"... I can't remember an opposition leader telling a foreign leader, in a personal meeting, that he would side, as a policy, with that leader against the president. Certainly, in statements on one specific issue or another -- building in Jerusalem, or somesuch -- lawmakers have taken the sides of other nations. But to have-a-face to face and say, in general, we will take your side against the White House -- that sounds to me extraordinary.
The meeting itself was unusual. For sure, Israeli (and other) leaders meet with the congressional leadership, whichever party is running Congress. But they do so jointly -- ie, Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, Howard Berman and Ilean Ros-Lehtinen all in the same room. Ok, Congress is not in session, and Bibi met separately with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). But there's no explicitly political statement coming out of Schumer's office -- and Schumer's not Harry Reid (or Nancy Pelosi.) And I have it on good authority that as late as last week, Bibi's people were at pains to deny that such a meeting would take place. Speaking of Cantor's demands that Obama implement the full range of sanctions, and the dangers of "one party rule": Cantor was deputy whip from 2003-2007, when the GOP controlled both Houses and the White House. Ros-Lehtinen tried hard to push through a sanctions bill that bites. She was stymied -- not by Democrats, but by the Bush White House. Where was the GOP House leadership then?.....
Eric stressed that the new Republican majority will serve as a check on the Administration and what has been, up until this point, one party rule in Washington. He made clear that the Republican majority understands the special relationship between Israel and the United States, and that the security of each nation is reliant upon the other (run that by me again?!)...."
Posted by G, Z, or B at 3:41 PM
Uprooted Palestinian
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