New Talking Point – “An Audience of One”
[guest post by JVW]
On the heels of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s summary of the documents that Israel has seized detailing Iran’s plan to thwart the nuclear deal reached with the U.S. and other governments in the twilight of the Obama Administration, be on the lookout for a new talking point from the left which will be repeated ad nauseam in other media outlets: Netanyahu’s presentation was intended for “an audience of one,” namely President Donald Trump. I just heard a Fox News reporter repeat this line unattributed though he might have picked it up from Bret Baier. The phrase has been apparently pushed by former Obama Administration official Rob Malley and has been repeated by various peace creeps in international foundations, political/media hacks who ought to have guilty consciences, and, of course, the Twitter left. Naturally, they are recycling a tired cliche that they used to death when PM Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations this past fall, but never let it be said that our tiresome political discourse ever comes up with new ideas or talking points.
Does this remind everyone of Ben Rhodes’ famous formulation that you either support the Iran nuclear deal or you are in favor of war? That became the Official Talking Point of the Obama Administration and was dutifully repeated by all of the proper progressives, to the degree that even Rhodes himself was slightly amazed. Be on the lookout for “an audience of one” to be the Official Talking Point of the Resistance, and feel free to catalog any instances you come across in the comments below.
If that forced narrative doesn’t take hold, look for all this info to be dismissed as just PM Netanyahu’s way of taunting Iran that Mossad has penetrated deep into the Iranian nuke program.
– JVW
A Twitter blue-check with 1.75 million followers just followed me and I have no idea why.
JVW (30a532) — 4/30/2018 @ 3:45 pmi love these people
and like i said before I think this is worth a hall pass for Mr. Pollard
and General Mattis needs to stop being such a persian-appeasing little fairy
cause of what the brave and stalwart Israelis have done
is they’ve absolutely gutted any argument of any kind that withdrawing from this fiasco obama deal has any bearing whatsoever on the North Korean situation
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 3:46 pmHe’s following 871,000 people, so I guess I’m nothing special. But hey, he has at least 900k followers who he is not following, so there’s that. Twitter is so confusing.
JVW (30a532) — 4/30/2018 @ 3:46 pmi do think it’s a little bit ok to note that the oil market
didn’t really react much to this
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 3:50 pmLooked like a QVC/HSN segment w/Netanyahu pitching ‘Bennie’s Best’ multiple-CD sets. Hurry, act now…
DCSCA (797bc0) — 4/30/2018 @ 3:58 pmimpertinence.
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 3:59 pmFrom an Army of Davids to a Fox News’ Audience of One. Having said that, Netanyahu is spot on. I just wish he had given Fox & Friends an exclusive.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2018 @ 4:06 pmBibi’s show and tell was remarkable but it’s unclear that it means what he wants people to take away from it.
In particular, it allegedly shows that Iran’s public denials of pursuing a nuclear weapons program in the past are false, but I think the JPOA was predicated on that assumption. The relevant question is whether they have violated the terms of the agreement since it was signed.
The documents Israel grabbed might show that they have, but the fact that all this stuff was archived in a dilapidated warehouse (as Bibi described it) is also at least superficially consistent with the weapon program being terminated or suspended.
The agreement contains provisions for inspection of any suspected violations, and pulling out without using them would hand the Iranians a propaganda victory while giving the other parties an excuse not to reimpose sanctions.
Unfortunately neither the Iranians, nor the Israelis, nor the Trump administration has much interest in objective pursuit of the facts here…
Dave (7435a7) — 4/30/2018 @ 4:14 pm8. When it comes to Bibi, I think you have to remember that his first allegiance is to the security of the state of Israel. Most of his political maneuvers make more sense when viewed through that filter. We had 9-11 once and it didn’t take us long here in America to forget about it. Over there in the sandbox, 9-11 is a rather regular occurrence for our Israeli allies.
Gryph (08c844) — 4/30/2018 @ 4:16 pmPollard was released in 2015. I’m not sure how this is a hall pass for him.
Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71) — 4/30/2018 @ 4:16 pmno they still got him on some kinda spy restriction Mr. B
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 4:20 pmOh, I absolutely understand and respect that. It was really sort of my point.
I doubt he took questions but I was thinking it would have been amusing if somebody had asked him whether it was Israel’s policy to be forthright in public statements about their own nuclear weapons program, which is not exactly a model of transparency…
Dave (7435a7) — 4/30/2018 @ 4:32 pmlook at bibi bringin serifs back
appeaser pleasers don’t know how to act
ben rhodes already startin talkin smack
he say helvetica is where it’s at
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 4:33 pmIn particular, it allegedly shows that Iran’s public denials of pursuing a nuclear weapons program in the past are false, but I think the JPOA was predicated on that assumption. The relevant question is whether they have violated the terms of the agreement since it was signed.
According to the Times of Israel article I linked to, PM Netanyahu also highlighted documents that suggest they have continued to cheat since the JPOA was signed.
JVW (30a532) — 4/30/2018 @ 4:38 pmhappyfeet, are you saying you think this is related to the rumors that Pollard may have his parole commuted so he can emigrate to Israel?
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2018 @ 4:52 pmIf so, what is the connection?
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2018 @ 4:52 pmno I’m saying it *should* be
Israel stood up and ACTED while our own Secretary of Defense was groveling to the persians like a strung-out homeless woman
they deserve to have their bravery and fortitude acknowledge i think
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 4:55 pmI’m not sure how wise they would be to push the “audience of one” theme since that does carry the subliminal message that the President’s opinion is the only opinion that matters. >_>
Towering Barbarian (21f677) — 4/30/2018 @ 4:56 pmoops *acknowledged* i mean
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 5:02 pm12. I’m sure that it is to Israel’s advantage to be less than forthright about whatever role America had in helping them procure nukes, as well.
Which in turn leads me to wonder if such information wasn’t among the documents Pollard stole. All kinds of interesting possibilities.
Gryph (08c844) — 4/30/2018 @ 5:06 pmBibi was being polite when he said Iran lied. He should have said Obama lied.
AZ Bob (9a6ada) — 4/30/2018 @ 5:13 pmWhy would anyone think otherwise of the Iranian leaders? Their bellicosity, their terrorism and their all-around douchebaggery are second to none. And Obama did the world a grave disservice.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 4/30/2018 @ 5:20 pma new talking point from the left which will be repeated ad nauseam in other media outlets
as of right now America’s own deeply, viciously anti-semitic National Soros Radio hasn’t broken this news yet
they must be sitting in a holding pattern waiting for the right spin
when this happens it usually means we’re about to see lockstep messaging flood the zone everywhere
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 5:22 pmoh look NPR found a new black man to lynch
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 5:27 pmIsrael is no more credible in this matter than Iran is. We should make our own independent assessment.
nk (dbc370) — 4/30/2018 @ 6:01 pmobama and his dirty persian butt-buddies pretty credibly wanna do genocide on the Israelis i think
finding this kind of evidence and making it stick is an existential imperative for them
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 6:10 pmbreitbart also has a story suggesting obama, his genocidaires, and sympathetic media are dog-paddling like crazy trying to find a message to cling to soon
soon soon
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 6:25 pm“ben rhodes already startin talkin smack”
https://pjmedia.com/trending/heres-a-collection-of-ben-rhodes-tweets-that-got-everything-wrong-on-iran/
harkin (adad0d) — 4/30/2018 @ 6:36 pmyup another tax dollar-funded gem from National Soros Radio
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 7:11 pmi would like to talk to Mr. narciso please
at the very least pls provide proof of life
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 7:49 pmi said please
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 7:57 pmI miss shipwreck.
the Bas (3bcea0) — 4/30/2018 @ 7:57 pmYou know, before I became a lawyer, I was pretty good investigator. It took me longer to type this comment than it did to find him. narciso. He’s commenting at JustOneMinute: http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2018/04/falling-down.html#comments
nk (dbc370) — 4/30/2018 @ 7:59 pmme too
now more than ever
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:00 pmoh thank you Mr. nk
i hope we don’t lose him
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:00 pmTom Maguire must provide him with a translation program. Or a keyboard not clogged with molasses.
nk (dbc370) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:02 pmi just worry
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:08 pmSomebody suggested that the Iranian mole hunt will last for years. Certainly going to mess up their internal intel efforts.
Richard Aubrey (10ef71) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:14 pmIt seems he’s found a new home.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:15 pmok we’ll have to assemble a raiding party for to bring him back
does anybody remember any of his favorite foods in case we need to lure him into a meadow or clearing
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:21 pmoh dear
speaking of “audience of one”
this is a thing what’s gonna happen in 4 days or so
i don’t even watch this but
why would they hire this yucky perverted creepshow
especially in the #metoo era
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:24 pmDid he apologize to Patterico?
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:25 pmi’m sure he did in his own way or maybe not but
I think the more better question is
have we lost our friend Mr. narciso?
if we did who’s gonna sit shiva with me?
this is TERRIBLE
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:27 pmIf you see him, tell him to read the Storm Before the Storm, if he already hasn’t. (Nothing about Stormy Daniels. Or anything about Trump, except as a possible parallel).
Kishnevi (4a5f25) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:31 pmAs I recall, his “vacation” ends in exactly a week. As does that of SWC.
Kishnevi (4a5f25) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:33 pmthat’s so forever from now he won’t even remember us
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:36 pmok we’ll have to assemble a raiding party for to bring him back
I don’t do strong-arm stuff. Not since … well, never mind. But it’s why I had to give up my dream to be a ballerina, and why I was expelled from ninja school. And I can never go back to Cincinnati.
nk (dbc370) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:47 pmunderstood.
but we leave no man behind
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:49 pmJVW,
Thank you for this post. Lots to think about.
NJRob (687158) — 4/30/2018 @ 9:01 pmYou know, before I became a lawyer, I was pretty good investigator. It took me longer to type this comment than it did to find him. narciso. He’s commenting at JustOneMinute: http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2018/04/falling-down.html#comments
nk (dbc370) — 4/30/2018 @ 7:59 pm
And Ann Althouse.
Pinandpuller (903298) — 4/30/2018 @ 9:04 pmok we’ll have to assemble a raiding party for to bring him back
does anybody remember any of his favorite foods in case we need to lure him into a meadow or clearing
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:21 pm
Some folks call that “Brigading”.
Pinandpuller (903298) — 4/30/2018 @ 9:07 pmnonono
we just lure him in with gefilte fish canapes or what have you then we collar him and drag him back here
for sure it’ll be something we can add to the christmas card letter this year
happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/30/2018 @ 9:10 pmIt seems he’s found a new home.
DRJ (15874d) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:15 pm
In the movies Mr Patterico and Mr Tom Maguire would stand a ways off on either side of mr narciso and call to him and whoever he went to would be his new owner.
Pinandpuller (903298) — 4/30/2018 @ 9:11 pmAnd I can never go back to Cincinnati.
nk (dbc370) — 4/30/2018 @ 8:47 pm
Wow, that judge really owed you a favor.
Pinandpuller (903298) — 4/30/2018 @ 9:13 pmI said hi to mr narciso over there. GUS comments quite a lot apparently. I know, nobody is interested. Just saying.
Pinandpuller (903298) — 4/30/2018 @ 9:34 pmI know, nobody is interested.
Not so. Information is power. Now when somebody asks “Where’s GUS?”, I’ll know where to look first. Thank you, Pinandpuller!
nk (dbc370) — 4/30/2018 @ 9:50 pmPompeo confirmed it.
Paul Montagu (e6130e) — 4/30/2018 @ 9:55 pmThank you, Mr. Montagu.
nk (dbc370) — 4/30/2018 @ 10:26 pmWeird thing is, GUS didn’t use all caps over there.
Pinandpuller (903298) — 4/30/2018 @ 10:52 pmI still miss Gary Gulrud.
mg (9e54f8) — 4/30/2018 @ 11:24 pmWell, many of the folks that OUGHT to be in the audience have their fingers stuck in their ears and are going “NANANANANANANANANANNANA!!!!”
Willful ignorance is still ignorance.
Kevin M (752a26) — 5/1/2018 @ 12:15 amI think both Israel and the Trump administration are committed to the failure of the JPOA, even if the Iranians upheld their commitments (and I’m not saying they are or aren’t – there’s certainly no reason to trust the Iranians, that’s why the JPOA has inspections).
Dave (445e97) — 5/1/2018 @ 1:46 amCounterpoint: in this matter, Israel is directly quoting Iran from Iranian archives.
JP (699888) — 5/1/2018 @ 5:23 amBen Rhodes pretty quiet after his complete fail on Iran exposed.
Just a pinned tweet from a few months back reminding everyone the real enemy is the NRA.
Ben Rhodes
harkin (fcacaf) — 5/1/2018 @ 5:44 am@brhodes
Politicians have spent literally trillions of our dollars to prevent terrorist attacks on the United States. We would save a lot more lives if they would apply some political courage to keep weapons of war away from people who want to kill in our own country.
I think both Trump and Israel understand the theory of taqiya which you obviously do not. We’ve heard that nonsense about “inspections” before have we mot? Have you learned?
What I do think is both you and the other leftists want Trump to fail and if you need to sacrifice Israel to do it then, oh well. Anything for the #resistance.
Rev.Hoagie (1b0402) — 5/1/2018 @ 5:56 amHe understands. He just doesn’t care. He’s just doing his usual shtick of defending leftist positions and undermining the USA while pretending to be moderate about it.
NJRob (b00189) — 5/1/2018 @ 6:44 amHaha… HA!!!
https://i0.wp.com/www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2018/04/Screen-Shot-2018-04-30-at-9.49.22-PM.png
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/1/2018 @ 6:45 amRe: narciso… I mean, Patterico gave him the script, and he still wouldn’t follow it.
That seems odd.
Comments sections are strange. I think well of Patterico, and would hate to say creepy or angry things that become associated with his name via search engines…because he pays for the site, and is actually very accepting about other points of view. I wouldn’t want to smear his name on line, even through silly snark. I understand that many folks disagree with me here, but I sincerely hope that such folks buy a WHOLE BUNCH of stuff via Amazon to compensate Patterico for his many headaches dealing with this site.
People can complain about his name calling, but with almost no exceptions I can think of, he only name calls name callers. And *still* lets them post.
All he asks is that people not misrepresent his own statements. It’s not a high bar.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 5/1/2018 @ 6:54 amAm I to assume narciso has been banned when I wasn’t looking, Simon Jester?
I’d love to see Trump get the Nobel Peace Prize so I can watch all the usual heads explode. Beginning with Hillary’s. But, like the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel has deteriorated into a leftist gimmick for bestowing other “bubbled” leftists with unearned honor and other people’s money. Everything the left touches, even awards, they turn to sh!t.
Rev.Hoagie (1b0402) — 5/1/2018 @ 7:07 amIt was a sad story, Hoagie. Lots of back and forth. Narciso wasn’t banned; just given a vacation.
And I would adore seeing Trump given credit for making denuclearization of Korea possible.
Sort of reminds me of Reagan and the Iranians—an insoluble problem until Reagan got elected.
I am not equating the two Presidents, but I well remember the nastiness and rancor.
My late father used to say that the measure of the quality of a person’s soul is how they treat people who have done them wrong. Reagan was good at that.
I’m with Patterico: when Trump does good things, we all need to say so. Fingers crossed on Korea. That was a mess many years in the making.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 5/1/2018 @ 7:11 amDave–
You keep talking about inspections. The REASON for the latest issue is that the Iranians are not allowing some that have been requested. The response to THAT is supposed to be returning to sanctions, but the Iranians spin that as “killing the deal.”
Google “Iran refuses inspections” — it’s a long list over the last year.
Kevin M (752a26) — 5/1/2018 @ 9:27 amJust a pinned tweet from a few months back reminding everyone the real enemy is the NRA.
Those damn NRA terrorists! Always striking when you least expect it!
Kevin M (752a26) — 5/1/2018 @ 9:33 amHoagie–
It is more likely that Kim would get the Prize alone than Trump would. Most likely is a joint Prize.
Kevin M (752a26) — 5/1/2018 @ 9:34 amPerhaps we do need to “give war a chance” as there is some finality within it.
askeptic (8d10f9) — 5/1/2018 @ 12:19 pm74. Before you say “war is not the answer,” you’d better decide what the question is. 😉
Gryph (08c844) — 5/1/2018 @ 12:20 pmI googled it. This was the second item:
U.S. pressure or not, U.N. nuclear watchdog sees no need to check Iran military sites
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Trump administration has demanded inspections of sites that are not included in the agreement, and Iran has refused … because they are not included in the agreement.
According to Wikipedia, the “inspections on demand” provisions for sites that aren’t already subject to 24×7 surveillance under the agreement have a very specific series of steps:
1) Presentation of evidence to IAEA
2) IAEA requests access
3) Iran can refuse
4) If Iran refuses, there is a vote (the US and its allies have 5 of the 8 votes)
5) If Iran still refuses after the vote, sanctions are automatically re-applied
All this can take a maximum of 24 days, from the time the evidence is presented to IAEA. If the US had evidence of an actual violation in September, the sanctions could have been reimposed no later than last October under the terms of the agreement itself.
The US has never completed step #1, by presenting evidence, or invoked the procedures mandated by the agreement, as the Reuters piece clearly notes:
The demand is basically an attempt to undermine the agreement by demanding something the Iranians didn’t agree to, and which (absent evidence presented to the IAEA) the US has no right to under the agreement.
If the US had real evidence, and any interest in taking advantage of the mechanisms allowed in the treaty, we could have done so months ago. Apparently we don’t have the evidence, otherwise why wouldn’t we initiate the procedure?
Dave (445e97) — 5/1/2018 @ 4:53 pmWhat happened to those moderate Iranians that would be empowered by the Obama deal? And where do you think all that cash went? Obama is truly evil.
AZ Bob (9a6ada) — 5/1/2018 @ 9:09 pmOne response (not entirely fair in my opinion) is that the JCPOA was a deeply flawed agreement to begin with. The exclusion of sites like Parchin from investigation absent presentation of evidence (and all the problems that process would raise) came in for particular criticism.
Another counterpoint would be that the Israelis have now presented evidence which indicates the Iranians were not entirely forthcoming about their exploration of military dimensions of their nuclear research, before or after the JCPOA. It looks like the Israelis have been sharing this information with the US and its European allies.
There seems to be a lot of debate as to whether this evidence is groundbreaking or more like old news. I recommend checking out Lawrence Freedman and the Institute for Science (“theGoodISIS” on Twitter) for some commentary.
JP (699888) — 5/2/2018 @ 5:59 amThe fact remains that the Trump administration’s behavior looks irrational and dishonest.
If they truly had evidence, they could have forced an inspection of the site six months ago, and reimposed sanctions (effectively ending the agreement under its own terms) last fall, if Iran had refused.
That would have not only accomplished the US security goals (if you think re-imposing sanctions on Iran do that) but provided a huge propaganda victory for us – Iran openly violates the terms of the agreement and refuses to comply with a demand from the US, Britain, France, Germany and EU!
Dave (445e97) — 5/2/2018 @ 9:04 amI see what you are saying but have some reservations about the efficacy and practicality of a reporting regime as set up under the JCPOA. Additionally, from the perspective of Gulf-Levant stability, I think the point about Iranian regional misbehaviour (as in Syria, Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen) has taken a back seat in US/EU statecraft in relation to observation of the JCPOA. Given the state of quasi-war that has existed between Washington and many of its allies and Tehran, this needs to change.
The problem for the Iranian regime may now be that the Israelis possess evidence – much of which was not presented in Netanyahu’s somewhat theatrical slideshow – which indicates they had no intention of abiding by the agreement to begin with.
Do you think that confirmation of possible Iranian mendacity via evidence produced by the Iranian government would raise serious questions about the validity of the agreement in the long-term?
JP (699888) — 5/2/2018 @ 12:37 pm