From the time we are little, we’re told an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. However, many of us tend to forget that adage growing up. We replace it with one which better suits the world today — tit for tat. This seems to be the current mantra of the trivial strife between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Jan. 21, Speaker of the House John Boehner announced an impending visit by the Prime Minister to discuss Iran and possible sanctions against them. This was news to the White House as earlier in the week, Obama and Netanyahu had multiple phone conversations concerning the next step with Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Obama is notoriously against further sanctioning Iran whereas Netanyahu would like to see harsher actions against the country.
Obama has said many times, and most recently during his State of the Union address, if a bill to further sanction Iran came across his desk he would veto it. Yet in the same speech, Obama talked many times about needing the be more bipartisan. It seems like he’s not taking his own advice. Due to the stubbornness of the President, Netanyahu decided to go into talks with other members of our government who favored sanctions against Iran.
As the head of one of the most powerful countries in the world Obama needs to be open to other people’s ideas and suggestions. If our only ally in the Middle East would like to see more sanctions by us against their biggest threat, then the President needs to be willing to take that into account. Not to mention Iran is currently in a nuclear arms race. It is within the free world’s best interest that we don’t let this happen.
However, it seems that when the Prime Minister comes in March to talk with Congress, the President will be nowhere to be found. The White House, shortly after Boehner’s announcement, commented calling the meeting a “breach in protocol” and announcing that President Obama would not be meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister, making the claim that there will be a “price to pay” for what Netanyahu did.
How irresponsibly childish. This isn’t an elementary schoolyard rumble, Mr. President. There is no sandbox to claim sovereignty of, no monkey bars to be emperor over, no swings to lay claim to. This is the real world, and you are a dignified— though some could argue — head of state, whose job is to try to make peace with other heads of state, not alienate them and snub them when they’re a guest in our country. It’s a sad day in U.S. politics when the leader of our nation agrees to meet with a Youtube personality famous for bathing in a tub of fruity cereal and then eating said cereal, but refuses to meet with a fellow head of state.
For those who are unaware, shortly after the President delivered his State of the Union speech he sat down for three interviews. No, not by Brian Williams, or David Muir, or even Anderson Cooper. The POTUS sat down with a comedian, a make-up tutorialist and a vlogger who are all well known on YouTube. While a smart political move to connect with the younger voters, it was completely unnecessary. As the president said himself, he has "no more campaigns to run." The YouTube questionnaire was a simple way for the President to avoid having to answer tough questions posed by the actual media.
Avoiding real journalists, speaking hypocritically and snubbing heads of state: 2016 could not get here soon enough.
Reach the columnist at Derrik.Rochwalik@asu.edu or follow @drochwalik on Twitter
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Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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