klein was mealy-mouth on Iraq, just like Chris Mathews. In their own minds, retrospectively, they were much more against the war than was actually the case.
interesting bruce, didnt know that. got a quote?
I quoted him
@Phil
Isn’t Dan’s above sufficient? I remember watching Klein on cable (where such people had the greatest impact) at the time. He appeared as if he was hedging his bets, not showing any real anti-war bonafides.
@ Phil
Or how about Joe Klein Seeks to Master the Art of Revisionist Journalism (Forgetting He Lives in the Time of the Internet) by Arianna Huffington.
“No way gregory is adversarial. ”
I didn’t watch it, but from what Alex posted today Dan correctly predicted what would happen.
I mostly agree with what Bruce said in this subthread. A lot of the criticism that Phil cites is unprincipled. Some of the more sensible supporters of Israel right or wrong just want someone more subtle than Netanyahu in charge. It’s why the settlement program continues non-stop. All you have to do is voice opposition, express a desire for peace, and then build some more homes on the WB. Netanyahu is too stupid to play the game right–he just pushes and pushes, to the point where he becomes an embarrassment.
Dan Crowther says: “Ya know Phil, the last few months MW has shifted from “what is happening” to “what (I) would like to see happen”…”
Well, that’s the great progressive failing. Even the best of them are prone to it. They stop acting on the basis of what is and start acting on the basis of what should be.
The converse, of course, isn’t necessarily better. The great conservative (to use the word in its literal sense) failing is ‘this is what’s happening — and it’s just fine. Live with it. No improvement is possible.’
@ Dan
Phil comes from that world and he still hearts the playas. He way overestimates the influence and power of the Kleins, Remnicks and Beinarts of this world. They are just well-paid mouthpieces with only the autonomy to please the boss. If they ever happen to move a situation too far from what their paymasters want, they will be quickly replaced and find themselves with as much juice as Rick Sanchez.
Klein is being very aggressive against Netanyahu to buy his bro Obama some maneuvering space. Bibi is making his man look like a wimp, and we are only 6 weeks from election day. Principles are not what’s bugging Joe.
I agree Bruce
I regret including Beinart in the above remark. He has stuck his neck out much more than the other two. So far, he has failed to move even J Street off their tightrope not to mention the Obama administration. Let’s see what happens to him going forward.
Pretty damn harsh, Dan C.
No way is what you describe a strategy on Phil’s or the site’s part, imo.
“What is” v. “What might be” is part and parcel of the ebb and flow of this issue. The discussion/outcome is never definitive, is it?
My bad for being harsh. But Phil’s a big boy, I think he can take it. He makes me think about a lot of stuff, I feel its incumbent on me the reader to return the favor. Fair?
Can’t let MW become a Phil Weiss admiration society. Right, Phil? :)
big boy? the flavor is just a little too dire hyperventilating and patronizing for my taste dan. Ya know Phil, the last few months MW has shifted…… and it hasn’t been a change for the better… I get the feeling sometimes- [etc etc bla bla insert 'when the next holocaust occurs' ] you can point to MW and say, “I’m one of the good guys.”
frankly, doesn’t it seem logical if (huge if) ” the great catastrophe you envision for american jews” (‘you’ of course meaning phil, and i don’t really recall him predicting a ” great catastrophe for american jews” but let’s leave that for another time) phil might have other things on his mind other than pointing a finger at himself and telling his audience how good he is. and, if according to you this has been going on for months, why are you still here?
“big boy? the flavor is just a little too dire hyperventilating and patronizing for my taste dan.”
That’s fine. You jumped in. I wasn’t talking to you. My original comment has been up for days .You jump into a TON of other threads having nothing to do with you, and always seem to be asking others why they’re here. Very authoritarian. As for Phil, he responded to my comment, and again, he’s a big boy and if he was offended, he can express that to me himself.
Funny that Bruce Wolman agrees but you so strenuously object. An example of trying to me more catholic than the pope, maybe?
strenuously? lol. whatever dan. btw, i didn’t jump. i’ve been watching it since you wrote it yesterday. i let it go til i saw the big boy and then gave you my opinion. it’s not your private conversation dan.
also, bruce didn’t agree with your personal criticisms (what i pointed out), he didn’t even mention them. i think your point on klien is valid. it’s the personal conclusions you came to i thought were over wrought.
” I expect David Gregory to be adversarial, reflecting the new conventional wisdom– that Netanyahu is messing in our election process and dragging us into war.”
- Phil Weiss
My personal criticisms of Phil were that he had his head in the clouds with statements like these. Judging by the coverage MW is NOW giving to the Gregory interview – it seems I was right, Phil’s head WAS in the clouds.
And there’s nothing wrong with my use of “big boy” – it’s a common expression in response to someone who rushes to defend a grown man’s sensibilities when he is available to do it himself. Is “he’s not made of glass better?” I feel like Im guilty of a thought crime
I feel like Im guilty of a thought crime
dan, something tells me you’re taking this much too personally. i didn’t get all bent out of shape when you called me authoritarian. it was just my opinion, it’s not some huge thing. i criticize phil’s judgement sometimes, in fact i think i did it today. as i said last time i thought your conclusion was over wrought. i suppose i just imagined it or visualized it (a second holocaust and phil thinking about himself personally). it’s not the end of the world or anything, it’s just my opinion.
and as i said earlier, i didn’t do that until your big boy remark. i figured if you could use that phrase you could take my critique like a big boy. instead you say You jump into a TON of other threads having nothing to do with you. i’m really not comprehending how this thread has more to do with you than it does with me. anyway, i didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers to the degree i did. it’s been all day already. there’s nothing to feel guilty about, we just disagree. so i will be moving on and if you’d like the last word it’s all yours.
Dan’s a thought criminal?
Nah, a Smooth Criminal.
@Dan Crowther Fair. It’s a monumental task he’s set out to accomplish, as seen by the Gregory “leader of [me and the rest of] the Jewish people” comment (whether Gregory meant it “that way” or not).
Sorry for the bad words and the postnrun.
I hope I don’t regret this, but since my name was mentioned a few times its hard to resist resist.
Phil knows I am critical of his repetitious fawning over various media stars. Just as soon as he praises them for some portentous change-of-mind or for taking a so-called principle stand, they quickly follow-up with a backtrack showing their true cravenness and opportunism. Yesterday, David Gregory performed just as I expected. No surprises there. So in that respect I do agree with Dan’s criticism that Phil can have “his head in the clouds,” as the pundit titans burn him time and time again, yet he holds true to this schtick.
On the other hand, I don’t agree with Dan that Phil is trying to prepare a defense for himself for after the Great Catastrophe. Phil is trying to save American Jews from themselves – a task far more difficult than saving his own reputation – and a quixotic one at that. As a result, he magnifies any signs that his community might yet see the light, even if it is only the brief rant of tough-Jew Joe Klein on a morning talk show. Do you think there was a single Rabbi in the nation today sermonizing on the same theme as Joe Klein?
Still I don’t consider Dan’s remark hyperventilating, patronizing or overwrought, just off the mark, but then who hasn’t regretted a too quickly typed comment on MW? We all have different tastes, don’t see the point of arguing whose are better.
The vile Netanyahu already lost (my estimate) at least 50 million Americans as “friends” only a coupla days ago. These Americans are waiting for an apology from him. I don’t think his brand of macho-car-salesman shpiel would change their minds if he kept on dissing on Obama and loving on Romney. Their major complain is: BUTT OUTTA OUR ELECTIONS!”.
But the poor bot just can’t help himself, so yeah MJ’s right: Natanyahu will bust out with the usual unwatchable diatribes – and I think most sickening of them will be when he brings out the crocodile violins in the name of the 4 Americans killed in Libya by those crazy “Aghab teghorists”.
It is interesting that Romney’s drop in the polls coincided with Bibi’s public tantrum. And with Bibi’ interjecting himself into a US election (with Adelson at his side) it gave too many people the creeps.
No one is saying it out loud, but the smell is left in the room.
Taxi says: “The vile Netanyahu already lost (my estimate) at least 50 million Americans as “friends” only a coupla days ago…”
Vile? If Netanyahu actually did that, he’s a great guy. My main man!
Let’s see, where did Bibi get his intimate knowledge of American politics and culture? Between 1956 and 1958, and again in 1963–67, his family lived in the United States in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, where he attended and graduated from the Cheltenham High School and was active in a debate club. He returned to Israel to enlist in the IDF after graduating from high school in 1967. After his IDF service he returned to the USA, earned a BS degree in architecture from MIT in 1975, then an MS degree from MIT Sloan School of Management in 1977. This is the America he remembers, and his calculations are based on these memories, his calculations that “America is easily moved,” and that the American masses overwhelmingly support Israel–even when a chance POTUS, may not, deep in his heart.
I looked and did not see anything about the high school or college he attended in USA that was remarkable or exceptional in any way relevant except, perhaps that MIT Sloan is the 7th best such school in USA.
I was just trying to discover if there was anything in Bibi’s stay in USA that absolutely convinced him beyond a doubt that Americans were supporting whatever he does, or whether he was just playing cards, in this case, the result of the usual shallow polls taken of mass American support for Israel.
I deduce that he’s a big time gambler.
I deduce that he thinks Obama and Mitt are not.
So he knows its up more to what he does, than what they do.
His action will dictate theirs.
Since he views himself as the Israeli Churchill, and it’s 1939, it’s just a matter of when he will attack Iran, not if.
The latest Muslim protests across the ME, attacks on US embassies, are a gold mine for Bibi.
Conclusion: Bibi will attack Iran before November. He will count on US support, he’s betting on it.
After the way Netanyahu sandbagged Obama on the 48 lines when they met in Washington, he’s got some nerve asking for another meeting.
One can almost imagine a time when Dems (and Americans generally) will be anti-Israel because of AIPAC and Bibi and the like — rather than because of sympathy with (or knowledge of) Palestinians.
Angry at (these) Jews because of (some of) what they DO, not because of who they ARE.
Good thing, too. High time. Dem Dems signaled it on Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal and undivided capital. Guess someone knows something out there.
Yay for Joe Klein! Spot on exactly right.
I want to ditto American’s praise for Klein. He’s inspiring.
“When was the last time a foreign leader tried to influence an American political campaign?”
-Joe Klein
When was the last time Israel’s leadership didn’t try to influence political campaigns in America?
i was shocked when i turned on NPR to catch the beginning of kerry’s speech last week. the head on attack on neocons is a *breakthrough*. can you imagine such occurring in 2008? i figured MW would touch upon this.
he also, obliquely, indicates the FOREIGN interests and pedigree of most neocons.
(i will not note kerry “flip-flopping” on many issues her, and speaking untruths, but the neocon attack is encouraging, being at the DNC)
link to youtube.com
We’ve all learned Mitt Romney doesn’t know much about foreign policy. But he has all these Neo-Con advisers who know all the wrong things about foreign policy. He would rely on them. After all he’s the great out-sourcer. But I say to you this is not the time to outsource the job of commander in chief.
still voting 3rd party, but perhaps the dems are inching away from the neocon agenda, despite the various regimes they have recently helped destroy (a continuation of the neocon agenda). perhaps they are drawing the line at iran, while romney might do that global disaster.
BTW this may indicate the beginnings of the rift within the general body politic and american jewry re israel. the neocons represent one cataclysmic and aggressive greater israel tact, while perhaps the sane people are now populating the dem side. much more to go but perhaps obama term two will see an opening of debate on what policies are good for regular israelis and america. not very hopeful, but it is possible, especially if our ideas and the truth keep breaking into the MSM.
i agree. but a slow process
painfully, and deadly slow.
oh how do we count the days or the bodies? years, decades, dunams, bodies, refugees, and more…. and so many people with a “scratch on the brain”.
and so so slow, it may not prevent the bleed out. and many will bleed out, or be incinerated, if this is the case. and i think we all fear this is the case. no going back, but the way forward is a living hell for all involved, or death.
and there is no justice. it’s a mess.
Oh for a Tim Russert!!
Thanks for pointing out that Obama is deliberately not meeting with Netanyahu.
It remains to be seen if it our talking heads will note Obama’s refusal to take orders from Netanyahu.
In hindsight, maybe Hillary, Obama and our defense and intelligence establishment just kept feeding Netanyahu enough rope to hang himself – that egomaniacal, puffed-up blowhard was guaranteed to go too far at some point … maybe they brilliantly goaded him on and now, at last, America can start to peel the israeli/zionist parasite from our levers of power (at least at State, the Pentagon, and the White House)
Thank you, Phil.
btw, I would much rather talk with David Letterman than kowtow and entertain Bibi and his entourage.
“But of course Obama doesn’t have time for Netanyahu. And my headline is likely to be a rallying cry during the UN meetings in late September when Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting…”
Given minimal gutfullness on the part of the liberal establishment, this should backfire.
We have cries of how Obama won’t meet Netanyahu — then images of Netanyahu addressing a rapidly emptying UN Hall.
What’s the message? Israel is a pariah. Nobody wants to hang out with the unpopular girl. Israel will start to assume the position South Africa was taking circa 1980. Even those who sympathized more than they cared to admit didn’t want to seen with her — and the same can happen to Israel.
…all we have to do is to set the stage. Israel will play the part to perfection. I trust her.
Watch out for some impromptu meeting between O. and N. following O. bowing to some “pressure”…
RE: “The truth is, Iran is a political issue more than a national security challenge. It has achieved the prominence in the current debate that it was because Bibi Netanyahu and his neoconservative pals have made it an issue, because twisted American zillionaires like Sheldon Adelson have bought politicians to promote it, because Jewish organizations like AIPAC and the ADL and the AJC have conflated Israel’s national security with our own–and their perceptions of Israel’s long-term national security are, I believe, grievously flawed.” ~ Joe Klein
MY COMMENT: When you conflate a narcissist’s security with your own security, you are asking for trouble. Real big trouble! ! ! I might even say that to do so is an “existential threat”! ! !
FROM WIKIPEDIA [Narcissism]:
SOURCE – link to en.wikipedia.org
P.S. RE: “When you conflate a narcissist’s security with your own security, you are asking for trouble. Real big trouble! ! ! I might even say that to do so is an ‘existential threat’*! ! !” – me (above)
ALSO SEE: “Is There a Way Beyond Israeli Madness?” [*Will the Chosen People and the Exceptional People Go Down Together?] ~ by John Grant, Counterpunch, 8/31/12
ENTIRE COMMENTARY – link to counterpunch.org
* P.S. Personally, I believe Israel’s Likudniks consider (at least subconsciously) Iran’s nuclear program to be a potential breach in Ze’ev Jabotinsky’s Iron Wall. And they expect the US to help them maintain their precious “Iron Wall” which enables them to do whatever the hell they want to do (like colonize the West Bank).
“President Obama needs to get his priorities straight,” Bachmann concluded. “What he needs to do is he needs to cancel his interview with David Letterman, cancel his meeting with Beyonce, cancel his meeting with Jay-Z, and instead, agree to meet with the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu!”: link to rawstory.com
“Fear, Inc.” paper documents Michelle Bachmann’s importance as messenger for Islamophobia Network:
link to t.co
Interview: Alejandro Beutel of the Muslim Public Affairs Council discusses MPAC’s exposé on “America’s Top 25 Pseudo-Experts on Islam”:
link to scotthorton.org
paper: link to mpac.org
munro says: ““President Obama needs to get his priorities straight,” Bachmann concluded. “What he needs to do is he needs to cancel his interview with David Letterman, cancel his meeting with Beyonce, cancel his meeting with Jay-Z, and instead, agree to meet with the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu!”: link to rawstory.com
“Fear, Inc.” paper documents Michelle Bachmann’s importance as messenger for Islamophobia Network…”
But this works. If Israel becomes an intellectual property of the right, it’ll be dead anyway.
It all only works if it’s a bipartisan thing. If everyone’s for it. Once it belongs to one side, then it’s open to criticism — and once Israel is open to criticism, it’s dead.
RE: “The truth is, Iran is a political issue more than a national security challenge. It has achieved the prominence in the current debate that it was because Bibi Netanyahu and his neoconservative pals have made it an issue, because twisted American zillionaires like Sheldon Adelson have bought politicians to promote it, because Jewish organizations like AIPAC and the ADL and the AJC have conflated Israel’s national security with our own–and their perceptions of Israel’s long-term national security are, I believe, grievously flawed.” ~ Joe Klein
MY COMMENT: If I was Joe Klein, I would watch my step very, very carefully.*
As should have Galileo!**
SEE: “Why the U.S. Media Barely Covered Brutal Right-Wing Race Riots in Tel Aviv”, By Joshua Holland, AlterNet, 6/17/12
ENTIRE (LIGHTLY EDITED) TRANSCRIPT – link to alternet.org
** P.S. Indigo Girls: Galileo (VIDEO, 04:08) – link to youtube.com
P.P.S. “To learn how to find, one must first learn how to
hide.” ~ Guy Montag, Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
A CLASSIC: Fahrenheit 451 (1966) UR 112 minutes
All printed materials are destroyed and banned, and firemen start fires in this adaptation of author Ray Bradbury’s cautionary near-future parable of an oppressive society in which free thought is verboten. Starring Oskar Werner as the conflicted, book-burning Montag and Julie Christie in a dual role, the sci-fi drama was the only English-language film to spring from the mind of French auteur François Truffaut.
Director: François Truffaut
Netflix format: DVD and streaming
• Netflix listing – link to dvd.netflix.com
• Internet Movie Database – link to imdb.com
• TRAILER, Fahrenheit 451 1966 [VIDEO, 02:21] – link to youtube.com
• Ray Bradbury, Decline of TV & Fahrenheit 451. [VIDEO, 06:53] – link to youtube.com
P.P.P.S. MORE “BOOK BURNINGS” (ACTUALLY SCROLLS):
Agora, 2009, R, 126 minutes
As Christianity gains steam in Roman Egypt toward the end of the fourth century A.D., a young slave weighs his desire for freedom against his growing love for his mistress, an atheist and professor of philosophy.
Director: Alejandro Amenábar (Spain)
Format: DVD and streaming [English language]
Netflix format: DVD and streaming
• Netflix listing – link to dvd.netflix.com
• Internet Movie Database – link to imdb.com
• Agora Movie Trailer [VIDEO, 03:07] – link to youtube.com
P.P.P.P.S RE: “MORE ‘BOOK BURNINGS’ (ACTUALLY SCROLLS):
Agora, 2009″ ~ me (above)
FROM WIKIPEDIA [Library of Alexandria]:
SOURCE – link to en.wikipedia.org
RE: “Indigo Girls: Galileo (VIDEO, 04:08) – link to youtube.com” ~ me (above)
SORRY, I SHOULD HAVE CHECKED: “This video contains content from SME, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.”
INSTEAD TRY: “Indigo Girls – Galileo (VIDEO, 04:09) – link to youtube.com
Dickerson3870 says: “…Jewish organizations like AIPAC and the ADL and the AJC….perceptions of Israel’s long-term national security are, I believe, grievously flawed…”
Indeed. Insh’allah, they’ll stay that way.
Joe Klein is not an Israel-firster
Doesn’t mean he’s not a zionist of some stripe, of course. I have no idea where he stands on that.
I have been guilty of calling one or 2 democrats I-firsters, though. Brad Sherman and Howard Berman. Henry Waxman, too. Generally decent on domestic issues, but in politics to support Israel as much as anything. I guess making me an anti-semite.
Obama has already met Netanyahu NINE times. This is getting too absurd. How many time has he met with the PMs of China, India, Japan, Germany or Brazil. Maybe in total less times. These are a few very important nations representing more than half of the world’s GDP and nearly half of its population. And it is now a political scandal that the President of the world’s greatest power is not meeting with the leader of this pipsqueak nation a tenth time.
This should be presented as a major scandal. There has to be some balance here. It is up to Obama to explain to the American people why Israel deserves more attention than the rest of the world. Or why they don’t?
MSNBC Ed has had Hillary Mann Leverett on to discuss the protest. This is a huge breakthrough on MSNBC. I have called the ED Radio show at least five times in the last six months and asked him to have the Leveretts on. Also encouraged folks to write, email etc MSNBC programs to have the Leveretts on to discuss Iran. Folks you really do not know what might get through with these MSM outlets. Not saying that my persistent knocking worked but you just never know. Keep pushing folks keep knocking on our Reps doors, the MSM’s doors about the I/P issue, no war on Iran, keep pushing
On Saturday Up with Chris Hayes covered the protest, Israel’s nuclear weapons a bit, Egypt, Romney foreign policy, Netanyahu’s tantrums….Breaking out
Bottom line: nutnyahoo lost. Big time!
He maneuvered to get the world to focus on Iran, away from Palestine. He succeeded. He wanted them to see Iran as the world’s problem not Israel’s. He succeeded. They started down the path of sanctions.
But arrogant nutnyahoo secretly wanted more, much more. He’s never satisfied. His arrogance is boundless. He thinks no one is as smart as him on the planet. So he pushed them more and very hard, even publicly… a diplomatic no-no.
He wanted them to attack NOW. They refused. He kept pushing. They refused. He went berserk. He started to thrash. It all then blew up in his face. In his recent speeches and interviews (Meet the Press, CNN, etc.), he now looks like a lunatic who was let out of the cuckoo’s nest.
The world WISELY told nutnyahoo “No one is holding you back to attack. No one is telling you what to do. You just can’t tell us what to do either. You just can’t force us to attack”.
Current state: It all went full circle. nutnyahoo made the Iran issue an ISRAELI issue. nutnyahoo now stands alone. Israeli’s don’t want him to attack alone. Even barak abandoned him. nutnyahoo should have learned Salesmanship lesson #1: STOP selling when the other party says I’m buying!! His luck ran out. Game over nutnyahoo.
Further evidence that Zionism is losing the propaganda war.
Huffington Post lead article for a time headlined: “Bibi barks: “New Standard for Stupidity”
Comments overwhelmingly condemn Netanyahu.
link to huffingtonpost.com