It was only a few years ago that Republicans were screaming “traitor!” at anyone who tried to undermine the office of the Presidency in such a blatant manner: Rep. Eric Cantor Tells Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu: New GOP Majority Will ‘Serve As A Check On The Administration’.

NEW YORK — Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday during a meeting in New York that the new GOP majority in the House will “serve as a check” on the Obama administration, a statement unusual for its blunt disagreement with U.S. policy delivered directly to a foreign leader.

“Eric stressed that the new Republican majority will serve as a check on the Administration and what has been, up until this point, one party rule in Washington,” read a statement from Cantor’s office on the one-on-one meeting. “He made clear that the Republican majority understands the special relationship between Israel and the United States, and that the security of each nation is reliant upon the other.”

Adam Serwer pinpoints Cantor’s amazing hypocrisy; in 2007, Eric Cantor accused Nancy Pelosi of violating the Logan Act (a dusty, seldom-used law that makes it a felony to engage in “unauthorized diplomacy” with foreign countries) when she met with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad: Eric Cantor And The Logan Act.

Two points; first, Nancy Pelosi did travel to Syria and meet with Assad, and she said some pretty fatuous things (she called him a “man of peace,” which is ludicrous). I criticized her for it at the time, and I still think it was a bad idea. But Pelosi never went as far as Cantor has; she never assured Assad that the Democrats would be on his side against the Bush administration.

Second, I don’t believe Cantor’s bizarre behavior had anything to do with his support for Israel — he was pandering to the angry, delusional elements of the right wing base, who are convinced despite all evidence to the contrary that Obama is anti-Israel. Cantor was reinforcing this utterly false meme, keeping the base fired up, and jockeying for power in the new Tea Party GOP. That was the real reason for his statement.