Saturday, December 24, 2016

As long as I'm in the Christmas...

...spirit (and calling people names), how about this Bibi Netanyahu guy?

I just finished reading Peter Baker's piece in the Times, "For Obama and Netanyahu, a Final Clash After Years of Conflict," and it reminded me that before Vladimir Putin, the prime minister of Israel was accused of trying to influence an American presidential election.

To refresh your memory, this is from a piece in the Christian Science Monitor (my emphasis):

Some observers claim that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to tip the scales against President Obama in the elections this November. Judging by his recent behavior – and based on my own research about how such efforts have played out in other settings – these accusations are probably correct.

Netanyahu’s dogged efforts to highlight small gaps between the Obama administration’s position and his own have prompted accusations that he seeks to help elect his old friend Mitt Romney. Observers who accuse him of meddling include veteran columnists with the The New York Times, the New Yorker, Time Magazine, and Ha’aretz, as well as Israeli opposition leader Shaul Mofaz.

You see, long before Republicans went gaga for Putin there was Netanyahu.

Now, I'm not going to call Mr. Netanyahu any names (I've done enough of that for one Christmas Eve), but I am going to wish him well working with President Donald Trump. You never know: he just might miss dealing with a reasonable president like Barack Obama.

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