By Ray Cardello for October 19, 2023, Season 22 / Post 36

What Joe Biden has done in the last few weeks by throwing money around the Middle East is tantamount to going to the Kentucky Derby and putting $100 on every horse to win. Two significant problems with his approach are he shows how flimsy our support for Israel is, and he is playing with our money, not his. You cannot lose when playing with someone else’s money. He also is bowing to both sides of the aisle- the progressives, anti-Semitic and pro-Palestinian, and the moderate Left and the Right, pro-Israeli. He has already given $6 Billion to Iran, though there is evidence that the Biden Administration, by not enforcing sanctions, has enriched Iran to the tune of $70 Billion. Today, he pledged unlimited resources to Israel to support their retaliatory efforts against Hamas, while inside sources say Biden is urging Israel to show restraint. And in his next breath, he pledges $100 Million to Gaza for humanitarian relief, referencing the Gaza City hospital bombed on Tuesday that evidence proves was hit by Hamas artillery. These promises are made while the House of Representatives, the keeper of America’s funds, is in the second week of shut-down because they cannot elect a Speaker to replace Kevin McCarthy. The visit to Israel by Joe Biden comes when the Senate is finally considering the President’s nomination for Ambassador to Israel. The President has been in office for nearly three years without an Ambassador to our most important ally in the Middle East. Biden is showing his weakness on the global stage while Congress shows its dysfunction at home. We cannot exude strength to our foes when we are so openly inept.

The Republicans could not be doing more to help Joe Biden. When America is self-destructing and needs strong leadership to pull her back together, Republicans are staging a civil war. Instead of the House Republicans taking the opportunity of the majority given them by the voters in 2022, a small fringe group staged a coup on Speaker McCarthy with no plan for the next step. Their actions ground the House to a halt. Their selfish acts stopped the House investigations’ attention on the Biden Family Cartel’s corruption. They allowed the watch to be focused on Biden and his team’s effort to control the crisis in Israel. They are feeding the media’s effort to campaign for Biden’s reelection by praising the President’s moves and mocking those of the Republicans.

As I write this article, the House is in its second vote for Speaker. CNN and MSNBC are reveling in the futility as the Republicans fail to garner support for a candidate to take the Gavel. FOX is disgusted at the Republicans wasting time on this exercise with so much that needs to be done worldwide. I also want to point out Kamala Harris’s absence. Except for a silent show on stage with Blinken, as Biden first spoke on the Israeli Conflict, she has been AWOL. Not even a sound bite from America’s second most powerful person speaks volumes about her place in the Administration.

As the world waits for Israel to make the next move in the Conflict, protests and demonstrations on behalf of Gaza and Hamas are strengthening and becoming more hostile. If there is evidence that Biden has held back Israel from attacking, he will face intense criticism from Israeli supporters and reinforce his weak international policy history. When the dust settles, this may be a terrible period for Biden, and none of his bets will pay off.