Bye Bye Bibi?

The flop sweat on Bibi Netanyahu (Israel's Trump in every sense) now must be biblical:

In an unprecedented move, Israel will head to elections for a second time in less than six months after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a government before a midnight deadline.

The stakes for Bibi involve holding onto power for a particular, very Trumpian reason:

Netanyahu’s Likud is also forwarding legislation that would give Knesset members, including the prime minister, immunity from prosecution, while attempting to roll back the powers of the Supreme Court to overturn Knesset legislation that it deems unconstitutional.

Netanyahu’s pre-indictment hearing for charges in three criminal cases against him is expected in October. He denies the allegations of corruption, bribery and breach of trust. His wife, Sara Netanyahu, agreed to a plea deal on Wednesday in a separate case on the misuse of public funds, Israel’s public broadcaster reported. She agreed to pay a fine of 55,000 shekels ($15,200) it said.  (our emphasis)

The legislation mentioned above (the "Save Bibi's Tuchas Act") is now not going anywhere pending new elections in September.  Then, perhaps, Israelis will end the career of this corrupt and dangerous man.  We might have to wait a little longer to end the career of ours.

(photo: Matching outfits, matching problems)

Trump's Reckless Golan Heights Move

Demagogue and Russian asset Donald "Rump" Trump's tweeted announcement yesterday that the U.S. would support Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights will likely set back whatever peace prospects were in the callow imagination of security sieve Jared "Mr. Ivanka Trump" Kushner and company. But the point of the exercise was really to boost the questionable re-election chances of Rump's ally and Likudnik hardliner Bibi "Bibi Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu. Netanyahu's faced with corruption and bribery charges, and has a credible challenge from highly respected former Israel Defense Forces General Benny Gantz. 

Since capturing the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war, Israel has recently moved to incorporate it into Israel proper, as protection against attacks from Syria. Although Syria has few allies left in the Arab world, the incorporation of Arab land into Israel will unite most of the Arab / Muslim world in opposition. Much of the globe is reacting negatively to Rump's rash move also. Syria is vowing to recover the Golan Heights, although it has more than enough on its plate with the ongoing civil war.

In another attempt by Rump to tilt the upcoming Israeli elections to his friend, Bibi Bomb Bomb will be visiting the White (Supremacist) House next week for a photo op and embrace of Rump for the Israeli media. It makes sense: during President Obama's term, Netanyahu and his Likudniks meddled in U.S. politics (Iran nuclear deal, etc.), so Rump's meddling in Israel's elections is natural.

Israeli Police Want Netanyahu Indicted On Bribery Charges

Israel's mini- Trump, right- wing Prime Minister Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu, is following in his pal's crooked footsteps:

Israeli police on Sunday recommended indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on bribery charges related to a corruption case involving Israel’s telecom giant, prompting immediate calls for his resignation. 

Police say their investigation has established an evidentiary foundation to charge Netanyahu and his wife Sara with accepting bribes, fraud and breach of trust. The case revolves around suspicions that confidants of Netanyahu promoted regulations worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the Bezeq telecom company in exchange for positive coverage of the prime minister on Bezeq’s subsidiary news website, Walla. 

Police have already recommended indicting Netanyahu on corruption charges in two other cases. One involves accepting gifts from billionaire friends, and the second revolves around alleged offers of advantageous legislation for a newspaper in return for positive coverage. 

The prime minister has denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the accusations as a witch hunt orchestrated by the media.

It used to be "patriotism," but now "witch hunt" is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Israel deserves much better (and so do we, of course).

(Photo:  Brothers grifters- in- arms.)

Bibi Bombs Out Again

You might remember this from September 27, 2012, when Trumpian Israeli Prime Minister Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu brought his highly technical diagram to the UN General Assembly to "prove" where Iran's nuclear weapons program stood:

(Photo: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

Here's how the Obama White House responded at the time to Bibi's bomb:

Worth sharing: Here's how the #IranDeal would shut down Iran's pathway to a nuclear weapon → http://t.co/BWuabs0TNz pic.twitter.com/8aYQi2KEgq

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) April 8, 2015

Well, after helping convince Dolt 45 Donald "Rump" Trump to ditch the Iran nuclear deal, he's up to more mischief, and is apparently still using the same questionable prop- maker (Acme Corporation?) to accuse Iran of hiding a "secret atomic warehouse":

FULL TEXT: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 2018 UN General Assembly speech https://t.co/TbdAmEBAE2

— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) September 27, 2018

What's questionable, you ask?

People are taking selfies in front of the carpet cleaning center in #Turquzabad which @netanyahu claimed is a 'secret atomic warehouse'! pic.twitter.com/neeQz7qzZN

— Seyed Yasser Jebraily (@YJebraily) September 28, 2018

Atomic- powered flying carpets?!?  The Iranians are further along than we thought.

Unfortunately, Bibi's apparently errant intelligence and simple- minded visual might just be enough to convince Dolt 45 to send a cruise missile flying that- a- way, as a kind of "October surprise."  Of course, the danger here is that both Bibi and Rump are politically (and legally) vulnerable and could use a distraction, even one based on the flimsiest of evidence.  Rump would certainly be egged on by crackpot National Security Advisor John Bolton, whose life mission is regime change in Iran.  Do we think this is a likely scenario? Iran's ally Russia might have a countervailing opinion for its asset in the White House. But meanwhile, Bibi continues to play with fire, and unlike an Acme Corporation bomb, it could burn a lot of real, live people.

(h/t Balloon Juice)

Monday Reading

As always, please go to the links for the full articles.

Has he tried Dewey, Cheatham and Howe?

As President Trump heads into one of the most critical phases of the special counsel’s investigation, his personal legal team has shrunk to essentially just one member, and he is struggling to find any top lawyers willing to represent him. 

Working for a president is usually seen as a dream job. But leading white-collar lawyers in Washington and New York have repeatedly spurned overtures to take over the defense of Mr. Trump, a mercurial client who often ignores his advisers’ guidance. In some cases, lawyers’ firms have blocked any talks, fearing a backlash that would hurt business. 

The president lost two lawyers in just the past four days, including one who had been on board for less than a week. 

Joseph diGenova, a longtime Washington lawyer who has pushed theories on Fox News that the F.B.I. made up evidence against Mr. Trump, left the team on Sunday. He had been hired last Monday, three days before the head of the president’s personal legal team, John Dowd, quit after determining that the president was not listening to his advice. Mr. Trump had also considered hiring Mr. diGenova’s wife, Victoria Toensing, but she will also not join the team. 

That leaves the president with just one personal lawyer who is working full time on the special counsel’s investigation as Mr. Trump is facing one of the most significant decisions related to it: whether to sit for an interview.

That lawyer, Jay Sekulow, is a conservative commentator who made his name on religious freedom cases. Mr. Sekulow is in talks with other lawyers about joining the team, although it is not clear how far those discussions have progressed. 

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's A- Team against (heehee) lawyer / grifter Jay Sekulow. That's just not fair (and fittingly so!).

Yet another reason to loathe these hypocritical gargoyles:

Televangelist Frances Swaggart, the wife of Jimmy Swaggart, on Monday suggested that the students who participated in the March for Our Lives over the weekend were like ‘demonic’ Nazis and Adolf Hitler. 

During the Frances & Friends program, Swaggart reacted to an estimated 800,000 people who called for gun control by marching in Washington, D.C. over the weekend. 

“People have got to address the fact that kids today are being put in school where there’s no morals,” the television evangelist announced. “Because we’ve taken God out of the school. And there’s no resistance then to anything that Satan throws these kids’ way.” 

“Today’s gun control and confiscation rally was nothing new,” she added, reading from a paper provided by a fellow panelist. “Nazis and leftists have been using children for decades in their attempts to take guns away from law-abiding citizens.”

Bibi (Rump's Israeli cheerleader) been bad:

Israeli police questioned Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday over his alleged dealings with the country’s largest telecommunication company, a police spokesman said, one of three corruption cases weighing on the prime minister’s political future.  

It was the second time Netanyahu has been questioned in the investigation into allegations he awarded regulatory favours to Bezeq Telecom Israel in return for favourable coverage on a news site the company’s owner controls. [snip]

Two former Netanyahu confidants have agreed to turn state’s witness in the case. One is Shlomo Filber, the former director general of the Communications Ministry; the other is Nir Hefetz, a former Netanyahu spokesman.  

A nice, fitting honor:

The ashes of Professor Stephen Hawking will be interred next to the grave of Sir Isaac Newton at Westminster Abbey, it has been revealed. 

The renowned theoretical physicist's final resting place will also be near that of Charles Darwin, who was buried there in 1882. 

Prof Hawking, who had motor neurone disease, died on 14 March, aged 76, at his home in Cambridge.

That piece was found at Infidel 753's link round-up, which has dozens more places to visit. Check it out.

Bibi's Bribery Bombshell

Those persistent stories about Donald "Rump" Trump fanboy and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's suspected corruption now have some legs:

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been named as a suspect in two investigations into allegations of “fraud, breach of trust and bribes” as his former chief of staff had signed a deal with prosecutors to testify against him. 

The suspicions against Netanyahu, who denies any wrongdoing, were revealed in a court application by detectives on Thursday seeking a gag order on reporting details of negotiations with Ari Harow, the former chief of staff, to become a state witness. 

The negotiations were concluded on Friday with Harow signing a deal in which he agreed to testify in the two cases. 

The confirmation of the seriousness of the allegations comes on the day after his wife, Sara, was again interviewed by police in a separate case relating to claims for household costs in the prime minister’s residence. 

While the scope of the investigations in the so-called cases 1000 and 2000 – the first about gifts from wealthy benefactors and the second over attempts to sway media coverage – have long been known, it is the first time Netanyahu has been publicly designated as a suspect.  (our emphasis)

Netanyahu -- whose mendacity about the Iran nuclear deal, his coddling of religious extremists, his strong affinity for Republican pols, and overall shadiness make him a perfect partner for the authoritarian Rump -- struggled to cobble together a governing coalition after the 2015 election.  If this blossoming scandal, with his own former chief of staff testifying against him, brings him and his right- wing government down, good for Israel and the region.

(Image: That "bomb" may be going off in Bibi's face.)

Israeli Defense Forces Chief: Iran Nuclear Deal "Hysteria" Was Manufactured

Gosh.  It appears Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu, AIPAC and Republicans manufactured "hysteria" over the Iran nuclear deal.  Who would've thunk:

Benny Gantz was Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 2011 until he was succeeded by Gadi Eizenkot this February. He spoke on Friday at the AIPAC-aligned Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He said that he thought a better deal could have been negotiated but nonetheless saw the deal as an important "achievement" in preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon for at least 10 or 15 years. Here are the exact quotes from the JTA ...

“I do agree a better deal could have been reached,” one that more extensively restricted uranium enrichment, Benny Gantz said Friday of the sanctions relief for a nuclear restrictions deal reached in July between Iran and six major powers.

“But I see the half-full part of the glass,” he said. “I see the achievement of keeping the Iranians, 10-15 years into the future, postponing their having a nuclear capability at the right price.”

He also criticized the "hysteria" over the deal and said that the greatest threat to Israel's future comes not from Iran but from internal divisions within Israeli society.

We would offer that a more specific "greatest threat to Israel's future" is the continuance in power of one Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu.

Today's Cartoon: "Side Effects Of Diplomacy"

(click on image to enlarge)

(Brian McFadden, via gocomics.com)

Republicans, and their Israeli doppelganger, Prime Minister Netanyahu (R-Tel Aviv), are fast at work trying to sabotage the Iran nuclear agreement (which would take some craven Democrats in the Senate to accomplish - of which there's no shortage).  Meanwhile, Jonathan Alter spoke to former Israeli intelligence chief Ami Ayalon:

"When negotiations began, Iran was two months away from acquiring enough material for a [nuclear] bomb. Now it will be 12 months," Ayalon says, and the difference is significant to anyone with a background in intelligence. "Israelis are failing to distinguish between reducing Iran's nuclear capability and Iran being the biggest devil in the Middle East," he says.

Why has the response been more emotional than logical? "It's very easy to play with fears in a fearful society,” he says.

That's one of the things that bonds Republicans to their right-wing Likudnik allies:  using the tactic of fear to motivate.  But, as Alter goes on to point out,

For six years, Barack Obama has been cautious about calling out Iran. To convince China and Russia not to veto sanctions in the Security Council, he spoke softly. Harsh condemnations might have complicated the nuclear deal, which was rightly his first priority. The same went for pushing too hard on Iran’s outrageous imprisonment of four innocent Americans. 

Now the president will have a much freer hand to confront Iran on its non-nuclear behavior, and has more political incentive to do so. Like the deal itself, that’s good for the world in general, and Israel in particular.

(Identifying the rejectionists in the cartoon above: (top line) Lindsey Graham, John McCain, Scott Walker;  (second line) Jeb! Bush, John Boehner, Mike Huckabee, Bibi Netanyahu.)

Iran Nuclear Deal Reached?

From AP:

Negotiators at the Iran nuclear talks plan to announce Monday that they've reached a historic deal capping nearly a decade of diplomacy that would curb the country's atomic program in return for sanctions relief, two diplomats told The Associated Press on Sunday.

The envoys said a provisional agreement may be reached even earlier — by late Sunday. But they cautioned that final details of the pact were still being worked out. Once it is complete, a formal, final agreement would be open to review by officials in the capitals of Iran and the six world powers at the talks, they said.

To nobody's surprise, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu (R-Tel Aviv) is already saying the world powers negotiating with Iran have "caved," since to Netanyahu anything short of war with Iran (fought by those same world powers on behalf of Israel) would be "caving." Expect to see the same formulation in Republican talking points if an agreement is indeed announced.

Morning Reading - Giving "Winning Ugly" A Bad Name

We don't intend to dwell much longer on the impacts of the recent Israeli elections;  those impacts will play out in the months and years ahead, and not (in our view) in a way that enhances the security or prosperity of Israel.  Two op/eds in today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle are likely all that needs to be said at this point.

First, E.J. Dionne, Jr., on what Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's victory means as far as the formerly bipartisan policy on the two-state solution:

Liberal friends of Israel are not going to abandon their commitment to the survival of a democratic Jewish state because of one extremely troubling election campaign. Yet neither will they give up on the idea that recognizing the right of Palestinians to their own state — a view advanced by George W. Bush no less than by Barack Obama — is in the interest both of justice and, over the long run, of Israel itself. 

Netanyahu has played fast and loose not only with those loyalties but also with the moral commitments of a large share of his own people. He will not easily live down the way he chose to win.  (our emphasis)

Harold Meyerson writes about Netanyahu's "fear and loathing" campaign and its echoes of Republican race-baiting and voter suppression:

Until the final days of the Israeli campaign, there were leaders of parties to Likud’s right — Avigdor Lieberman, Naftali Bennett — who, when it came to their pronouncements on Palestinians, clearly out-race-baited Netanyahu. But in a closing rush, Bibi — henceforth, the Jewish George Wallace — closed the gap. His success in wooing the fearful and the bigoted to Likud was such that all the other far-right parties saw their results drop from their previous levels. Netanyahu’s apprehensions about high levels of Arab voting echoed not only such old-guard segregationists as Wallace but also our present-day Republican Party. The GOP’s war on minority voting, waged through voter ID laws and other obstacles to expanding the franchise, could offer Netanyahu lessons in winnowing the electorate in future contests. Perhaps Likud and the Republicans can open an Institute for the Prevention of Dark-Skinned People Voting. [snip] 

It’s hard to think of a campaign that has done so much damage, or brought such disgrace upon the victor, as Netanyahu’s. He’s given “winning ugly” a bad name. (our emphasis)

It's always good to remember: right-wingers share the same paranoid tribalism and ugly prejudice no matter where they live.  The stakes in this election were great, as will be the fallout.

The Cloud Over Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's Apparent Victory

It seems the last-minute demagoguery saved Israeli Prime Minister and Republican Senator from West Jerusalem, the odious Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's tuchas:

Benjamin Netanyahu was poised to return to power. But there was a cloud over his apparent turnaround, the result of an increasingly shrill campaign that raised questions about his ability to heal Israel’s internal wounds or better its standing in the world. 

He said there would be no Palestinian state under his watch. 

He railed against Israeli Arabs — because they had gone out to vote. 

From the capitals of Europe, to Washington, to the West Bank, to the streets of Israel, even while his critics said Mr. Netanyahu had reaffirmed his reputation as a cynical, calculating politician, it appeared that his approach succeeded in drawing votes from other right-leaning parties. 

But along the way he angered the president of the United States with a speech to Congress and infuriated European leaders eager to see the peace process move ahead to create a Palestinian state.

Proving the United States doesn't have a monopoly on Nixonian politicians or on intemperate, foolish voters.  Please refer to Galatians 6: 7-9.

BONUS:  Jonathan Alter says it all: "Netanyahu wins, Israel loses":

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu won a big election Tuesday, but he won ugly by staking out a new position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is likely to harm his nation in the months ahead.  

A reckoning is coming—faster than expected—for Netanyahu, his Likud Party and maybe even for the State of Israel itself.

BONUS II:  Bibi Bomb Bomb sent this message out on election day: "Right-wing rule is in danger. Arab voters are streaming in huge quantities to the polling stations." Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic has this to say about Bibi Bomb Bomb's demagoguery (emphasis added):

"In the past, I imagined him fitting in with the fiscally conservative, rhetorically responsible, socially tolerant, foreign-policy hawkish wing of the [Republican] party. What I didn't fully understand was just how much of Lee Atwater he had in him. Atwater, you'll remember, was the South Carolina Republican operative who was one of the prime innovators of racial dog-whistling, an approach used by a good number of Republicans to instill fear in white voters."

Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Is Bombing In U.S. Polls, Too

Republican Senator from West Jerusalem and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's coalition is behind in most polls in Israel.  Now, it seems the Republicans' favorite co-conspirator in undermining the Obama Administration's foreign policy is tanking in U.S. polls, too:

After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's much-publicized and controversial address to Congress, Americans' opinions of him have worsened. His favorable rating is down seven percentage points, to 38%, while his unfavorable rating has increased five points, to 29%. These changes are largely confined to Democrats; Republicans' views are essentially stable.  (our emphasis)

If Bibi and his stumblebum Republican partners =cough= John Boehner =cough= thought they were pulling off a brilliant maneuver by having Bibi dis the American President while trying to push America into war with Iran, all in front of a chamber full of whooping yahoos, they sadly failed. May they all sink slowly to the bottom of the polls (at the very least).

We've got a real streak going here with the dumbass, backfiring letter to Iran's mullahs signed by 47 traitors Republican Senators, on the heels of Bibi's blustering to Congress, and Republicans caving on holding Homeland Security funding hostage to Obama's immigration executive actions.  We can't wait for their next brilliant maneuver.

(Photo:  Boehner and Bibi - two peabrains in a pod)

Today's Cartoons And Read - Bibi's Bomb, Cont.

(click on image to enlarge)

(Steve Benson, via gocomics.com)

(Signe Wilkinson, via gocomics.com)

And if successful, what would be the upshot of Israeli Prime Minister Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's brazen attempted "coup" of U.S. foreign policy (with an invaluable assist by the despicable eunuch John Boehner)?  Frequent blind squirrel Dana Milbank on Bibi's end game:

The prime minister demanded more favorable terms. “If Iran threatens to walk away from the table — and this often happens in a Persian bazaar — call their bluff,” he counseled. “They’ll be back, because they need the deal a lot more than you do.” 

And if Bibi is wrong? No problem for him: The Israeli leader will have committed the United States to war with Iran.  (our emphasis)

Americans as the tip of the spear, shedding blood and treasure fighting another Middle East war only Bibi, his Likudnik extremists and Republican neo-cons see as beneficial.  How has their judgement panned out in the past?  See "Today's History Lesson" below.   

Today's Cartoon - Bibi's Bomb, Cont.

(click on image to enlarge)

(Tom Toles, once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle)

The Bibi Bomb

On the eve of "Republican Senator from West Jerusalem" and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's speech to Congress, we're hearing more criticism:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) knocked Netanyahu for suggesting that he represents all Jewish people on the topic of Iran. 

“He doesn’t speak for me on this,” Feinstein said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think it’s a rather arrogant statement. I think the Jewish community is like any other community. There are different points of view. I think that arrogance does not befit Israel, candidly.” (our emphasis)

Well, count that as one "hawk" showing displeasure.  Clearly, though, Bibi thinks he's playing a smart game, coming to Washington to undercut the President, something he's never tried before... What?

Three times in the past 20 years, an Israeli prime minister has headed into an election while openly battling a U.S. president. The first two times the incumbent lost, establishing the Israeli political maxim that endangering relations with Washington was ruinous. In 1999, the loser was Benjamin Netanyahu, who calculated, wrongly, that he could outmaneuver President Bill Clinton by appealing to Congress. Remarkably, a politician known for his caution has now bet his career, and the future of the U.S.-Israel alliance, on the same strategem.  (our emphasis)

Well, at least he's shoring up his cred in Israel, which is his true audience given the election in a few weeks:

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers his apocalyptic message to Congress on Iranian nukes on Tuesday, he will seem the personification of the Israeli hawk. 

But back home in Israel, where I’ve been reporting for the last two weeks, there’s a strong sense even among hard-liners that Netanyahu has blown Israeli foreign policy and is making his nation weaker by imperiling its relationship with its most critical patron, the United States.  (our emphasis)

We realize there are plenty of Israelis who support what Bibi is up to, as well as a certain noxious "independent" American pol.  But we have no doubt that Bibi's cynical gambit, aligning himself to the bumbling, ineffective Republican Weeper of the House John Boehner (Eunuch-OH), is going to have a lasting negative impact on U.S.-Israel relations.  Bibi's intention isn't to affect American policy in the Iran nuclear negotiations;  it's only to burnish an image of him as "protector of the Jewish people," one that he's manufactured in the aftermath of the Paris and Copenhagen terrorist attacks.  He' already been shown to be a liar when it comes to the Iranian nuclear program.

It's an election cycle so it's all about Bibi.

BONUS:  This comprehensive look at what Bibi Bomb Bomb is up to is worth a read.

(Photo:  Boehner and Bibi, a.k.a., Alphonse and Gaston)

Americans Don't Like The Bibi And Boehner Show

In addition to the unpopularity of his Department of Homeland Security shutdown gambit, Weeper of the House John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner's invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi "Bibi Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu to address Congress without consulting with the White House has shaped up to be another FAIL with the American public:

A large majority of Americans believe that Republican congressional leaders should not have invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress without consulting the White House, according to a new CNN/ORC survey. 

The nationwide poll, released Tuesday, shows 63% of Americans say it was a bad move for congressional leadership to extend the invitation without giving President Barack Obama a heads up that it was coming. Only 33% say it was the right thing to do. (our emphasis)

Again, the roughly 30% thinking it was "the right thing to do?"  The Republican base. (It was the right-wing thing to do, apparently.)

(Accompanying musical coda.)

(Photo:  "Alphonse" and "Gaston".)

The Bibi And Boehner Show, Cont.

It seems Democrats in Congress are increasingly unwilling to be used as props for Weeper of the House John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner's ham-handed attempt to embarrass the Obama administration through fellow right-winger Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's scheduled speech to Congress in March:

A growing number of top Democrats plan to skip next month's Capitol Hill speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Reps. James Clyburn (S.C.), the third-ranking House Democrat, and Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), are just the latest lawmakers to indicate they won't attend the March 3 address before a rare joint session of Congress. 

The Democrats join other leading Capitol Hill liberals – including Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the civil rights hero, and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), head of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) – in protesting the speech by vowing to steer clear of it. 

And the White House re-entered the fray on Friday, announcing that Vice President Biden will also miss the speech as a result of travel abroad. 

No Joe Biden?!  Say it ain't so, Joe!

Let the recriminations begin!

(Reuters) A senior Israeli official suggested on Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been misled into thinking an invitation to address the U.S. Congress on Iran next month was fully supported by the Democrats. [snip]

"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," Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Tzachi Hanegbi told 102 FM Tel Aviv Radio on Friday.

This mis-adventure, cooked up by Boehner and Bibi to stick it to President Obama at a critical juncture in negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, is righteously blowing up in their smug, too- clever- by- half faces.  Look for Bibi and Boehner to arrange to call it all off in the near future.

UPDATE:  Even the Anti-Defamation League's Abe Foxman says cancel it.

(Photo:  Messrs. Alphonse and Gaston)

The Bibi And Boehner Show (Cont.)

Rick Ungar writes in Forbes.com about the political miscalculation "screw-up" that neither Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu nor Weeper of the House John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner saw coming with their "Don't tell Obama you're making a speech to Congress" scheme:

Boehner’s hubris, in conjunction with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s desire to interfere with American policy while seeking to bolster his re-election campaign, may turn out to be the very political screw-up that will allow the joint ticket forged by the Labor-Hatnuah political parties to bring an end to Netanyahu’s long reign atop the Israeli government. 

According to a Channel 10 poll out this past Thursday in Israel, the joint ticket offered by the Labor-Hatnuah coalition currently stands to grab 24 seats in the Israeli Knesset in the coming election—up one seat from the previous poll—while Netanyahu’s Likud Party is holding steady with just 20 seats.  [snip]

It turns out that there are no shortage of Israeli voters who don’t care for the idea of their Prime Minister jumping into the middle of America’s internal disagreements over foreign policy and further understand that, at the end of the day, Israel remains deeply dependent upon the United States for critical assistance in the never-ending battle to preserve and protect their nation. 

Ungar also discusses the role of current Israeli ambassador to the United States and former Republican operative (and therefore ethically challenged) Ron Dermer played in the burgeoning fiasco for his boss:

It turns out, the plan to have the Israeli Prime Minister speak to Congress, without first discussing with the White House, was the brainchild of Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer who has, for weeks now, been endorsing the re-election of Bibi Netanyahu on American television programs despite explicit Israeli Civil Service regulations prohibiting him from doing so.

And "Mr. Tangerine Man?"

Considering that Speaker Boehner has failed to accomplish anything of note during his Speakership, I can only wonder how it must feel to have his legacy be his effort to disgrace the American President in the effort to bolster the political chances of a foreign leader.

Ungar has a lot more to say, so please read the entire post.  (h/t to dear P.E.C.)

(Photo: "After you, Alphonse." "No, you first, my dear Gaston.")

Today's Cartoon - The Bibi And Boehner Show

(click on image to enlarge)

(Jeff Danziger, via gocomics.com)

Note "Merlot Industrial Strength" on the box.  Not kosher!

But, reckless.

Quote Of The Day - Bibi's Blunder?

 "We thought we've seen everything. But Bibi managed to surprise even us. There are things you simply don't do. He spat in our face publicly and that's no way to behave. Netanyahu ought to remember that President Obama has a year and a half left to his presidency, and that there will be a price."  -- A "Senior American Official," quoted in Haaretz (via TPM).  It looks more and more like this purely political gambit will blow up in Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu's and John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner's faces before it's all over, as even Israel's most ardent supporters are finding it hard to justify Bibi's gauche intrusion into American politics... again.  We hope the "price" Bibi pays is the fall of his right-wing government in Israel's upcoming elections.