Republicans Wary Of Obama Campaign Staffers In Israel
Netanyahu probably shouldn't have exploited his trip to the US for election bona fides. Payback's a bitch.
Netanyahu thought that he could come to the U.S. Congress, without a Presidential Invitation and use the trip to bolster his standings in Tuesday's Israeli national elections. But it isn't the cake walk he was expecting, as the opposition looked to its American allies from a different side of the aisle than Speaker Boehner: they commandeered Obama 2012 "field general" Jeremy Bird. The Likudniks are worried, Is Jeremy Bird being empowered by the White House as its agent working against our Middle East ally, Israel?
But, President Obama is not running again, so his strategists helping the opposition party in Israel are not currently working with his Administration. What are they going to do, get him reelected for a third term? (I shouldn't suggest that, because that plays to the tinfoil hat crowd) What did the Republicans expect the Israeli opposition to do, let the Likudniks steamroll them without a fight? Obviously, the soreness from the 2012 Obama victory still stings Republicans along with THEIR Prime Minister, Bibi.
Lee Zeldin, a GOP Congressman from New York, is working in tandem with Ted Cruz to launch a probe into Bird's involvement in the upcoming elections. On Fox and Friends Weekend, Zeldin was interviewed on the matter. He was asked what this American strategists' involvement looks like to him.
"Well there is absolutely no doubt that the Obama Administration has all sorts of individuals, very active with his reelection effort now over in Israel to oust the Prime Minister.... There's actually 16 Obama campaign staffers (from 270 Strategies) and then you have other groups as well... There are these Progressive 501Cs over there actively trying oust Bibi in Tuesday's elections.
The chip off the old block, Steve Doocy's son, Peter asked,
"are we to believe that this field general with all his friends at the White House just stopped talking to him (President Obama)?"
Zeldin--
"No I think it would be foolish for anyone to buy that. When the president refuses to meet with the Prime Minister (whom was invited behind the president's back, but let's leave that part out, who's actually paying attention to facts on this Network), but meanwhile his minions are racing thousands of miles overseas to influence this election...this is what the Obama Campaign does here in the United States, they micro-target particular groups to drive up turnout..."
That last part was pretty hilarious. The very same party that is obsessed with non-existent voter fraud in this country, the same people who are imposing Jim Crow-like Voter I.D. laws, are bitching about better turn out in Israel? Of course they are. That's the same m.o. they use here, and god forbid anyone in this or any other country try to improve upon Democratic elections!
Jeremy Bird of 270 Strategies is assisting the V15 movement in Israel with the Zionist and Labor Party posing a strong opposition to Netanyahu's conservative movement. In an interview with the Kol Rega radio station on Friday, Netanyahu said, "Western European governments, particularly in Scandinavia, are financing the campaign to oust me from power. They know very well why they prefer [Herzog and Livni]."
These other countries, including the United States and many of Israel's citizens are sick of Netanyahu's hawkish policies and would prefer a stronger economic and foreign policy capable group to replace the man and his party that have weakened the Israeli economy and destroyed peace in the region.
But they are still calling for a probe, even though there's been no violation of the Logan Act by Obama's old strategists. The Fox News report said,
"The fact that both Democratic and Republican sides of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations have signed off on the probe could be seen as a rebuke to President [Barack] Obama, who has had a well-documented adversarial relationship with [Netanyahu]."
They believe that THIS is a violation of the Logan Act, where someone other than the President is conducting foreign relations with a leader without the Executive Branch. Problem here is, it's not someone going behind the president's back in this case, it's the Israeli Zionist union hiring a previously successful American firm to beat the incumbent war-hawk, Bibi Netanyahu.
The one thing they are omitting, conveniently I'll add, is that Likud has hired American Republican strategists, in fact the same one that worked with, you guessed it, Senator Ted Cruz, to combat the Progressive opposition.
So this faux outrage (seems redundant to say when discussing Fox News) is merely them, once again, telling only their side of the story, and completely omitting that the GOP is also involved in what they themselves have labeled, a violation of the Logan Act. No mention of the letter to Iran by the GOP Senate, that we'll just let slip away into history. We will be watching Israel's Tuesday elections very carefully, as it seems it looks an awful lot like our own elections.