Discussion for article #233612
This is a terrible idea. Israeli security is, of course, a bi-partisan issue. We can probably discuss all this in depth with the new Prime Minister of Israel after the election. Feinstein and Durbin should not be bailing Bibi out of the hole he threw himself into.
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Meddling dinofi.
I’d like to see Feinstein and Durbin switch hairdos…
why private? …where they will eagerly prostrate themselves before netanyahu and devoutly proclaim their undying support for israel above all else – including their allegiance to the united states.
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Pathetic.
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They’re tools, the pair of them.
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Unacceptable.
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Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Can’t think of any other words to describe this.
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I completely agree that Israel shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Foreign policy in general is much more effective if we speak with a unified voice. But right now it is a partisan issue and there should not be a reward for politicizing it. Bibi and Ron Dermer need to be smacked down and hard. This deserves to ruin both of their political lives, and by rights, should ruin Boehner’s too.
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How stupid can you get? Here’s how much fuck Bibi gives about just how partisan he’s making this:
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He clearly, undeniably believes that turning it into a partisan issue that (theoretically) helps the Republicans with their politics in Amurika helps him and Israel by giving them GOP more power here to warmonger throughout the Middle East and send oodles of aid to Israel to fund their settlement expansionism (because I don’t care how you frame it…giving them umpteen billion dollars for X while they spend umpteen billion dollars on Y is the same as giving it to them to do Y…MONEY IS FUNGIBLE); and
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You just gave him precisely what he wanted by inviting him to a meeting that looks like you’re spinelessly pleading with him for fear that he’s right and that turning the Israel issue partisan will damage the Dems and help the GOP. You look weak and frightened rather than righteously indignant and willing to punish him for his gross transgressions.
FUCKING PUSSIES. You should be boycotting the thing and refusing to speak to Bibi unless and until he calls off the speech. PERIOD.
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Profiles in courage, these two.
Just shameful.
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TPM Headline: Feinstein, Durbin Invite Netanyahu To Separate Meeting With Dem Caucus
Why? So you can give Republicans reason to say that you really agree with them but are too afraid of Obama or liberals to go to the speech?
Don’t grant any credence to the idea that this is a diplomatic visit from a foreign leader who deserves respect. It’s not. It’s a partisan political stunt, and Netanyahu has aligned himself with a party that doesn’t have the electoral support of the country, a party that only retains power through undemocratically manipulating the boundaries of Congressional districts and exploiting the disproportionate allocation of Senate seats to low population states.
Just ignore Netanyahu, and disdain any contact with him, while he’s here on a trip to denigrate the President and caucus with Republicans. That’s the only appropriate response from the entirety of the Democratic Party, and from Americans too as far as that goes.
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Maybe I only imagined I read the part where Durbin and Feinstein said
“The invitation threatens to undermine the important bipartisan approach toward Israel,”
“It sacrifices deep and well-established cooperation on Israel for short-term partisan points – something that should never be done with Israeli security and which we feel could have lasting repercussions,” the senators wrote.
They will be able to be candid, critical, threatening if necessary in a private meeting with him. There will be no ass kissing or prostrating or treasonous abandonment of American policy on Israel. No, they won’t deter his intended mission of interfering on Iran, but since he’s the elephant in the room, it’s best not to ignore him. And if the criticism of senators is no higher than that they are fucking pussies, this is not a debate worth having.
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So is this invitation to a private confab in lieu of the Dems showing up for the joint session of Congress speech? What purpose would a separate meeting with Netanyahu serve if it is not to give the Dems a way to avoid the spectacle of the joint session but still show allegiance to Israel? Maybe they’re trying to set Netanyahu up to refuse a meeting with the Dem caucus which would justify more Dems not attending the big speech? Please let there be something more to this than a private suck up party.
Netanyahu reminds me of another very famous Jewish best friend…His name was Judas.
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Perhaps ignore was a poor choice of words on my part. Obviously, Democrats should not ignore that Netanyahu is here to undermine the President of the United States. But we absolutely shouldn’t give him an audience either.
If Bibi wants to talk or meet with Democrats, he can arrange a separate trip to America with them to do so. If he wanted to meet or talk with them on this trip, he should have arranged to do so before, and instead of, snubbing and insulting the leader of the Democratic Party and the President of the United States of America.
As for the speech, Democratic Representatives and Senators should refuse to attend, but send aides/staffers to fill their seats with instructions not to applaud anything Netanyahu says - in order to undermine Boehner’s plan to fill their seats with fawning Republican aides and staffers.
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Agree completely. And if by some chance they’re planning on a private meeting in lieu of attending the speech, I’ll be ecstatic. Wish I thought that was the case. Though their constituents can certainly call and insist on that; and I fervently hope they do. The way Congress and Americans in general treat Netanyahu’s political ploy matters in Israel: he’s now using his upcoming speech here in political ads there, which should rightly be all the Dems need to loudly excuse themselves from attending…
So, yet again:
- If you haven’t yet, PLEASE contact your Dem reps about this, and ask all your friends to do the same. In particular, the non-Jewish ones need to know they’ve got cover from American Jews not to attend his speech, because most of us emphatically do not stand with Bibi.
- If you haven’t yet, PLEASE call your nearest Israeli consulate and voice your outrage about this political stunt; the last thing Israel needs is to become a partisan issue here. (Those calls are having a real impact back home.) It’s long past time they heard from American Jews who aren’t right-wingers, and realized how much Netanyahu is imperiling support for Israel among Americans in general.
- And finally, if you want an effective counterweight to AIPAC, PLEASE look into J Street – the more support they can show, the greater their influence will be on the Hill, and the sooner we can finally relegate the neocons in both countries to the fringes of our politics where we need them to be, for both our sakes.
These actions really do matter; let’s compound the pressure Bibi’s getting in Israel and our Dems are getting here.
So, the new “Senators from Israel” are now trying to protect their right-flanks (and asses.)
Warmongering wins again by following Herman Goering’s propaganda advice: “Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
Ironically, that’s just how Bibi does it in Israel.