As Leahy Says HE'LL SIT OUT Netanyahu Speech, NETANYAHU DOUBLES DOWN

[Segami]

As Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy joins those sitting out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming speech to Congress, Netanyahu himself is trying to salvage the situation. Taking to Twitter to do it is probably not either constructive or top-notch diplomacy, but Netanyahu is more known for his ego than his statesmanship, so begging Twitter readers for retweets it is.

I'm determined to speak before Congress to stop Iran. RETWEET if I have your support.

https://twitter.com/netanyahu/status/565148423507042305

And if he gets to insult the sitting American president while doing so, with the help of House Republicans who are always up for doing that, that's what he'll do. So that'll be fun. Leahy, in the meantime, is blunt about his own reasons for skipping the speech, and he apparently doesn't give a damn whether you retweet him or not.

Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont called the speech arranged by House Speaker John Boehner “a tawdry and highhanded stunt that has embarrassed not only Israel but the Congress itself.”

“It has long been an unwritten rule and practice through the decades that when it comes to American foreign policy, we speak and act thoughtfully, with one voice when we can, with the national interests of the United States as our uppermost consideration and with caution about the unintended consequences of unilateral actions like this,” Leahy said. “They have diminished that valuable precedent.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/patrick-leahy-skip-netanyahu-speech-115058.html

I wonder if this is playing out like John Boehner thought it would when he planned this out in his own head, or if the caucus was just so tickled to come up with yet another way to transparently insult Obama that they really never even thought about the probable outcomes. They're taking the same insights that led them to shut down the government for a while just so everyone would know they really, really didn't like Obama and applying them now to foreign diplomacy.




http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/10/1363565/-As-Leahy-says-he-ll-sit-out-Netanyahu-speech-Netanyahu-doubles-down

[Thinkingabout]

1. Boehner probably thinks he is president, funny how things gets spun in the GOP.

[GeorgeGist]

2. State Department needs to say NO.

[sabbat hunter]

3. That picture of

Bibi, is very obviously photo shopped to make him look more nefarious and sinister

[Iggo]

7. More nefarious and sinister than he already is?

[Enthusiast]

9. +1 an entire shit load.

[frylock]

12. seen quite a few shops in your time?

[Scuba]

4. He doesn't have to beg Twitter readers for re-tweets. He can hire buy all the re-tweets he wants.

[NightWatcher]

5. A foreign head of state coming here to try to alter our policy...

He shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the Capitol building and anyone who invites him in should be thrown in prison.

[onenote]

8. I'm glad this is blowing up in his face and in Boehner's

But seriously, do you think that when other foreign heads of state come to the US they never argue for a change in US policy? And most progressives think that there should be proof of a violation of law before we start throwing people in prison in this country.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Funny thing about the Repubs being in charge...

Everything they are doing is turning to shit or backfiring.

funny thing.

[spanone]

10. a foreign leader conspiring with congress to shit on Obama's policies.....

it doesn't get any lower

[kentuck]

11. an arrogance unseen before.

imo.