Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the US Congress at the Capitol in Washington, DC, March 3, 2015.
by Richard Falk
M
y reaction to Netanyahu’s theatrical performance yesterday in Congress led me to recall that the deepest thinkers turned against democracy in ancient Greece because of the susceptibility of the Athenian citizenry to demagogic oratory from opportunistic politicians. Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides all became sensitive to the degree to which the rhetoric of demagogues contributed to the decline, and eventual downfall, of ancient Athens. Yet even in the worst last days of Athens, the demagogues who performed so destructively were at least homegrown!
It would have been inconceivable anywhere other than the United States for a controversial foreign leader to be welcomed before the legislative chamber to attack ongoing delicate diplomacy of the elected head of state.