It's fun to watch Meet the Press - OK, that's probably taking it too far - it's briefly satisfying to watch Meet the Press when Chuck Todd comes up against someone who refuses to be trapped by his disingenuous questions. And Paul Ryan is one of those someones. Challenged by Todd on the matter of Speaker John Boehner inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress - without involving the White House in the decision - Ryan was having none of Todd's implication that Congress was overstepping its bounds on the matter.
That got Todd to admit his real issue with the situation, and Ryan destroyed that argument too. Watch and enjoy: (Below)
For Todd to think the Netanyahu invitation was issued for no reason other than to "antagonize" Obama tells you a lot about Chuck Todd. First, it tells you he thinks no one ever does anything except for political positioning. Second, it tells you he doesn't understand international relations in the slightest - a characteristic he shares in abundance with Barack Obama.
Relations between nations are not about the political leanings of the respective leaders at a given moment. Good leaders understand this. George W. Bush and Tony Blair had an excellent relationship despite the fact that Bush was a Republican and Blair was from Britain's left-wing Labour Party, because both men understood the interests of our two nations are largely the same, even if some the two politicians' ideological views may not have been.
Obama doesn't understand that in the slightest, which is why is not only giving Netanyahu the cold shoulder in America but apparently he is actively working to see him defeated for re-election. Obama thinks America's support for Israel is (or should be) contingent on Israel having a left-wing government, because Obama is a left-winger and he doesn't comprehend the idea that alliances are not about party or ideology.
By inviting Netanyahu to address Congress, Boehner and the Republicans are sending a message to Netanyahu that America is indeed Israel's friend, even if Obama isn't. Obviously Chuck Todd doesn't understand that either, and in all likelihood Ryan's attempt to explain it to him fell on deaf ears. Because at his core, Todd is as clueless about these things as Obama.
