Immediately after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech before Congress, Republicans and conservatives made sure to deliver overwhelming praise, especially considering the controversy behind the address. Nearly 60 Democratic members of Congress decided to boycott Netanyahu’s speech on the grounds that Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) sidestepped President Obama in inviting the leader of another country to address Washington lawmakers.
Speaker Boehner and Netanyahu seemingly conspired to have this speech be a way to pressure Democrats and President Obama regarding a potential nuclear deal with Iran while also helping Netanyahu’s political campaign in Israel. In Boehner’s mind, this was going to be an ace up his sleeve to show that he and Republicans now have the real power in Washington and Bibi’s speech would properly humiliate President Obama, especially when it comes to his foreign policy decisions. Boehner saw this as a way of using a foreign leader to attack POTUS on purely partisan terms, painting Republicans as the true guardians of Israel while making Obama appear not to care about the national security of Israelis.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Overall, the plan ended up backfiring. Dozens of high-profile Democrats ended up skipping the speech, and Netanyahu made sure to commend President Obama during his address, scuttling Boehner’s visions of a high-profile international ally storming Washington and slamming our nation’s leader. However, while Bibi stayed away from partisan attacks, he did provide neo-cons with plenty of red meat to chew on by using apocalyptic language in describing any deal that would allow Iran access to nuclear materials.
Due to the scare tactics Netanyahu used throughout the speech, describing potential World War III situations that could occur if Iran isn’t completely crushed economically and militarily, a number of conservative politicians and right-wing pundits took to social media immediately following the speech to heap praise upon Bibi.
And now…back to D.C.’s regularly scheduled fecklessness, lack of fortitude, and moral muddle. #canbibistay #NetanyahuSpeech
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) March 3, 2015
Thoroughly impressed by Prime Minister @netanyahu. That was a great speech! #NetanyahuSpeech #StandWithIsrael — David Perdue (@sendavidperdue) March 3, 2015
A historic day today! The Israeli Prime Minister will educate Neville Chamberlain Obama about the nature of evil in our time. Must see TV!
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 3, 2015
Bibi a modern day Churchill. — Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 3, 2015
that would be the speech of his life
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) March 3, 2015
Now you know why Pres Obama & company didn’t want Bibi to speak to Congress! #BibiSpeech #Israel — John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) March 3, 2015
Supporters of Obama keep asking, What’s the alternative? But #NetanyahuSpeech‘s defined it: Negotiate better; stop giving things away.
— Mike Doran (@Doranimated) March 3, 2015
Great substance and delivery by Prime Minister Netanyahu at a very important time. — Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) March 3, 2015
Now, mind you, these are all people who consider themselves ‘patriots’ and lovers of America first and foremost, all going out of their way to embrace the leader of another country while simultaneously trashing the President of the United States. Of course, this is nothing new for most of those listed, but it still reeks of putrid hypocrisy when you see those who claim to put America first always tripping over themselves to find a foreign leader they admire far more than their own. (Can anyone say Vladimir Putin?)
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
