January 24, 2015

Netanyahu Is Pimping Congress In D.C., Killing Sons of Hezbollah In The Golan Heights, And Striking Fear In The Heart of Paris

Forget asking who's in charge in Yemen. That's irrelevant. Who's in charge in the world's most powerful capital?

It's been a great and very busy start to the new year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But will it end the same way? Netanyahu has alienated too many people, from French and American leaders to his own intelligence agency. He is picking too many fights.

Is a shooting war with Hezbollah days away? Is a media war with President Obama weeks away? Is a political war with European leaders months away? Is a nuclear war with Iran years away? Anything goes with the crazy Netanyahu at the helm. Just sit back and enjoy the show.

Video Title: Shields and Brooks on inviting Netanyahu, GOP abortion bill revolt. Source: PBS. Date Published: January 23, 2015. Description: 
Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s news, including President Obama’s State of the Union agenda, a controversial invitation to the Israeli prime minister to address Congress and a fight among Republicans over a new abortion bill.
"Irresponsible and sordid. The last time that the Congress has not acted in a bipartisan way with an invitation to a speaker was Douglas MacArthur, who was invited by a Republican Congress to speak against President Truman, to give his farewell address, but it was critical of President Truman's Korean policies.

This is, this is not done. What John Boehner did is a cheap political trick. And it was not a surprise to Benjamin Netanyahu. I mean, Ron Dermer, the ambassador to the United States from Israel, who had been a Republican political consultant in this country working with Frank Luntz, orchestrated this invitation. And it’s a major plus for Mr. Netanyahu two weeks before his election, to come home, to be enhanced stature, on a global stage.

And he’s invited for one purpose. And that is, which Speaker Boehner admitted in the caucus of Republicans and was leaked then by his supporters to the press, that he was there to make the serious indictment of the president’s policy, to criticize the president.

So he’s bringing this foreign leader, meddling in an Israeli election two weeks before. It’s a total irresponsibility. I don’t think, respect I have to for David, I don’t think it compares with Nancy Pelosi or any member of Congress at any time visiting another country.

I mean, bipartisan support for Israel since 1948, when Harry Truman recognized that foundling nation, has been a hallmark of United States policy. This is partisanizing it. This is making a Republican Likud case.

And I just, I just think it is, it’s beyond irresponsible. It’s beyond a cheap political trick. It’s just tawdry." - Mark Shields [8:59 - 10:47]. Source of transcript.