Even More Useful Idiots

Deja vu all over again

Democrat rep Rashida Tlaib of Michigan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first addressed a joint session of the US Congress during his first term, way back in 1996. Behind him on the rostrum that day sat House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Vice President Al Gore, who was fulfilling his Constitutional duties as the President of the Senate.

Since that occasion, upwards of 30 foreign leaders have spoken to America’s lawmakers in similar fashion. They've included prime ministers, presidents, a chancellor, a king and a Pope.

Almost invariably, the sitting Vice President has attended.

Dick Cheney might be forgiven for having skipped the 2007 visit by France’s Nicolas Sarkozy, as he was undergoing a heart procedure that day.

The next time the VP managed to be someplace other than in his Constitutionally assigned seat was on March 3, 2015, when Senator Orrin Hatch graciously filled in for Vice President Joe Biden.

Joe was away on some very important business in Guatemala that day, working on something called the Alliance for Prosperity, which was a lot like the "root causes" boondoggle that Kamala Harris briefly dipped a toe in before returning to a more comfortable routine of utter uselessness.

Joe in Guatemala in 2015. However, it could also be a “you write the caption” contest.

The reality, though, is that Biden's March 2015 schedule wasn't exactly etched in stone.

Just a few weeks before the event, a Biden spokesman said, "The Vice President's office expects that the Vice President will be traveling abroad during the joint session of Congress."

So yeah, Joe was a no-show.

Hey, wanna take a stab at who the guest speaker was that day, you know, when Biden was down in the Northern Triangle?