Last night said it all; the congress giving a thunderous ovation to Benjamin Netanyahu, the despicable prime minister of the United States, ah excuse me Israel.
If anyone believes this crowd of yahoos is not in the pocket of the Israeli lobby that underwrites their electoral campaigns they're in fantasy land.
So there he was, as if the conquering hero returning and gloating in the presence of his adoring minions.
No...I didn't watch last night's soiree live; I did see pictures. It had been pretty well known before Netanyahu took the lectern he would raise the specter of an Iranian nuclear menace, throw acid on the ongoing negotiations between the P5plus 1 with Iran over its nuclear program, lifting the punishing economic sanctions besetting the country while finally putting to rest the western paranoia over a nuclear armed Iran that isn't.
And according to the New York Times [1], the speech was pretty much what was expected.
But it was a glaring reminder how political theatre is what congress is all about, certainly not working on behalf of the people to take on the nation's problems and issues.
That notion died long ago except for the fools who believe congress as it is now constituted can be reformed. It is irredeemable as long as big money controls the political process. Get that money out and then there's a chance for real democracy. Until that happens it's all a crock.
But I digress...last night was all about Netanyahu and his speech before congress.
Remember, Israeli elections are two weeks away and Netanyahu is desperate to remain prime minister. So last night he was literally delivering a stump speech to the Israeli people to let them see the fawning congressional welcome which he hopes would translate relations between the US and Israel are on track-even with Barack Obama as president-and why he should remain the leader of the Jewish state.
It will be interesting to see how last night's "campaign" speech plays in Israel and whether Netanyahu benefitted politically with the Israeli people.
Then again, it probably doesn't matter who is the prime minister of Israel.
No Israeli government since its inception in 1948 has ever considered a separate Palestinian state existing next to Israel. And the illegal settlements in the West Bank that now number nearly half a million mostly orthodox Jewish settlers provide that indelible truth.
Of course the US provides the perfect cover for Israel to remain an apartheid state with the Palestinian's remaining an occupied people.
In reality Netanyahu in Washington changed nothing.
Except concerns remain: Israel has forged an alliance with Saudi Arabia which has given permission for Israeli planes to fly over the country to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.
If Israel commits this act of aggression on Iran the US-regardless of whether it is notified beforehand-will still support the Israeli state, even though an attack would have catastrophic consequences.
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