Lampoon or Reality

++The Onion put it in perspective this morning. "Iran worried that the United States is building its 8,500th nuclear weapon." The article raises concerns about the United States invading anywhere it wants and that it might provide weapons to rogue states.

++I don't no whether Josh Marshall was getting loopy with the nutty DHS debate or what. He has a post "Grand Bargain". Obama will meet with Bibi Netanyahu. In exchange Bibi will use his clout with GOP House members to get DHS funded.

++From Israel, we learn that Israel is directly asking Congress to add $300 million to President Obama's budget request for an upgrade in Israel's missile defense.

++The United States Senate is drafting legislation that President Obama must submit the full agreement with Iran to the Senate within five days of its completion and that President Obama can not do anything about sanctions for 60 days afterwards.

++Robert Kagan, that Robert Kagan, writes in the Washington Post that Bibi's speech sets an awful precedent. What if Congress had invited Oscar Arias to speak to Congress to criticize President Reagan's Central American policy?  Or during the Poppy Bush administration during the fights within Israel, Congress invited the Israeli Prime Minister. Kagan's point is that history provides ample opportunity for Congress being controlled by another party than that of the President and do we really want to invite foreign leaders to attack a sitting President?

When the Neo-Cons Turn

++Robert Kagan tonight writes in the Washington Post why Bibi should turn down the invitation to speak before Congress because it fails the Churchill test,damages US-Israeli relations, does not help the debate over Iran in the United States, and was not thought out by Congress. 

++Meanwhile a poll in Israel shows that Herzog and Livini have taken a lead. The reason is because they now claim they are the Zionist ticket and that the others have damaged Israeli identity.

++Josh Marshall is still on the case.

++Democrats in the House are circulating a petition not to have Bibi speak. J Street has instigated this provoking an unusual diatribe from Jennifer Rubin about how J Street can't be called pro-Israel.

++By the way Bryan Fischer is back--that didn't take long. He has a new talk show and says that now he can really tell you what he believes. You can't keep a good man down--or something like that. Rightwing Watch no longer has to worry about programming.