It is one of the biggest diplomatic moments of the last twenty years. At long last, the United States is opening its embassy in Jerusalem, a monumental strike for truth, international friendship, and the law.
How is it a strike for the law? Well, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution in 1995 – 1995! – authorizing the move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama all promised that they would bring that move to fruition. All three of them passed waiver after waiver, because they didn’t want to deal with the fallout.
Donald Trump also promised he would move the embassy. The only difference between Trump and his predecessors, though, is that he actually lived up to his word.
Several Republicans from Congress flew to Israel to be a part of the historic event and an invitation was sent to every single lawmaker in Washington. Unfortunately, though, such is the animus among Democrats for the Trump administration that they couldn’t bother to send a single representative to Jerusalem. Now THAT is some sour grapes.
“This is a sad, sad manifestation,” said Sen. Ted Crus. “I wish we’d have every member of Congress here.”
Cruz suspected that Obama’s horrible relationship with the Netanyahu administration was responsible for Democrats refusing to show up, but we’d imagine it has just as much to do with giving Trump credit for this extraordinary move. Make no mistake, Democrats want to play under-the-table footsie with the anti-Zionist crowd on their left flank, and that has something to do with it as well. But more to the point, they just don’t want to show up and admit that, yeah, Trump did something that Obama and Clinton promised and failed to deliver on. That just burns them up.
Democrats tried to claim that they weren’t invited to come, but Cruz and Sen. Lindsey Graham said that was nonsense. Cruz said he wasn’t invited either, but chose to come because it meant that much to him. Graham, meanwhile, insisted that he sent a personal invitation to Democrats.
“I would just assume that the Republicans who didn’t come had conflicts. But I am disappointed that not one Democrat came,” Graham said. “What does that say? It’s not for me to tell you what that says. It hurts me. Because I work across the aisle on a regular basis. I think it was a mistake, because there’s too much going on in this region.”
