Posted on 01/30/2015 10:36:33 AM PST by Dave346
WASHINGTON When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress in March, it is unclear whether everybody invited will actually show up.
Democrats have criticized House Speaker John Boehner for circumventing the administration when he invited Netanyahu to speak, and the White House has already said Obama will not meet with him when hes here.
BuzzFeed News asked several Senate Democrats whether they planned on skipping the speech or not. Most said they either hadnt thought about it or they hadnt decided. But there were no hard answers in the negative. Only one senator definitively said he would go.
Sen. Tim Kaine, who serves on both the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees and recently traveled to Israel, said its too early to decide whether hell attend or not.
It is not the norm to do this right before an election and it is being widely reported in the Israeli press as the U.S. expressing some kind of a preference, Kaine said.
Sen. Chris Murphy expressed a similar sentiment.
Im sick about the fact that protocol has been violated, but you know, Im always eager to hear what he has to say, Sen. Chris Murphy said. Its not something that I have thought about one way or the other.
A Democratic aide said their office was only informed of the scheduled date on Thursday and it was unclear if anythings been discussed at this point by anyone in the Senate.
Netanyahus arrival will come at a tense time. Hes up for re-election in mid-March and many have said they are uncomfortable having him make a political speech to Congress so close to that vote. The U.S. is also in talks with Iran over its nuclear program.
Netanyahu is slated to address Congress on March 3.
When asked whether hed attend, Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson said hed figure that out later.
Sen. Chris Coons, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, said, Ill be weighing whats the best thing to do.
I remain hopeful that his address would be delayed until after their election, the Delaware Democrat told BuzzFeed News.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein declined to comment. Sen. Ed Markey referred BuzzFeed News to his press office.
Sen. Ben Cardin, a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, was the lone senator who said he would attend no matter what.
Id be more than happy to meet with opposition leaders if they want to meet with us, give them opportunities, etcetera, Cardin told BuzzFeed News. But if the Prime Minister of Israel addresses a joint session of Congress, I would be there.
Speaking at the Democrat retreat in Philadelphia Wednesday night, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi warned of the effects a visit from Netanyahu could have on the Iran talks.
In terms of invitations to speak to Congress the Prime Minister has spoken two times. The only person who has spoken more is Winston Churchill, Pelosi said. One of the times, my father was in the room; Dec. 26 the day after Christmas 1941, right when we were going into World War II. Its a serious, big honor that we extend. That it should be extended two weeks before an election in a country, without collaboration among the leaders of Congress, and without collaboration with the White House, is not appropriate. It is not appropriate.
Invite Joe Lieberman for the day. Let him sit in Harry’s chair.
My thought exactly. As soon as all the dems walk out, Boehner & McConnell bar the doors, ask Bibi if he wouldn’t mind cooking his heels for a few minutes, then quickly hold veto override votes on the three or four bills Obama will have likely vetoed by then.
Probably wouldn’t work. Graham, McCain, and a few other useless GOPe types would refuse to go along. Comity and all that, you know (the dems of course wouldn’t hesitate to pull this kind of scrap).
Anyway, at least we can dream.
Former Senators have permanent floor access rights. They can’t hold the floor, but they certainly can cheer and clap.
“cooling” his heels, not “cooking”. I guess I can’t blame that on autocorrect, since l & k are adjacent to each on the keyboard.
Especially to their Jewish constituents. OTOH the Jews in this country may not even care since they seem to be liberals first.
I agree. I just hope we make a list of all the dems who run away .. which will be useful for any of them who are running for re-election in the next 2 years.
Too late.
Obama has made the dems toxic to Jewish donors .. because of his actions toward Netanyahu.
Besides, Cruz has been having some really, really good meetings with Jewish groups.
If the dems get up and leave when Netanyahu arrives .. it may cause the Jewish donors to abandon them .. as well as a lot of their Jewish voters.
And will do so forever
“I wonder if the Republicans have the gumption to hint at or speak openly of the democrats growing antisemitism especially if they are stupid enough to go through with this stunt.”
If the dems do go through with it, that would be an excellent time to point out their antisemitism. Would the media report it?
Something happened to my tag line . I wonder how log it’s been like that? This is the corrected on.
The constant kerfufflng is going to increase the watching audience - - gotta love it
I’m thinking they’ll show up - they just don’t want to say so publicly and then have the wrath of He Who Thinks He is God pound them from now to then.
O’bumbles doesn’t carry a lot of clout with them now - they’re already making decisions with regards to 2016. They’re gonna be more concerned about the Jewish vote than O’’Bumbles
That is a very important point. Obama has never had coattails, and he is an anchor now to many Dems.
That is why I am hopeful for overrides of his vetoes. The DEms,, being rats, know when to leave a sinking ship.
Amen
As one other Freeper put it yesterday, f’em.
Id be more than happy to meet with opposition leaders if they want to meet with us, give them opportunities, etcetera, Cardin told BuzzFeed News. But if the Prime Minister of Israel addresses a joint session of Congress, I would be there.
Combined General and Maryland "Freak State" PING!
Don't think that even most of the current Jewish donors to the 'Rats would be considered pro-Israel, and certainly the vast majority have absolutely no love for Netanyahu. No, the current crop of Jewish donors to the 'Rats are more interested in supporting "Osama" Obama's perverse agenda than Israel's very survival. Those 'Rat Jewish donors who really care about Israel would have no choice but to have gotten off the Obama bandwagon by now.
Therefore, those Jewish 'Rat donors who still remain would (with perhaps a handful of exceptions) have no qualms about 'Rat Congresscritters not attending the Netanyahu address to Congress. Furthermore, few would even notice those absences because no roll call will be taken and you can bet that the MSM won't be inclined to name the absentees.
If they time it right they can ratify the articles of impeachment sent over by the House that morning and impeach Obama and his friends.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.