Politics

Pelosi, Democrats Furious Over Netanyahu ‘Condescension’

Published

10 years ago

March 4, 2015

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. turns to talk to her colleagues in the House chamber of Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2015, during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address before a joint meeting of Congress. In a speech that stirred political intrigue in two countries, Netanyahu told Congress that negotiations underway between Iran and the U.S. would “all but guarantee” that Tehran will get nuclear weapons, a step that the world must avoid at all costs. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md. is at left. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi politely stood and clapped when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered the House chamber for his long-awaited, and highly controversial, speech to Congress. The longer he spoke, the less enthusiastic she got.

At one point, when Netanyahu suggested his nation’s relationship with the United States should be above politics, Pelosi looked at her lap and shook her head. When he declared that, “if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand,” Pelosi threw her hands up in exasperation. More than once, she turned to her deputy, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, and appeared to vent. And even before Netanyahu had begun his ascent up the center aisle toward the exit, Pelosi pivoted and headed out a different door and into the Democratic cloakroom.

“I was near tears throughout the prime minister’s speech — saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States,” she fumed in a statement afterward, adding that she didn’t appreciate “the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation.”

Pelosi’s was the highest-profile sign that Netanyahu had inflamed his relationship with some congressional Democrats with his address to Congress, a 39-minute warning that Obama’s negotiations on limiting Iran’s nuclear capability would all but guarantee that Tehran gets nuclear weapons. Even as he spoke, the Obama administration pressed on with those talks, and the president dismissed Netanyahu’s speech by noting that “foreign policy runs through the executive branch and the president, not through other channels.”

More than four dozen Democrats skipped the speech altogether, offended by an array of developments before they even got to the policy substance of the speech itself.

House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu, without first notifying Obama, was one. The speech coming so soon ahead of election day in Israel was another.

Then there was this sight: Netanyahu standing at the podium where the president delivers the State of the Union speech, framed by two Republicans seated behind him — Boehner and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the president pro tempore of the Senate.

By custom, the vice president sits with the speaker, but Vice President Joe Biden was out of town and didn’t attend. Hatch is next in line.

“It was putting Netanyahu on an equal level with the president of the United States,” said Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn. “And that was wrong.”

Most Democrats, though, attended, because the real issue is how to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons. One pushed back against Pelosi and other Democrats who shared her frustration.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech was not condescending,” said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., who was one of the lawmakers who escorted Netanyahu into the House chamber. “Every speech contains passages which remind the audience of facts they already know, and conclusions with which they already agree. That is not condescension; that is oratory.”

But Cohen and 11 other House Democrats later expounded on their multiple frustrations with the speech, including the substance. His statement about Israel standing alone particularly chafed.

“I think that’s delusional,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., who skipped the speech. “The notion somehow that he thinks that Israel can just bull through this on their own against the world … Israelis don’t believe that.”

“What I heard today felt to me like an effort to stampede the United States into war once again,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who also skipped the speech.

Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., said the speech was “straight out of the Dick Cheney playbook — fearmongering at its worst.”

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.

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Oakland Post Endorses Barbara Lee

Barbara Lee will be able to unify the city around Oakland’s critical budget and financial issues, since she will walk into the mayor’s office with the support of a super majority of seven city council members — enabling her to achieve much-needed consensus on moving Oakland into a successful future.

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April 2, 2025

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Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Courtesy photo, Office of Rep. Barbara Lee.

Former Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Courtesy photo.

As we end the celebration of Women’s History Month in Oakland, we endorse Barbara Lee, a woman of demonstrated historical significance. In our opinion, she has the best chance of uniting the city and achieving our needs for affordable housing, public safety, and fiscal accountability.

As a former small business owner, Barbara Lee understands how to apply tools needed to revitalize Oakland’s downtown, uptown, and neighborhood businesses.

It is notable that many of those who fought politically on both sides of the recent recall election battles have now laid down their weapons and become brothers and sisters in support of Barbara Lee. The Oakland Post is pleased to join them.

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Oakland Post: Week of March 28 – April 1, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 28 – April 1, 2025

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6 days ago

March 28, 2025

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Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas Honors California Women in Construction with State Proclamation, Policy Ideas

“Women play an important role in building our communities, yet they remain vastly underrepresented in the construction industry,” Smallwood-Cuevas stated. “This resolution not only recognizes their incredible contributions but also the need to break barriers — like gender discrimination.

Published

1 week ago

March 24, 2025

Oakland Post

Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), center, is shown with other guest speakers at the Sacramento Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction brunch held at the State Capitol on March 6, 2025. On the left is Jennifer Todd, LMS General Contractors Founder and President. To Todd’s right is Dr. Giovanna Brasfield, from Los Angeles-based Brasfield and Associates. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌, California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

To honor Women in Construction Week, Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 30 in the State Legislature on March 6. This resolution pays tribute to women and highlights their contributions to the building industry.

The measure designates March 2, 2025, to March 8, 2025, as Women in Construction Week in California. It passed 34-0 on the Senate floor.

Authored by Assemblymember Liz Ortega (D-San Leandro), another bill, Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 28, also recognized women in the construction industry.

The resolution advanced out of the Assembly Committee on Rules with a 10-0 vote.

The weeklong event coincides with the National Association of Women In Construction (NAWIC) celebration that started in 1998 and has grown and expanded every year since.

The same week in front of the State Capitol, Smallwood, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Assemblymember Josh Hoover (R-Folsom), and Assemblymember Maggie Krell (D-Sacramento), attended a brunch organized by a local chapter of NAWIC.

Two of the guest speakers were Dr. Giovanna Brasfield, CEO of Los Angeles-based Brasfield and Associates, and Jennifer Todd, President and Founder of LMS General Contractors.

Todd is the youngest Black woman to receive a California’s Contractors State License Board (A) General Engineering license. An advocate for women of different backgrounds, Todd she said she has been a woman in construction for the last 16 years despite going through some trying times.

A graduate of Arizona State University’s’ Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, in 2009 Todd created an apprenticeship training program, A Greener Tomorrow, designed toward the advancement of unemployed and underemployed people of color.

“I always say, ‘I love an industry that doesn’t love me back,’” Todd said. “Being young, female and minority, I am often in spaces where people don’t look like me, they don’t reflect my values, they don’t reflect my experiences, and I so persevere in spite of it all.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 11.2% of the construction workforce across the country are female. Overall, 87.3% of the female construction workers are White, 35.1% are Latinas, 2.1% are Asians, and 6.5% are Black women, the report reveals.

The National Association of Home Builders reported that as of 2022, the states with the largest number of women working in construction were Texas (137,000), California (135,000) and Florida (119,000). The three states alone represent 30% of all women employed in the industry.

Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) and the California Legislative Women’s Caucus supported Smallwood-Cuevas’ SCR 30 and requested that more energy be poured into bringing awareness to the severe gender gap in the construction field.

“The construction trade are a proven path to a solid career. and we have an ongoing shortage, and this is a time for us to do better breaking down the barriers to help the people get into this sector,” Rubio said.