Boom! Obama wins, Netanyahu and Boehner lose on Iran sanctions vote

[geek tragedy]

http://blogs.rollcall.com/white-house/obamas-big-win-on-iran-sanctions/?dcz=

Updated 12:34 p.m. | Make that one more veto threat President Barack Obama probably won’t have to carry out: Senate Democrats are abandoning efforts to pass an Iran sanctions bill over its nuclear program while talks continue, at least until March 24.

Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey announced during a Senate hearing Tuesday that he and other Senate Democrats would not support bringing the sanctions bill he cosponsored to the floor until that date. It comes after Menendez, in particular, has been harshly critical of the White House and the president for their handling of the Iran talks, and amid a brouhaha over the decision by Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, to snub the president and invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to the Congress without a prior heads-up to the White House.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Democrat, Menendez, and eight other Democrats on Tuesday wrote Obama vowing not to vote for the sanctions bill before March 24 (full letter below).

This is a week AFTER the Israeli elections.

Looks like Bibi's and Boehner's little scheme backfired on them, huge.

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. Bibi and (cry)Baby take it on the chin.

Again.

[underpants]

2. That speech should be a real bore now

Boehner looks like a clown AGAIN but this time it is not from within his own party

[Bandit]

3. What is March 24 all about?

Is that the date of the Israeli elections or is it a date that negotiations with Iran are scheduled to end?

[forest444]

4. Both, if Bibi gets his way

Don't be too surprised if something "happens" on or shortly before that date.

[brush]

8. The post mentions that the 24th is a week after the Israeli elections

Bibi and Boner strike out before they even got to the plate.

[IdiotsforPalin]

5. Just further evidence

that Bonner has no idea how to govern or conduct himself with any dignity

[Johnny Rash]

6. This feel too much like I am standing in the Eye of an Hurricane...

I just know that it is just way too quiet!

[Botany]

7. Has anybody broken the news to the children?

[Voice for Peace]

10. standing by with the whaaaaaaaaambulance

[Botany]

11. Can you imagine the gall of the POTUS?

Sending our Sec. of State to try to find a diplomatic solution in order
to avoid a war?


voice for peace

[Voice for Peace]

14. this is the thing I am most proud about re this Prez

that he has not sucked up to Israel. He has principles.

[babylonsister]

18. And principles are so

hard to come by nowadays, by so many people.

I agree!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

44. indeed! n/t

[calimary]

62. Totally agree!

VERY proud of him. Man - I never thought I'd be gleeful about the aftermath of last November's elections. But it's been All-Home-Runs-All-The-Time since then - for OUR side. And the exact opposite for boner and the bad guys. I would not have expected any of this. I'm just repeatedly pleasantly surprised. If this is some cosmic "consolation prize," I'll take it!!! With bells on!!!

[Cha]

28. Really.. the warmongers can't handle it.. it's too much.

Botany

[47of74]

17. They're out in the parking lot

Spinning on their backs.

[Botany]

22. But soon Lindsey is gonna be on the fainting couch w/a powerful case of "the vapors"

[47of74]

24. Found Lindsey a nice fainting a couch

I found one just for him;

Baroque French Reproduction Louis XVI Style Fainting Couch

[workinclasszero]

25. Oh my...

[Xipe Totec]

9. Bibi, veni, blew it.

Apologies to Julius Caesar.

[riqster]

52. Sic Semper Dipshittus.

[calimary]

63. I fuck up, therefore I am.

[riqster]

69. That should go on my tombstone.

[calimary]

70. LOL!

I love your "Sic Semper Dipshittus" I must say! Tons of CONS to whom that can, and does, apply!

[riqster]

71. Amazing what you can add to "Thus always to", innit?

Dipshittus, Dickwadeus, Assholus, the possibilities are endless.

[calimary]

72. ROFL!!!

[4now]

12. Schumer and Menendez standing up to netanyahu and supporting the US?

I am shocked.

[BlueCaliDem]

38. So am I. I never thought I'd see the day... eom

[Blue Owl]

13. Bye bye, Bibi

[malaise]

15. +1,000

but don't rule out a cushy job at a ReTHUG think tank or some Ivy League university.

[Blue Owl]

30. My money's on Thug Tank...

[calimary]

73. Thug Tank!

I like it!

[libdem4life]

16. Wow...political speed of lightning...amazing.

[spanone]

19. k&r...

[Takket]

20. sanctions

Can anyone explain to me why sanctions are being discussed at all? As I understand it Iran has expressed a willingness to work with Obama on scaling back its nuclear programs so why would we slap the olive branch out of their hands when that would assuredly leave them feeling they have no recourse but to accelerate the program? Mind you my info on this is from the Iran talks news from last year.

[stopwastingmymoney]

37. Because if President Obama wants to do something it must be bad, doncha know...nt

[1StrongBlackMan]

56. Because ...

slapping the olive branch out of their hands would assuredly leave them feeling they have no recourse but to accelerate the program.

[Rex]

21. Rope a dope, rope a dope, rope a dope.

Who needs 14th dimensional chess when you are dealing with really stupid people? Rope two dopes.

[herding cats]

23. Hopefully Netanyahu has at least one more loss in his near future. nt

[VanillaRhapsody]

26. Obama said he was going to make them both pay....

He did....big time....been saying this on DU for years....Underestimate this man at your own peril!

[BlueCaliDem]

40. And yet they continue to do so...much to our entertainment. ;-) eom

[BlancheSplanchnik]

45. :)

[Cha]

27. From your link, geek.. Obama’s Big Win on Iran Sanctions (Updated)

"Obama has denounced the bill in very forceful terms, both in his State of the Union address and in a press conference, vowing to veto it and saying there was a high risk it would scuttle the talks and let Iran blame the United States for doing so. That, Obama said, would undermine the strong international coalition, including Russia and China, which is negotiating with Iran to prevent it from getting a nuclear weapon."

We'll see what happens after Bibi sneaks in..

[customerserviceguy]

29. Iran wins, too

Makes your "Boom!" seem a little more meaningful.

[geek tragedy]

32. Awww, you upset you might not get your war, Mr. Kristol?

Seems everyone but the ultraright warmongers are pleased with this development.

[customerserviceguy]

33. The way I figure it

Iran is playing the West with all its delaying tactics. They're working feverishly towards an atomic bomb. Chances are, they're not going to use it against Sunni enemies, they're going to find a way to use it against Israel. Maybe that's fine with you, but it's not going to reflect well on either the President or Hillary when it happens.

[KingCharlemagne]

35. Do you have any evidence for this allegation about Iran's ambitions or merely your

'gut feelings'? If you do have evidence, can you please provide links to it, so they can be bruited and debated here? Thanks.

[customerserviceguy]

36. Oh, it's just my suspicions, all right

But you bask in your trust of the fundamentalist Iranian regime.

In any case, it's not going to be people in the US who are harmed by the Iranians, so it will just be something interesting for both of us to watch. I don't have a dog in this fight, but Bibi Netanyahu does, I expect him to act accordingly.

If Israel nukes Tehran, again, something interesting for us to watch.

[1StrongBlackMan]

57. I suspect it's NOT a trust of the fundamentalist Iranian regime; but rather, ...

confidence in US, Chinese and Russian intelligence on Iranian activities.

If Israel nukes Tehran, again, something interesting for us to watch.

Am I misreading this ... or did I miss when Israel nuked Tehran the first time?

[lark]

60. Netanyahoo has a position, that doesn't mean it's accurate.

The Mossad, hardly a peacenik organization, has said that Iran isn't anywhere near getting nuclear armaments. I believe them over him any day. Not going to be fooled by the mushrooming cloud argument now any more than I was fooled when Condi made the same statement about Iraq. She was wrong then, and I believe the neocons and Bibi (israeli neocon) are wrong now.

[calimary]

65. I believe it was the Mossad that was among those trying to warn bush/cheney that something

serious was definitely shaping up - much to our detriment. Back relatively early in 2001...

Besides, ANYTHING contradicta says is automatically suspect. Even she doesn't believe what comes out of her own mouth, if her body language is any indication. Watch how often - when her lips say something negative, her head is bobbing up and down in a "yes" motion. And when her lips say something positive, her head shakes from side to side in a "no" motion.

And there's something else I don't understand about Netanyahu. WHAT about figuring out ways to turn the heat down in the Middle East (in general, and with Iran in particular) - is bad for Israel? How does that work? How is that a bad thing? WTF?

[Rex]

64. "In any case, it's not going to be people in the US who are harmed by the Iranians..."

Guess what!? We are STILL called the Great Satan of nations by Iran. My gut feeling tells me that Iran would LOVE to blow up NYC or LA with a nuke. I understand why you say Israel, but Iran looks at America as the root cause of all evil in the world.

That hasn't changed since the days of Reagan, their leaders still hate our guts and want to hurt us in some way.

[geek tragedy]

39. So you think Obama is just not as smart as you when it comes to trying

to figure out how to prevent Iran from getting a nuke.

Or is it that you think diplomacy and other non-violent remedies are for wimps whereas real manly men like Dick Cheney and Benjamin Netanyahu know that using violence and aggression is the only way to ensure security?

[BlueCaliDem]

41. No, that first suggestion pretty much sums up the overly critical DUers of President Obama on DU.

They actually believe he's just not smart enough to do anything. When he proves them wrong (again and again and again) they disappear into the ether, not to be heard of until the next positive thread about President Obama is presented. And then...they're baaaaaack.

[geek tragedy]

42. Most of the time those critcisms are at least from the left instead of

sounding like something Sarah Palin would say at a bar.

[Drunken Irishman]

47. No. Obama is a Muslim just supporting his Muslim buddies is what the poster probably wants to say.

[customerserviceguy]

50. I think

the President has handled the entire Arab Spring and all relations with Muslim countries in the Middle East very badly. And I was responding to a post about the use of sanctions, which are not the 'manly men' tactics that you speak of. I'm all in favor of coming down on the mullahs with sanctions as a possible motivator to get them to the bargaining table.

Without that, then the fallback position is war.

[geek tragedy]

54. There are sanctions in place and there are negotiations

Have you slept through the past 5 years?

[lark]

61. There are sanctions now,

and Iran is also at the negotiating table now - so why would you support that bill when you've already reached your stated goal?

[PADemD]

31. Maybe a petition with over 44,000 signatures made a difference.

44,000 CREDO ACTIVISTS DEMAND THAT SENATOR MENENDEZ STOPS WARMONGERING ON IRAN: Last week, in response to Senator Robert Menendez’s push for new sanctions on Iran, and to his bizarre, unhinged suggestion that the Obama administration’s talking points were coming “straight out of Tehran,” CREDO launched a petition telling Senator Menendez to stop warmongering on Iran. So far, the petition has more than 44,000 signatures and continues to grow.

http://credoaction.com/menendez-iran-pressure/

[BlancheSplanchnik]

46. cool!

[KingCharlemagne]

34. I had called my Rep (Maxine Waters) and my two Senators (Feinstein and Boxer) to

convey my unconditional support for President Obama's efforts and my absolute opposition to Boner. My calls got the predictable "We'll make sure we pass your views along" response(s) from the respective staffers.

But I have not been following this story as closely as you and others here probably have.

What is the significance of the March 24 date mentioned in this article? Is that some sort of make-or-break date by which the negotiations must either succeed or fail? Or is this just an ad hoc arbitrary date selected by Menendez and his cohort?

[drray23]

43. i think its after the israeli elections.

They are signaling that Netanyahu's ploy to exploit this to get his party reelected will fall short thus rendering the speech in front of congress moot. Boehner and netanyahu got played and lost...

[KingCharlemagne]

53. Thanks. I had gathered as much from the article and comments in the thread. I wondered if the

date of March 24 itself signified anything specifically. Otherwise, I agree with your assessment.

[Stephen Retired]

48. Jeffrey Goldberg: "The Netanyahu Disaster"

From The Atlantic, January 27, 2015 edition.

[PADemD]

49. Your link opens Huff Post Science

Jeffrey Goldberg: "The Netanyahu Disaster"

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/01/Netanyahu-vs-Obama-on-Iran/384849/

[Enthusiast]

51. The Neo-Cons want a war with Iran.

They are going to get a war with Iran if they have to create a false flag attack on the US and blame it on Iran.

I honestly feel we can trust the Iranians more than we can trust the Neo-Cons.

[calimary]

67. The neoCONS want a war - period.

Probably because most of them never served in an actual war and have no idea what war is or does, and they missed their big "Captain America" macho moment. Or maybe by now it's their trying to channel their "American Sniper" self in a safe way, since they passed up the chance to see combat up close, when they were younger.

[Enthusiast]

68. They are Chicken Hawks.

[wolfie001]

55. Ha ha!

[Scurrilous]

58. Heh!

[lark]

59. Still think Dems should walk out in mass.

Punishing him by moving the vote is good, but walking out on him is even better optics. Show him the level of respect he deserves for being the underhanded, backstabbing, wholy partisan, murdering little asshole that he is!

[calimary]

66. Just have that whole side of the room empty.

I stand with my President.