When I first heard Joe Biden going ballistic over Israel’s plans to build housing in Jerusalem, I thought I must be dreaming. But when Secretary of State Clinton voiced her own outrage, insisting that Israel’s making such an announcement while our vice president was in Israel, was an insult not only to Biden, but to the United States, I realized that not even in those dreams where I’m tall, good-looking and know how to play the piano, have I been so out of touch with reality.

After all, these were the same two people who have been so careful not to insult Iran or any of the other gangster states in Africa or the Middle East, lowering the boom on an ally for doing something as benign as building housing for its citizens. Which, it seems to me, isn’t quite as bad as developing a nuclear bomb while vowing to annihilate one of its neighbors.

It took New York’s Daniel Greenfield, who writes under the nom de blog of Sultan Knish, to bring some pertinent facts to light, for which I am in his debt.

In 1990, it seems that Sen. Biden co-sponsored Senate Concurrent Resolution 106, which resolved that Congress acknowledge that Jerusalem is and should remain the capital of Israel and remain an undivided city.

In 1992, Biden also co-sponsored Senate Consecutive Resolution 113, which resolved that Congress congratulates the people of Israel on the 25th anniversary of the reunification of that historic city; that Congress believes that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city; and called upon the President and the Secretary of State to issue an unequivocal statement in support of those principles.

In 1995, Biden co-sponsored, along with such colleagues as John McCain, Harry Reid, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Ted Kennedy, Senate 1322, stating that Jerusalem should remain an undivided city and should be recognized as the capital of Israel.

As late as 2001, Joe Biden said, “Why is it that the one ally we have in that part of the world is the one that we feel we have the right to publicly chastise? We would not do that with any other friend. Such criticism emboldens those in the Middle East and around the world who still harbor as their sacred goal the elimination of Israel. It’s not for you to tell them, nor for me, what is in their best interest.”

What a shame that V.P. Biden never had the opportunity to meet and speak to Sen. Biden.

For her part, Hillary Clinton, in 2007, issued a statement claiming that she believed that “Israel’s right to exist safely as a Jewish state, with defensible borders and an undivided Jerusalem as its capital, secure from violence and terrorism, must never be questioned.”

What a shame that Secretary of State Clinton never had the opportunity to meet and speak to Sen. Clinton.

I suppose one could say that’s just Joe being Joe and Hillary being Hillary, just liberals trolling for Jewish votes and campaign contributions. Now that they’re no longer running for office, perhaps they no longer feel compelled to lie about their true feelings.

For his part, Barack Obama, in 2008, gave a campaign speech in which he said, “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.” Perhaps his teleprompter malfunctioned on that occasion, because the very next day, he explained that he actually was in favor of dividing Jerusalem, but he didn’t want barbed wire to be used to divide it.

If one is to draw any insights from all this, it might be that liberal senators only tell you the truth when they’re no longer running for office, and that Barack Obama, who seems to be okay with nukes in the hands of Muslims, draws a line in the sand when it comes to barbed wire.

(Don’t miss Burt’s book, “Liberals: America’s Termites” – signed copies are available at the Patriot Shop.)