Congress Gets An American President --
For A Day
By Rabbi Aryeh Spero
AmericanThinker
It was fitting that Barack Obama was out of the country on the day when a leader walked into a joint session of Congress and spoke the way an American President should.
Benjamin Netanyahu's speech extolled America
and the ideals for which it stands. The
enthusiasm of the members of both the House
and Senate was born not only of their
admiration and love for the State of Israel,
but also because a man of stature stood
before them and announced something they
haven't heard during the last two years,
namely, that America represents the best the
world has ever seen. Unlike President Obama,
who has reminded us that American values may
not be suitable for most countries, Mr.
Netanyahu spoke of his pride that his
country, Israel, mirrors the idealism and
nobility of America. Contrary to Barack
Obama, Netanyahu believes in American
exceptionalism.
Having actually been in the House Chamber to
witness the event, I was able to see a
panorama that one doesn't see on
television. The thrill and excitement on
the faces, in the applause, in the thirty
standing ovations, was internalized by all
those who had the privilege of being an
immediate participant in this historic
moment. They loved the Prime Minister and
they loved his speech because he showed his
love for America.
When speaking of justice and liberty,
Netanyahu spoke about them as enduring
principles of the American personality, as
opposed to the current President who speaks
of them in terms of class warfare, not to
mention an America at fault for those within
our country he claims have not yet received
justice or liberty. He spoke with awe when
referring to our Founders and their
inscriptions on the monuments that line the
Potomac, America's River Jordan. There was
nothing in his remarks, unlike the
President, that appeared ambivalent about
these great men. For Mr. Netanyahu and the
members of Congress who rapturously drank in
his words of praise about America, it was a
refreshing moment.
When speaking of the narrative of his
country, Israel, he found no better model
than that of America's own narrative. They
cheered because, on that spot, where
Presidents normally deliver an annual
message to our citizens, stood a man who
they knew revered what they revere and finds
precious what is precious in the hearts of
the countrymen whom they represent.
He spoke truth and he spoke as a statesman
-- as a leader. Finally, the people's
representatives heard a leader casting Iran
as the foremost threat to civilization. He
spoke of a world divided between liberty and
tyranny. The public has starved over the
last two years for words of moral clarity.
What it has received, instead, has been
diplomatic, U.N.-type language that speaks
about Iran as if it is but a problem in need
of a solution, as opposed to the cataclysmic
and moral challenge that it really is. Mr.
Netanyahu speaks of ultimate victory,
intoning a self-confident righteousness in
our cause, whereas Mr. Obama uses the
standard, lipid political jargon
characteristic of bureaucrats dealing with
problems of "de-stabilization".
Instead of a president continually dodging
the ideological threat that is Islam and,
worse, denying the danger it poses, Mr.
Netanyahu spoke forthrightly about the
worldwide threat of extreme Islam. He did
not speak like a community organizer, nor
did he speak as one whose priority is to
protect particular constituencies or
befriend him to diplomats who populate the
United Nations. Unlike the present occupant
of the White House, Mr. Netanyahu spoke as a
world-class statesman, at times Reagan-esque,
and even Churchill-ian.
I saw the faces, the body language, the
enthusiasm, the immediacy on each of those
filling the seats of august ancestors.
Remember, a man such as Eric Cantor, for
example, does not simply represent
Culpepper, Virginia, but is heir to the seat
of James Madison himself. And so it is with
so many of our current representatives who
are scions of great predecessors. For one
hour on May, 24, 2011, our representatives,
most of whom see themselves first as
Americans, were allowed to imbibe feelings
of America's majesty. Finally, the joint
session of Congress was not victim of
chastisement from a haughty overseer, but a
recipient of sweet and reinforcing
acknowledgment of our country's greatness.
Today, no Supreme Court Justice was reviled,
instead the justice of America was
extolled.
It was evident from Mr. Netanyahu that not only does he love America, but also loves Americans. Over the last two years, the America people have heard how they "cling to their religion and their guns." They have been forced to listen how their police, such as in Cambridge, are "stupid." They have been humiliated by a man who has gone across the world apologizing for America and its precipitation of so many of the world's ills. They have heard their own president characterize this nation as "sometimes arrogant". Perhaps, worst of all, they have had to endure a nauseating rewriting of their own history and sacrifice by a President who errantly speaks of the great contributions that Islam made from early on in our history in the development of this country. Today Mr. Netanyahu came in front of the entire Congress of the United States "not to bury her, but to praise her." It was as if for one day we had an American President again.