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.

Bibi Bomb Bomb's End Run

When Congressional Rethuglicans, led by Weeper of the House John "Mr. Tangerine Man" Boehner, invited right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu to address the Congress concerning Iran on March 3 -- two weeks before Israel's elections -- it was not only a breach of diplomatic protocol, it was a clear sign of the Israeli Prime Minister's intention to embarrass President Obama and put pressure on his negotiations with Iran.  In the past, Bibi Bomb Bomb has tried to throw a monkey wrench in the delicate negotiations with Iran over their nuclear weapons program, and has shown a strong, open preference for electing Rethuglican politicians, including failed Presidential candidate and narcissistic plutocrat Willard "Mittens" Romney.

With that background, the White House has decided that President Obama won't meet with Bibi Bomb Bomb while he's here, indicating that to do so would send a signal that the U.S. was endorsing him and, by extension, his right-wing Likudnik coalition so close to the Israeli elections.  While this won't stop the meddling Prime Minister from speaking - - or Mr. Tangerine Man from undermining the President's foreign policy -- it's hoped that Israeli voters will see their Prime Minister's cynical hand in American politics and reject him for it.

BONUS:  Steve Benen's piece on the situation with Bibi Bomb Bomb and the Rethugs is well worth a read.

(photo:  Bibi Bomb Bomb on his road show last year, with graphics provided by Wile E. Coyote)