Sauce for the Goose

Larry O'Connor at Hot Air questions how President Obama can reconcile his pique at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when Netanyahu came to the U.S. to urge Congress to reject Mr. Obama's deal with Iran with his decision to go to London to urge the Brits not to leave the European Union. Even more, he threatened them with diminished prospects of a trade deal if they did leave. Why is it wrong, in President Obama's eyes, for Netanyahu to interject himself in the affairs of this country, but not wrong for Mr. Obama to interject himself in the affairs of Great Britain?

Here's O'Connor:

During the height of the debate over Obama’s disastrous nuclear capitulation to Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted an invitation to address the US Congress to make a strong case against the deal that could hand nuclear weapons to a terrorist state pledged to annihilating his nation.

Do you remember the White House’s petulant reaction to the speech?

On CNN, Fareed Zakaria asked the president.... "Is it appropriate for a foreign head of government to inject himself into an American debate?”

Obama then employed his patented, passive-aggressive snark. “I’ll let you ask Prime Minister Netanyahu that question, if he grants you an interview,” he replied with a suggestive smirk. An arrogant response meant to convey a snide “I know and you know the answer to that question, but I’ll snidely demure so I can give the appearance of staying above the fray. Oh, and I’ll throw in a little jab suggesting Netanyahu is scared to sit with you and take a question like that even though I clearly am not.”

And then he couldn’t help himself. He said, “I do not recall a similar example.”

By providing that last answer, he validated Zakaria’s question and the premise it was built upon. That Netanyahu had “injected himself, forcefully,” into an internal American affair and it was unprecedented.

He could have said, “Listen Fareed, the US has a long and important relationship with Israel and clearly this Iran deal is going to affect the Israeli people and all the other nations in the region. I welcome the Prime Minister’s input and he has every right to accept Congress’ invitation.”

But he didn’t.

No, he didn't. He in fact took great umbrage at Mr. Netanyahu's impertinence in addressing the U.S. Congress. So, did he apply the same standard to himself when he visited England? Not at all:

No matter what side of the Brexit (British exit from the EU) question you fall on, there’s no doubt that Obama is “injecting himself forcefully into the debate” over British policy, right? And by doing so, he is showing himself to be a world-class hypocrite.

I don't feel comfortable with O'Connor's use of the word "hypocrite" to describe the President of the United States, but sadly, I can't think of any other word that better describes the conjunction of his petulance toward Netanyahu's conduct and his own conduct in England.