Joe Biden’s travels, Bibi’s humiliation

Latest pratfall in the Bibi-Boehner slapstick routine: the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister is now calling the Prince of Orange untrustworthy.

It appears that the speaker of Congress made a move, in which we trusted, but which it ultimately became clear was a one sided move and not a move by both sides

So, having mortally offended the Democrats (including most American Jews) Bibi is now throwing the Republican Speaker of the House under the bus for a stunt that was obviously dreamed up by his own Ambassador (and career Republican operative) Ron Dermer.

And now the other shoe drops: the Vice-President’s office has announced that the Veep will be “traveling overseas” and unable to attend he joint session of Congress when Netanyahu speaks. Just to drive the point home, they’re not even specifying where Biden is going: it’s just that, wherever he will be that evening, he won’t be standing behind Bibi as the PM tries to prevent a peaceful resolution of the Iranian-nuke situation.

This reminds me of a (true, I believe) story from the McGovern campaign of 1972. After the Eagleton fiasco, McGovern’s folks wanted to send him to Ohio, and tried to schedule a joint appearance with Wayne Hayes, a very conservative and very senior Democratic Congressman. Hayes’s staffer told McGovern’s staffer “I’m sorry, but the Congressman will be on a trade mission in Peru that weekend.” When the McGovern guy asked about changing the date, the Hayes guy said, “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear. The Congressman will be on a trade mission in Peru whenever the Senator plans to visit the district.”

Bonus Derp The head of the Zionist Organization of America announces that siding with the President of the United States rather than the foreign head of government who insulted him is “anti-American” and “anti-patriotic.” No, seriously. If you think I’m capable of making this stuff up, you’re giving me way too much credit.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com

4 thoughts on “Joe Biden’s travels, Bibi’s humiliation”

  1. Perhaps worth noting that the Zionist Organization of America is a tiny hard-right organization with no more than 10,000 members.
    Politico's figure of 30,000 is ZOA wishful thinking.
    http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Into-the-…

    The major American Jewish and Zionist organizations are talking as loud as they can by not saying anything.

  2. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, there are 11 Jewish senators (10 D's, 1 I) and 19 Jewish members of the house (18 D's and 1 R). See here: http://bit.ly/16rCFy9

    If a substantial number of those Jewish members of Congress deliberately did not attend the Bibi-fest, while, at the same time, all of the non-Jewish members did attend, it would send a message not only to the Netanyahu crowd, but also to the professional Jewish establishment. Now, some of those members of Congress might have their re-election chances threatened by sitting on their hands, but not all. For instance, I cannot imagine that Sanders or Cardin (D-MD) would have their political futures affected in the least.

  3. If you're a rabid Zionist, the Israeli PM is not a "foreign" head of state. 🙂

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