I don't think Obama's friends at the AP realized what they were giving away in a throw-away sentence about the strained relationship between Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Of course we know the relationship is strained. Netanyahu longs for the days when the U.S. was really on Israel's side, which means we didn't blow off the Israeli prime minister when he was in town, we didn't give voice to moral equivalency crap, we didn't take it lightly when Iran threatened to blow Israel off the map, and we didn't nominate Hamas/Hezbollah pals like Chuck Hagel to run the Pentagon.
Well, sure. We all know that. It's no surprise that Obama and Netanyahu don't have a good relationship.
But then the AP turns to the likelihood that Obama will put much effort into the relationship in coming months, and that leads us to this:
Miller, of the Woodrow Wilson Center, said Obama will be too consumed with battling Congress on the budget, gun control legislation and other issues to spend much time on disagreements with Netanyahu.
You realize what the AP has just admitted, right? Obama does not have time to work on relations with our most crucial ally in one of the most crucial strategic regions in the world because he is too busy "battling Congress" to get gun control legislation. That should tell you a lot about Obama. Gun control was not even an issue in the last presidential campaign. It is only on the agenda now because of Sandy Hook, and not because it has any hope of preventing another one, but just because it has always been a pet issue of the left and Sandy Hook presents an exciting opportunity to initiate a "conversation about guns" or whatever, and bully Congress into obliterating the Second Amendment.
Gun control is not a serious policy initiative, nor is it a real national priority. But on Obama's agenda, it is far more important than relations with Israel. If Israel ends up attacking Iran solo because Netanyahu noticed Obama was too pre-occupied with a phony issue on which he saw the chance to preen for his base, and Netanyahu didn't trust Obama to really stand up for Israel's security, can anyone blame him?
But I'm sure Obama can send out Secretary Hagel to denounce the action with a glum look on his face.
