It was Barack Obama, who in 2014 said, elections have consequences and what took place this past week in Israel is the consequence of an election.
A coalition of right of center parties came together under Bibi Netanyahu, after a rigorous campaign and a nationwide vote. They had made it very clear one of the things they were going to do was to curtail the power the Israeli Supreme Court has accrued itself over the last couple of decades.
So, with all of Netanyahu’s coalition voting for it, and the opposition boycotting the vote, the first part of legislation reforming the judiciary passed, 64-0.
Elections do indeed have consequences.
Whether or not the legislation the Knesset passed will be good for Israel or bad for Israel is for you to discuss and debate for yourselves. As we’ve plainly seen, the Israeli citizenry isn’t shy about expressing their opinions.
But I do want to talk about what the Biden administration was publicly telling Israel up until the vote was cast. I will keep it short and hopefully, to the point.
For weeks, US President Joe Biden kept urging Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to slow down the process. He told Netanyahu that “The focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus.”
Through Tom Friedman, Joe Biden’s sycophant at the New York Times and Israel’s self-appointed savior, the President pleaded for consensus before the judicial overhaul vote. Friedman was actually invited into the Oval Office so Biden could feed Friedman the lines for his column. Mr. Biden told the Times columnist, “Finding consensus on controversial areas of policy means taking the time you need. For significant changes, that’s essential.”
The US State Department, never missing the opportunity to scold Israel, echoed Biden and said, “We believe that fundamental changes should be pursued with the broadest possible base of support.”
Consensus, broad support, take your time.
Let’s rewind the clock to March 21, 2010. The signature piece of legislation of the Obama-Biden administration is passed. Officially, it’s called the Affordable Care Act. It’s colloquially called ObamaCare. It was the most significant regulatory overhaul and expansion of medical care coverage since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.
You remember, it ignited intense passions on both sides. There were protests against it and demonstrations for it. Some of them were violent.
Remember how Republicans channeled Thomas Jefferson, that “great innovations should not be forced on a slender majority — or enacted without broad support.”
Remember how Democrats said it was too important a piece of legislation to delay?
Remember President Obama saying, if you like your doctor you will be able to keep your doctor? How did that end up playing out?
So the Dems rammed ObamaCare through the House of Representatives on March 21, 2010 by a 219-212 vote. No Republicans voted for it and 34 Democrats voted against it.
Two days later, President Obama signed it into law.
And do you remember Joe Biden’s hot mic remark to Obama on that day?
He congratulated the President and with a huge grin on his face said it was a “big fucking deal.”
Even after it became law, opposition to ObamaCare was consistently in the 55 to 60 percent range.
Interesting, no? Not a lot of consensus, right?
Joe Biden twisted a lot of arms on Capitol Hill to get ObamaCare passed. And through some legislative prestidigitation, Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi got it done.
Elections have consequences, yes they do.
So when Joe Biden publicly and repeatedly jawbones Bibi Netanyahu to hold back on judicial reform, when he calls on the democratically elected leader of one of America’s closest allies to first build consensus, maybe he should remember March 21, 2010.
Joe Biden was right there at the epicenter of a controversial and fundamental change to the US healthcare system, where it was essential to take the time needed to build consensus for significant change, and he didn’t. He grinned and said it was a big fucking deal.
Maybe Tom Friedman should have brought that up when he was sitting in the Oval Office taking dictation.
Maybe Joe Biden, who I was told by one high-ranking Israeli official, supports Israel from his kishkas, should listen to his gut and mind his own business.
After all, Mr. President, as I’m sure are acutely aware, elections have consequences.
My Mistake: A sharp-eyed Friendwithoutbenefits.com subscriber caught a mistake I made last week in the blog Head Spinning Haters. I said Representative Ilhan Omar was from Michigan, instead of Minnesota. Sorry I messed up my m and m’s.