Discussion: Chief Of Staff Distances White House From Anonymous Official Who Said Netanyahu 'Spat In Our Face'

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Discussion for article #232468

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Stand strong. It’s our country which was insulted.

The White House should be expelling GOP operative Ron Dermer.

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Your post made me look further into Ron Dermer, and his background defines “complicated” including a brother who was the Democratic mayor of Miami Beach who helped to re-elect gwb. But since Dermer has not been an American citizen since 2005 he seems to be in closer alliance with Netanyahu than to this country. Can the administrative ask that Dermer be recalled because on the face of it his stance seems to verge on something close to treason and what are the chances Israel will do so?

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We can ask to have him recalled or we can simply have him expelled by saying he is not welcome.

I believe that Dermer’s appointment was a direct slap at Obama. It was Netanyahu’s way of saying that a genuine GOP operative was now Israel’s official voice in the US.

Ron Dermer has been called Bibi’s brain, in much the same way as Karl Rove was Dubya’s brain.

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ugh… distressing to see a return to this backtracking – esp when the netanyahu/boehner stunt was done for one reason only – to destroy any possibility of further negotiations with iran. and, of course, the utter contempt they both have for obama.
bibi’s visa should be pulled.

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They’re perfectly strong, certainly not backing down in any way from the veto threat on the sanctions bill or freezing out Bibi on his visit. Publicly playing it above politics or the personal has been quite effective thus far; let other Dems, anonymous officials, and the Israeli press keep doing the rest.

And yeah, I’d love to see Dermer booted; let’s see what ends up happening.

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I’d think the meeting with Kerry just the day before the announcement of Bibi’s visit, when Dermer said nothing about it, would be a perfectly unassailable specific reason to cite.

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Can we all agree that Denny is be far the best advisor and Chief of Staff Obama has ever hard. The man simply gets it. Comes from a great Catholic family, good values, and very smart. Its to bad Obama hangs to VJ, who is only in it for herself. She loves being a Washington Elite and looking down at everyone one else. Don’t believe me, ask the 5star General she once confused to be a waiter.

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They take us completely for-granted… and until they pay a price, that won’t stop. Bibi [and neoCONS] seem to think he’s commander-in-chief.

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I mostly agree with you on this, but I would not support any actions against Dermer, symbolic or otherwise.
I say let this play out, let the administration remain serene and above the fray, and this little spat will dissipate on its own.
Let’s not give the opposition any ammunition, or anything they could use to say Obama is lashing out against Israel or his domestic opponents.
I really think this caper of Boehner’s does not have much in the way of ‘legs.’

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I wanted to add this: In Josh Marshall’s column today he links to a quote Sen. Feinstein gave the Israeli paper Haaretz:

"Inviting Prime Minister Netanyahu without consulting the administration is clearly a breach of protocol and an unwelcome injection of partisan politics into our foreign policy. It puts the United States in the middle of Israel’s election, which is highly inappropriate … I also believe imposing additional sanctions on Iran in the midst of negotiations — which is what Netanyahu will reportedly discuss — would collapse the negotiations and ruin a historic diplomatic opportunity. Imposing sanctions now is reckless and dangerous.”

Rather than some devastating political masterstroke, I believe this stunt of Boehner and Bibi is already facing criticism here and in Israel. I think the response shown by McDonough here is correct and typical of Obama’s ‘no drama’ approach, and will leave the White House crucial bargaining room to meet Israel’s concerns – some of which are legitimate – about a potential Iran nuclear deal.

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If it were any other nation, I strongly believe Dermer would’ve been asked to go.

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Yes, this could go either way right now.

But to me it does look like “distances” will be seen by GOP wolves as a sign of weakness. They circle Democrats and when they find these signs they usually start howling that the Democrats are trying to take back what was said.

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Yes, if I’d kept writing (on this tablet that’s being extremely uncooperative today), I’d have added “eventually and in the most deft, above-politics way possible.”

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Denny is the best advisor on Obama’s staff. Everyone respects him, on both sides of the aisle.

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Yes, and Feinstein’s no dove; and this does seem to be backfiring, increasingly so. Which is why I think @MartinHeldt’s and @enon’s concerns about “distancing” and “backtracking” are unfounded in this case. IIRC, that story also notes that the insane sanctions bill is losing its Dem support. There’s no shortage of Dems and others pointing out the political sleaziness of this episode; Obama and his top people can stay above the political fray. (Which obviously doesn’t preclude hardball tactics, given their snubbing of Netanyahu, or – possibly – the just-right way of getting Dermer removed.)

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Also, there was a clip of Chris Wallace and Shepard Smith of Fox News criticizing Boehner’s invite.
They were very definite in the criticisms – Wallace even called the invitation “wicked” and noted that Dermer met with Kerry for two hours the day before the announcement, and never mentioned the invitation.
This is going to be a black eye for Boehner and his party, not Obama.

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What would you expect the White House to say on the record. Both statements remain operative as far as I am concerned. One reflected the official position and the other the reality of Netanyahu’s slap at Obama.

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Yup, and mention of that Fox segment even made it into that Haaretz story. It appears this is only growing; with any luck it’ll be more than a black eye for the GOP (can’t wait to hear the presidential wannabees field questions on it), and politically terminal for Bibi.

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Would somebody tell me what Boehner and Bibi really thought they were going to accomplish by this stunt.

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