This morning, White House press secretary Jay Carney refused to answer questions about President Obama’s refusal to meet foreign leaders, particularly Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Jay,” asked CBS News’ Mark Knoller, “I’m guessing the reason you’re getting so many questions about the absence of bilats is that last year, the president had 13 bilateral meetings with key foreign leaders during his U.N. visit. And this year you can’t tell us of any. So, what is different about last year and this year?”

Carney refused to answer the question, instead focusing on what Obama would say before the UN. “The fact of the matter is,” he concluded, “the president does not wait for an annual meeting to have consultations and meetings with foreign leaders.”

Actually, he appears to have little consultation at all. He dictates to our allies and kowtows to our enemies. That’s why he doesn’t want a public face-to-face with Netanyahu – he doesn’t want to be called out on his appeasement-oriented foreign policy.