The Netanyahu Congress

John Lewis, the longtime Georgia congressman who is portrayed as a hero in the new film “Selma” and known as the “conscience of the U.S. Congress,” said last night that he won’t attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled speech to Congress in March, according to [Code Pink leader] Medea Benjamin.

[...]

Greg Sargent in the Washington Post notes that Dems don’t want to be “out of sync with whatever Israel wants,” and the Jewish Dems were nervous about being critical of Netanyahu - See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2015/02/refuse-netanyahu-speech#sthash.ZmfgRGrn.dpuf

  Mondoweiss

Apparently, according to Benjamin’s Tweet, Earl Blumenauer, a representative from Oregon, also will not attend.

And, according to CNN, there may be others, but they aren’t willing to say so.

Several influential senior Democratic senators said on Wednesday they and other senators are considering boycotting an upcoming speech to Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protest the decision by House Republicans to disregard protocol and invite the foreign leader without the involvement and blessing of the White House.

"Colleagues of mine are very concerned about it and I'm troubled by it. I won't name names, of course," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat who is also a close ally of President Barack Obama.

[...]

Asked about a boycott, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who is Jewish and the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said "there are people discussing that."

She hasn't decided if she will attend the speech, which will take place in the House chamber.

[...]

"My concern is that it is obviously political and it uses the backdrop of the United States House of Representatives and the Senate two weeks before a political campaign and violates all the protocol that's always existed in terms of working this out with the President."

  CNN

And yet, she hasn't decided.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said he plans to go.

Of course he does.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi plans to attend the session

Of course she does.

Vice President Joe Biden hasn't made a decision yet about whether to sit next to Boehner behind Netanyahu during the speech and "hopefully a way will be found to defuse an unnecessarily tense environment."

[...]

The White House has said Obama is not meeting with Netanyahu because it was too close to the prime minister's upcoming election, and is still weighing that policy as they decide Biden's schedule.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.