YORAM ETTINGER: AN EARTHQUAKE? SEE NOTE PLEASE
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3978980,00.html
THE TROUBLE WITH THE EARTHQUAKE IS THAT THE INCOMING CONGRESS KNNOWS TOO LITTLE ABOUT ISRAEL’S NARRATIVE….TOO MANY EXPRESS SUPPORT BY FLOGGING THE TWO-STATE DISSOLUTION BECAUSE THAT’S THE MESSAGE THEY HAVE GOTTEN FROM ISRAEL AND ITS OSTENSIBLE SUPPORTERS HERE….WHO ACT AS IF THE ENTIRE “CONFLICT” STARTED IN 1967…..RSK
The November, 2010 mid-term election produced a seismic political effect:
The most rapid and wide-in-scope Congressional and Gubernatorial victory
since 1948.
The outcome of the election repudiates Obama’s policies and dramatically
erodes his political clout. It feeds the confrontational nature of a
systematically pro-Israel Congress and increases the number of pro-Israel
legislators. It highlights the centrality of the historically pro-Israel
American People in the shaping of the American political scene. The outcome
of the mid-term election has reconfirmed that the USA is indeed The
Center-to-Right Nation, which has always been pro-Israel.
The outcome of the November, 2010 election behooves a reassessment of
Jerusalem’s policy toward Washington, which has erroneously assumed that US
Presidents are omnipotent in foreign and national security matters, while
Congress is supposedly a “support actor.” In fact, Jerusalem’s policy
toward Washington should reflect the policy co-determining power of Congress
– the most authentic representative of the American People, and therefore a
bastion of support of the Jewish State. Contrary to the “Jerusalem
Misperception,” Congress can force Presidents to follow the will of the
People in domestic as well as in foreign and national security areas.
In two years, President Obama has been transformed from an electoral asset
to a lethal electoral liability, threatening Democrats on Capitol Hill.
From a consensus, moderate Democratic President in 2008, he is perceived in
2010 as a President of political polarization, representing the radical Left
of the Democratic Party. Never have Americans been so insecure – personally
and nationally – and so indecisive about the future of the USA. As high as
were the expectations from Obama, so devastating is the perception of his
performance domestically (unemployment, foreclosures, taxes, regulations,
big government, deficit, controversial health reform, etc.) and
internationally (eroded US stature, threat of Islamic terrorism, the Iraq
and Afghanistan wars, etc.). The Obama Cloud has cost Democrats the support
of many Independents, Women, Youth and the Elderly, who were responsible for
the sweeping Democratic victory in 2008.
The new 112th Congress will be more confrontational within a political
system which constrains the power of the President through an elaborate
system of Checks & Balances, an effective Separation of Powers, a
Congressional Power of the Purse, a Congressional role in policy-making, an
exclusive Congressional legislative role and the preconditioning of
policy-implementation upon Congressional approval. For example, it was
Congress – and not the President – which terminated US military involvement
in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Angola and Nicaragua and severed US ties with
the white regime in South Africa. Congress has the power – which is not
always exercised – to initiate, rescind and curtail arms sales, to award,
cut and suspend foreign aid, to expand, limit and suspend US funding of the
UN and other international organizations and to direct the President to
implement a policy toward other countries and the UN.
Obama cannot count on a solid Democratic support in the 112th Congress. A
substantial number of Democratic legislators distanced themselves from the
President, during the 2010 campaign, in order to survive the wrath of the
constituent. Additional legislators may refrain from cooperating with the
President, in order to avoid the list of “Obama Casualties” in 2012. For
instance, first-term West Virginia Senator, Democrat Joe Manchin, won
largely on the coattail of a TV commercial featuring him spraying Obama’s
initiatives with shotgun bullets and calling for the repeal of Obama’s
healthcare reform. At a time when “800 pounder gorillas,” such as 17 and 14
terms Representatives Ike Skelton and John Spratt – Chairmen of the House
Armed Services and Budget Committees – are defeated, hardly any Democrat
feels safe toward the 2012 election.
A few Democratic legislators, known for their critical/negative attitude
toward Israel – such as 21 terms David Obey the powerful Chairman of the
Appropriations Committee – announced retirement in view of Obama-driven
electoral rage. At the same time, scores of newly-elected legislators
joining Congress in January, 2011 share a world-view, which is usually
consistent with pro-Israel sentiments: patriotism, tradition,
Judeo-Christian Values, national security, 2nd Amendment, anti-UN,
Europe-skeptics, anti-terror and associating Arabs and Muslims with
terrorism. The freshmen legislators were elected by the real winner in the
2010 election: The American Constituent, who is cognizant of his/her crucial
role in shaping US democracy (e.g. bi-annual district election). The
Constituent is aware of his/her capability to challenge the Washington
establishment and elect legislators in defiance of party headquarters. The
Constituent believes in the potency of the electoral battle cry: “We Shall
Remember in November,” which haunts legislators who renege on their
commitment to voters. Moreover, the number of Americans who identify
themselves as Independent has reached an all time high, twice as many
Americans identify themselves as Conservative than Liberal and the number of
Democrats exceed the number of Liberal folks. Most Americans are indeed
Center-to-Right. They respect the Jewish State as a moral and a strategic
ally, which is not a classic foreign policy issue, but largely a domestic
issue, whose values are part of the moral foundation of the USA.
Will Jerusalem leverage the post-election bolstered platforms of support in
the USA in general and on Capitol Hill in particular? Will Jerusalem learn
from current errors and refrain from subordinating its policy toward
Washington to Presidential state-of-mind? Will Jerusalem accord the US
democracy and its representatives in Congress their due high-respect and due
decisive-role, thus advancing critical joint American and Israel values and
interests?
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