President Obama Clearly Does Not Want Democrats Attending Bibi Speech

Posted by | February 9, 2015 16:00 | Filed under: Contributors Opinion Politics Tommy Christopher Top Stories

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On Monday afternoon, President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House to break the unsurprising news that the United States has not decided to provide lethal arms to Ukraine. That’s a decision I kind of agree with, but not necessarily for the reasons the President cites. There’s every chance that Vladimir Putin will continue to weather sanctions, but arming Ukraine, while certainly well within reason, would be the equivalent of knocking the chip off of Putin’s shoulder, so we shouldn’t do it unless we’re prepared to enter an intensely escalated brawl immediately. Like a wise man once said, “Be nice until it’s time to not be nice.”

There were also questions about the US/Germany relationship, but the real star of the press conference was LA Times and Trib White House Correspondent Christi Parsons, who really made the most of the setting to get something newsworthy out of the President.

Joint press conferences with world leaders are a mixed blessing for reporters, because they almost always oblige a president to take questions when the otherwise would probably rather not, but the SOP is that they only take 4 questions, two from US reporters and two from reporters from the foreign leader’s home country. There’s a lot of unspoken pressure to stay on-topic, as well, even if the topic is unlikely to yield much news, and you’re only getting a couple of shots at it. The first question from an American reporter was a waste of time that essentially went like this: “Mr. President, could you please recite 10 minutes of on-topic boilerplate we’ve already heard at me?”

Parsons, on the other hand, showed great situational awareness by deploying a multi-pack of smart questions on the ongoing negotiations with Iran, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned visit to the US in March, during which President Obama has said he will not meet with Netanyahu. She asked if there should be a further extension of the talks past March, and asked a pair of pointed questions about Bibi’s visit. “Some have suggested that you are outraged by the Israeli prime minister’s decision to address Congress. Is that so?” Parsons asked, adding “And how would you advise Democrats who are considering a boycott?”

On the first point, the President laid down a fairly strong marker, saying that beyond a last-minute delay to dot and cross various letters of the alphabet, he doesn’t “see a further extension being useful.”

On the second two questions, the President didn’t actually say whether he was outraged by Netanyahu and Speaker John Boehner’s end-run, instead drawing some fairly big laughs with a not-at-all-veiled shot at Netanyahu’s ill-advised overreach, and completely ignoring the question of whether Democrats should attend the speech…READ MORE

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Copyright 2015 Liberaland
By: Tommy Christopher

Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

20 responses to President Obama Clearly Does Not Want Democrats Attending Bibi Speech

  1. tracey marie February 9th, 2015 at 16:14

    Good for You Mr. President, the Dems, that means you Pelosi should NOT attend.

  2. tracey marie February 9th, 2015 at 17:14

    Good for You Mr. President, the Dems, that means you Pelosi should NOT attend.

  3. Mike February 9th, 2015 at 16:53

    So I guess the President expecting a bit of loyalty from his own party is too much to ask…??? WTF is wrong with that…???

  4. Mike February 9th, 2015 at 17:53

    So I guess the President expecting a bit of loyalty from his own party is too much to ask…??? WTF is wrong with that…???

  5. Red Eye Robot February 9th, 2015 at 16:57

    What is Obama afraid of the Democrats hearing?

    • mea_mark February 9th, 2015 at 17:08

      Not a thing, they can listen to an audio of it later if they want. Obama thinks the democrats shouldn’t acknowledge the idiotic politicking of the crazies on the right. Just like we ignore you, accept when we’re bored and want to play with a troll.

    • whatthe46 February 9th, 2015 at 17:36

      why do you insist on stupid talk?

    • Dene Bonner February 9th, 2015 at 21:54

      Nothing, he just doesn’t want the Repubs to continue to forget who he is!! And Bohner went at this the wrong way he left protocol out the door and decided “I will do whatever I want to do protocol be damned” and the White House is letting him know “Not on my watch”

    • Mike February 9th, 2015 at 22:10

      Let me try and put it into a context at say your place of work…Would the manager object if you were making fries when you’re supposed to be mopping up puke and policing the parking lot for Big Mac wrappers…?
      You’re not ready to work the deep fryer and someone might get hurt…

  6. Red Eye Robot February 9th, 2015 at 17:57

    What is Obama afraid of the Democrats hearing?

    • mea_mark February 9th, 2015 at 18:08

      Not a thing, they can listen to an audio of it later if they want. Obama thinks the democrats shouldn’t acknowledge the idiotic politicking of the crazies on the right. Just like we ignore you, accept when we’re bored and want to play with a troll.

    • whatthe46 February 9th, 2015 at 18:36

      why do you insist on stupid talk?

    • Dene Bonner February 9th, 2015 at 22:54

      Nothing, he just doesn’t want the Repubs to continue to forget who he is!! And Bohner went at this the wrong way he left protocol out the door and decided “I will do whatever I want to do protocol be damned” and the White House is letting him know “Not on my watch”

    • Mike February 9th, 2015 at 23:10

      Let me try and put it into a context at say your place of work…Would the manager object if you were making fries when you’re supposed to be mopping up puke and policing the parking lot for Big Mac wrappers…?
      You’re not ready to work the deep fryer and someone might get hurt…

  7. KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker February 9th, 2015 at 17:36

    This political stunt isn’t playing out very well for Bibi in Israel either.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/world/middleeast/israeli-opposition-takes-aim-at-netanyahu-over-planned-speech-to-congress.html?

  8. KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker February 9th, 2015 at 18:36

    This political stunt isn’t playing out very well for Bibi in Israel either.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/world/middleeast/israeli-opposition-takes-aim-at-netanyahu-over-planned-speech-to-congress.html?

  9. oldfart February 10th, 2015 at 13:22

    political point making before during or after elections between countries, in the manner and timing that republicans and Bibi are considering, have no place in international affairs.
    nor would they provide any resolution to the issues being currently attempted by the Obama administration with Iran. its only purpose, IMO, is self-aggrandizement with zero
    consideration for anyone else but themselves.

  10. oldfart February 10th, 2015 at 14:22

    political point making before during or after elections between countries, in the manner and timing that republicans and Bibi are considering, have no place in international affairs.
    nor would they provide any resolution to the issues being currently attempted by the Obama administration with Iran. its only purpose, IMO, is self-aggrandizement with zero
    consideration for anyone else but themselves.

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