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With Regard to Netanyahu’s speech, Nancy Pelosi said it all
▻http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/03/1368277/-With-Regard-to-Netanyahu-s-speech-Nancy-Pelosi-said-it-all

After reiterating the U.S.’s bond with Israel, Leader Pelosi said the following:

“ That is why, as one who values the U.S. – Israel relationship, and loves Israel, I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech – saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5 +1 nations, and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation.

Netanyahu was almost flip when he sought to assuage fears that collapse of these negotiations would inevitably mean war, arguing that all we have to do to get a better deal is impose a few more sanctions and the Iranians will cave and come running back to the table to surrender completely their enrichment capacity. Netanyahu would have us believe that the regime in Iran that allegedly cannot be deterred, that is completely irrational, and would gladly suffer nuclear annihilation just for the opportunity to attack Israel, will surrender everything in these negotiations in the face of sanctions that could shave another few percent off their GDP. According to Netanyahu, the mullahs don’t fear nuclear annihilation, but they panic at the prospect of an economic recession.

Insulting, indeed. Condescension, indeed.

Bibi Netanyahu either thinks we are idiots or he is the most dangerously deluded leader on the world stage today. It’s one or the other.

Fears mount that Dems will undermine White House on Iran
▻http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/12/06/fears-mount-that-dems-will-undermine-white-house-on-iran

Multiple Democrats on Capitol Hill are worried that House Democratic leaders are close to joining with House GOP leaders to support a bipartisan measure that could undermine the White House’s efforts to reach a long term deal curbing Iran’s nuclear program, I’m told by sources involved in discussions.
The worry is that Dem Rep. Steny Hoyer, the number two House Dem, may join with GOP Rep. Eric Cantor on a resolution or bill that will either criticize the current temporary deal with Iran, or call for a new round of sanctions, or set as U.S. policy some strict parameters on a final deal with Iran, such as opposition to any continued uranium enrichment, House Democratic aides say. House Dems and outside foreign policy observers have communicated such worries to Hoyer’s office, sources add.

Will Steny Hoyer Kill Deal? Will Mandela Help Sustain It? « LobeLog.com
▻http://www.lobelog.com/will-steny-hoyer-kill-deal-will-mandela-help-sustain-it

It’s worth noting that Hoyer and Cantor have led delegations consisting of freshmen members of Congress to Israel virtually every summer for some years now. The trips are sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation, the “educational” affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), to ensure that the new lawmakers are thoroughly briefed on the Israeli government’s perspectives on a range of issues. (You may remember the one last year when one Kansas freshman under Cantor’s charge was inspired to go skinny-dipping in Lake Kinneret/Sea of Galilee. This is not the kind of publicity AIPAC normally seeks.)

It’s also worth noting that both Hoyer’s and Cantor’s campaign chests have benefited handsomely from AIPAC-associated political action committees over the years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics’ invaluable opensecrets.org website. For the last decade, they have both ranked among the top ten House recipients of “pro-Israel” largess — Cantor ordinarily within the top three or four, Hoyer a little further down (and he only ranked 12 in the 2003-04 cycle.) One Capitol Hill Middle East policy veteran who asked not to be named called Hoyer “the (Israel) lobby’s quarterback for the Democrats in the House,” a status presumably confirmed by his leadership of the annual AIPAC codels.