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Like the Mafia, Only Dumber

Submitted by Bryan Buchan on 10-18-2006 – 2:40 pmComments

By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Wednesday 18 October 2006

Obviously crime pays, or there’d be no crime.
- G. Gordon Liddy

Josh Marshall, who runs the excellent blog Talking Points Memo, recently posted a reader’s take on “The 5 Stages of Republican Scandal.” As follows:

1. “I have not been informed of any investigation or that I am a target.”

2. “I am cooperating fully, but this whole thing is a political ploy by the Democrats.”

3. “I’m SHOCKED by the mistakes made by my subordinates.”

4. “I’m deeply sorry for letting down my friends and family. I now recognize that I am an alcoholic. I will be entering rehab immediately, so I have no time for questions.”

5. “Can I serve my time at Eglin Federal Penitentiary (aka Club Fed)?”

We have seen a fair amount of this already, and will soon see a lot more of it. The news media is all abuzz about Republican scandals, from Foley to Abramoff, but simply hearing about it from the television does not do the situation justice, if you’ll pardon the bad pun. You have to see it all in one place to understand the depths to which the GOP has sunk.

Bear in mind, as you peruse the following roll call, that these guys are getting busted for this stuff while their party has absolute control over the House, the Senate, the White House and the Justice Department. Huffington Post columnist Stephen Elliot pegged it recently when he wrote, “The fact is if you control the Senate, the White House, and the courts, and you’re still getting busted for bribery, stalking children, and money laundering, then something is really sick at the Republican core.”

Indeed. Thus, without further ado and in no particular order …

Jack Abramoff: The disgraced “super-lobbyist” has been nailed for wire fraud, and is cooperating in the investigation into the bribing four Republican members of congress.

Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas): Once the most powerful man in the House of Representatives, Texas congressman DeLay now stands indicted on three counts of money laundering, charges stemming from his all-out attempt to secure a permanent Republican majority in the House. His story isn’t finished; the Abramoff investigators have been sniffing around his door for months now.

Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio): Ney has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from Jack Abramoff. Ney pulled #4 out of the bag of GOP excuses above, announcing that he has entered a rehab clinic for alcohol addiction.

Tony Rudy: Once the deputy chief of staff for Tom DeLay, Rudy has pleaded guilty to bribing a Republican House member, said member widely assumed to be Bob Ney. Rudy also pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from Abramoff in return for favorable actions on Abramoff’s behalf by his former boss.

Mike Scanlon: Another Republican lobbyist and former DeLay press secretary, Scanlon has pleaded guilty to stealing millions of dollars from Native American tribes, on whose behalf he was supposed to be lobbying Congress regarding casinos. Scanlon is also cooperating with federal investigators.

Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-Calif.): The California congressman has pleaded guilty to accepting $2.5 million in bribes, in exchange for steering federal contracts to a number of defense firms. Cunningham is currently staring down the barrel of eight years in prison.

Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.): There isn’t much more to say about this fellow, who has joined Rep. Ney in the I’m-an-alcoholic-going-to-rehab club.

Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) : Long considered to be little more than the mush-mouthed front man for Tom DeLay, Speaker of the House Hastert has found himself swept up in the Foley scandal. Several fellow congressmen have said that they warned Hastert about Foley’s improper behavior, but nothing was done about it until the Foley emails went public. The watchword for today is “cover-up.”

I. Lewis Libby: Cheney’s former chief of staff, “Scooter” Libby, has been indicted on five counts of lying to investigators regarding the outing of deep-cover CIA agent Valerie Plame.

David Safavian: Once the head of the White House Office of Federal Procurement, Safavian has been convicted of four counts of lying to investigators regarding a bribe he took from Abramoff.

Claude Allen: Formerly a domestic policy advisor to the White House, Allen was arrested for shoplifting thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from various retail stores.

Brian Doyle: Formerly the Department of Homeland Security’s deputy press secretary, Doyle was arrested for attempting to seduce a 14-year-old girl over the internet.

James Tobin: Tobin, who served as the northeast field director for the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, has been convicted on two counts of conspiracy stemming from a phone-jamming scheme in New Hampshire during the 2002 midterms. Tobin made dozens of phone calls during this time to the White House political affairs office. He was sentenced to ten months in prison.

Susan Ralston: An aide to White House political advisor Karl Rove, Ralston resigned recently after her multiple meetings with Jack Abramoff became public knowledge. Ralston was also in the habit of accepting gifts, such as tickets to sporting events, from the disgraced lobbyist.

Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.): Doolittle hasn’t been convicted of anything yet, but has rolled out the “not a target” line regarding the investigation into Abramoff’s bribery scheme.

Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.): Like Doolittle, Burns has deployed the “not a target” line regarding the Abramoff probe. He is, however, apparently a “target” of the probe, a fact that has his staffers splitting rhetorical hairs at warp speed.

Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.): Rep. Dale Kildee, the only Democrat on the House Page Board, dropped an interesting brick the other day. While commenting on a conference call between page board members regarding “other allegations” beyond those directed at Rep. Foley, Kildee said, “It was about other allegations and I’d like to leave it at that. Let me just say, not about Mr. Foley.” These “other allegations” appear to be augering towards Rep. Kolbe, who took two former pages on a camping trip several years ago. A federal investigation has been opened to look into the matter.

Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.): The senate majority leader is currently under investigation by the SEC for seemingly taking advantage of insider information to make a killing on stocks, the company attached to said stocks being owned by his family.

Lester Crawford: Once the Bush administration’s FDA commissioner, Crawford has been charged in federal court for conflict of interest, and for making false statements related to his investments. He recently pleaded guilty to the charges.

Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.): The home of Weldon’s daughter was raided by federal investigators on Monday. The investigators are looking hard at her lobbying firm, and whether her well-connected father improperly steered business her way. Weldon has pulled out #2 above, laying the whole thing off on a Democratic plot to destroy him.

Tom Noe: A four-star Republican fund-raiser in Ohio, Noe has just gone on trial for stealing millions from a fund for injured workers and spending it on himself.

Here’s the best part: George W. Bush has officially declared that this is now National Character Counts Week. Seriously. You can’t make this stuff up.

“America’s strength is found in the spirit and character of our people,” reads the Bush proclamation. “During National Character Counts Week, we renew our commitment to instilling values in our young people and to encouraging all Americans to remember the importance of good character.” Someone apparently forgot to circulate the “Character Counts” memo among the ranks of the Republican Party, it seems.

At the end of it, you have to think of this crew as being like the Mafia, only a lot dumber. Think about it. The Mafia’s criminal enterprises operate under heavy scrutiny from local, state and federal officials, all of whom have subpoena power, not to mention the ability to tap phones and kick down doors.

The Republican criminal enterprise that is currently unraveling in all directions, on the other hand, operated virtually free from restraint or scrutiny. They own the government, from the Oval Office to the FBI to the Capitol Dome, and yet somehow they are managing to get busted left and right.

And, of course, the really serious criminal behavior – lying about weapons of mass destruction to initiate a war of conquest that has enriched White House allies while killing untold tens of thousands of people, including almost three thousand American soldiers, for starters – continues to operate with impunity.

For now. Rumor has it there is an election in November. Depending on how it shakes out, things might get really interesting after the New Year. These people above got nailed even though their allies are running the show. If that should change, several dozen varieties of Hell are likely to break loose.

  • RONALD L. WALDRON
    QUESTIONS FOR DEMOCRATS & CANDIDATES
    TIME TO CUT & RUN FROM THE REPUBLICANS

    QUESTIONS FOR THE DEMOCRAT PARTY:
    AND CANDIDATES:

    We Americans were under the impression that there
    are, or were 50 states prior to the last seven years.
    Now there seems to be 51, with ISREAL being the
    51 St. State, but number one to this administration,
    and rubber stamp congress.(A WELFARE STATE)

    The amount of money given to congress and the
    Republican Party for campaigns, from the foreign lobbies, seems to get them 1000 times back in Foreign Aid. Exam the figures, and you will find that foreign
    aid, along with Defense Equipment, will more than
    equal the National Debt.

    None of the other 50 states have even received such
    amounts from our own government.
    Katrina victims, after weeks & months of delay
    received $2,000 ea. and $600 a month for 6 months.
    While at the same time, Israeli's received $250,000 ea.
    to move from the Gaza Strip.

    The Iraq war seems to be fought for Israel, from their
    intel (Mossad) with no advice from our own experts,
    or Intelligence agencies. Now Iran faces the same kind
    of threat. 700,000 civilians killed in Iraq.

    We the good old USA, also have given the green light
    to Israel to occupy more, to attack the Palestinians
    any time they desire to. Then another green light to
    destroy most of Lebanon, destroy all of their infrastructure. How many Palestinians and Lebanese
    people have been murdered will never be known. How-ever we are all aware of the genocide Israel has been conducting with USA support.

    The republican neocons, Zionest live and profess the
    old testiment, and attack the Democrats as if we have
    no faith. They live in the old testiment, and actually
    believe the Jews are Gods chosen people.
    (The children of Israel, once were in the old testiment)

    Most Democrats I know have as much faith, but believe
    and live in the NEW Testiment. Where the son of God
    died to forgive us all our sins, if we accept such. AND
    that all people from all lands are Gods children.

    There are alot of Jewish people, that will tell you that
    what Israel, and their lobbies are doing is completely
    wrong, when it comes to the Jewish faith.

    The question is, will the Democrat Party continue to
    be supportive of foreign countries,and foreign lobbies or will the American people that actually elect you, and
    expect you to preform for America have priority over
    any foreign country or lobby?

    Will you help end this corruption, and organized
    crime influence on the United States Government?

    BUMPER STICKERS
    AT LEAST IN VIETNAM, WE HAD AN EXIT STRATEGY
    > * BLIND FAITH IN BAD LEADERSHIP IS NOT PATRIOTISM
    > * IF YOU'RE NOT OUTRAGED, YOU'RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION
    > * IF YOU SUPPORTED BUSH, A YELLOW RIBBON WON'T MAKE UP FOR IT
    > * POVERTY, HEALTHCARE & HOMELESSNESS ARE MORAL ISSUES
    > * OF COURSE IT HURTS. YOU'RE GETTING SCREWED BY AN ELEPHANT
    > * BUSH LIED AND YOU KNOW IT
    > * RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM: A THREAT ABROAD, A THREAT AT HOME
    > * GOD BLESS EVERYONE (No exceptions)
    > * BUSH SPENT YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY ON HIS WAR
    > * PRO AMERICA, ANTI BUSH
    > * WHO WOULD JESUS BOMB?
    > * IF YOU SUPPORT BUSH'S WAR, WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE? SHUT UP AND SHIP
    > OUT
    > * FEEL SAFER NOW????
    > * I'D RATHER HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO SCREWED HIS INTERN THAN ONE WHO
    > SCREWED HIS COUNTRY
    > * MY VALUES? FREE SPEECH. EQUALITY. LIBERTY. EDUCATION. TOLERANCE.
    > * IS IT 2008 YET?
    > * DISSENT IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF PATRIOTISM -- Thomas
    > Jefferson
    > * DON'T BLAME ME. I VOTED AGAINST BUSH--TWICE!
    > * ANNOY A CONSERVATIVE--THINK FOR YOURSELF
    > * VISUALIZE IMPEACHMENT
    > * HEY BUSH! WHERE'S BIN LADEN?
    > * STOP MAD COWBOY DISEASE
    > * GEORGE W. BUSH: MAKING TERRORISTS FASTER THAN HE CAN KILL THEM
    > * KEEP YOUR THEOCRACY OFF MY DEMOCRACY
    > * DEMOCRATS ARE SEXY. WHOEVER HEARD OF A GOOD PIECE OF ELEPHANT?
    > * ASPIRING CANADIAN
    > * DON'T CONFUSE DYING FOR OIL WITH FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM
    > * STEM CELL RESEARCH IS PRO LIFE
    > * HATE, GREED, IGNORANCE: WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
    > * HONOR OUR TROOPS--DEMAND THE TRUTH
    > * REBUILD IRAQ? WHY NOT SPEND $87-BILLION ON AMERICA?
    > * FACT: BUSH OIL- 1999 - $19 BARREL --2006 - $70 BARREL
    > * THE LAST TIME RELIGION CONTROLLED POLITICS, PEOPLE GOT BURNED AT THE
    > STAKE
    > * SUPPORT OUR TROOPS--IMPEACH BUSH
    > * HOW ON EARTH CAN 59,411,287 PEOPLE BE SO DUMB?

    TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHICAN PROFESSORS AND OXFORD INTELECTUALS, EXPERTS ON THE
    MIDDLE EAST AND THEIR CULTURE:

    Dear Recipients:

    Respectfully, you are considered experts in Middle East,
    culture.
    We question the reasoning of going to WAR with Iraq,
    and now the threat of such with Iran.
    Never before have we pre-empted a war. Now close
    to 700,000 Iraq's have been killed.(civilian Iraqi's) and
    there is no exit plan then, now or for the near future.
    We feel it is time for accountibility.
    The question is. Did any member of the Bush/Cheney
    administration, or the rubber stamp congress,
    consult with any of you experts prior to the attack on
    Iraq? Or did all their advice and directions come
    from AIPAC, Mossad, and Israel as suspected by
    most Americans today.
    We feel it is more then time for you to speak up.
    Two professors have given a great report on AIPAC
    only to be ignored by officials and the Media.
    There certainly hasn't been much denial of the facts.
  • RONALD L. WALDRON
    TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHICAN PROFESSORS AND OXFORD INTELECTUALS, EXPERTS ON THE
    MIDDLE EAST AND THEIR CULTURE:

    Dear Recipients:

    Respectfully, you are considered experts in Middle East,
    culture.
    We question the reasoning of going to WAR with Iraq,
    and now the threat of such with Iran.
    Never before have we pre-empted a war. Now close
    to 700,000 Iraq's have been killed.(civilian Iraqi's) and
    there is no exit plan then, now or for the near future.
    We feel it is time for accountibility.
    The question is. Did any member of the Bush/Cheney
    administration, or the rubber stamp congress,
    consult with any of you experts prior to the attack on
    Iraq? Or did all their advice and directions come
    from AIPAC, Mossad, and Israel as suspected by
    most Americans today.
    We feel it is more then time for you to speak up.
    Two professors have given a great report on AIPAC
    only to be ignored by officials and the Media.
    There certainly hasn't been much denial of the facts.


    GOP: BIGGEST HYPOCRITES IN THE WORLD

    v Israel (Old Testament people of God)

    v Church (New Testament people of God)

    THINK Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew, Jim Baker, Jimmy Swaggart, Russ Limbaugh and now ex-Representative Foley. Of course, there are so many more but these were all darlings of the Republican party and Christian Right.

    CARL ROVE CALLS UPON PASTORS TO POLITIC
    AGAIN FROM THE PULPIT. THE NEXT TWO WEEKS
    THE SERMON WILL BE "CHRISTIANS ARE REPUBLICANS." WHAT ARE THE PROMISES THIS
    TIME TO THE FLOCK. (ARE YOU GOING TO ACCEPT MORE LIES)

    Republicans are morally defective and the biggest hypocrites in the world:

    As far as the Representative Foley mess is concerned, there are two levels of hypocrisy.

    First, there is the individual hypocrisy. This is normal for Republicans and the Christian Right, who love to judge other people’s morality - and are always quite vicious about it - even when they themselves are guilty of exactly what they are condemning.

    It is obvious that Republicans and the Christian Right are deeply flawed in their ability to judge the character of people. They’re sorta like a football coach who has had 19 consecutive dismal seasons but insists he’s the best coach in the game - in other words, pathetic.

    How many times did Russ Limbaugh say: "anyone who does drugs should go to jail. No treatment - straight to jail". He probably said that dozens of times - all while he was abusing drugs himself.

    Russ Limbaugh is an All-American hypocrite. That is an objective fact that has nothing to do with his political ideology. And yet he remains a hero to Republicans and the Christian Right - even today. That is one reason why Republicans are the biggest hypocrites in the world.

    Disgraced ex-Representative Foley is no different than any of the above sordid souls. He was incredibly judgmental about Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinski, condemns gays, is the chairman of the Congressional Cacaus for missing children, condemns adults who have a sexual interest in children as sickos - all the while trying to get into the pants of young boys.

    "The K Street Project… serves as clear illustration of how badly broken congress is, how little desire there is to fix it, and how far the GOP has strayed from the principles of limited government and unfettered free enterprise… the philosophy behind the K street Project takes this behavior to an extreme. It says a lobbyist’s political ideology and donations are more important than his or her ability to marshal facts on behalf of the client."

    Not only is the Republican party, as an institution, bathing in this cesspool of immorality - they’ve adopted the cheerful, can-do attitude that anything can be bought - for the right price of course.

    Patriotism is easy to understand in America; it means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.

    WHILE YOU WERE ASLEEP, AMERICA
    READ AND DIGEST, THEN FIGHT, THE FIGHT


    COME ON : OUR GOVERNMENT IS NO LONGER AMERICAS
    GOVERNMENT. A FOREIGN LOBBY IS, AND HAS BEEN IN CHARGE. WE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL CHANGE
    IT. STAFFERS HAVE TOLD THE TRUTH BACK HOME IN
    EVERY STATE. _PAST AND PRESENT STAFFERS HAVE BEEN
    INTERVIEWED EXSTENSIVELY.
    KEEP READING THE BOOKS…

    Israel Lobby Congressional Junkets – as Usual
    October 20, 2006
    By Terry Walz, CNI Staff

    PoliticalMoneyLine, a watchdog group that follows money in politics, reported on its website that while congressional travel spending has significantly dropped this election year from levels attained in 2003, the American Israel Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC) continues to spend freely on congressional junkets it runs to Israel. The junkets are underwritten by the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), which is the 501©(3) wing of AIPAC.

    In the period between July 2005 and July 2006, it spent $583,131 in travel expenses, sponsoring 62 trips to Israel for lawmakers, their relatives, and congressional staff. This was about one-third the entire amount spent on congressional travel that was reported for the whole year. In January, a CNI alert discussed the threat to these AIPAC trips as part of the new legislation curbing the funding provided by lobbies. The legislation, when it passed, turned toothless by the time it reached its final form.

    According to Kimberly Geiger who reported on these developments for SFgate.com, the average cost is about $8,000 per person – hardly lavish for a trip that includes first-class airfare, hotel, and food expenses for a one-week trip, but probably more than most ordinary citizens can afford. The CNI Foundation, for example, is able to take delegations to the Middle East at the cost of $200 a day, albeit travel is not first-class nor are the accommodations four-star.

    A spokesman for the AIEF, was reported in the SFgate.com saying that the trips were “considered among the most substantive, educational and valuable trips available for members of Congress,” and were not intended to be used as a lobbying outing.

    “While in Israel, members have the opportunity to meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials, journalists, academics, political leaders…hear from speakers representing diverse views across the political spectrum and get a personal, firsthand view of issues.” Increasingly those issues include homeland security and defense, and dissident views are few and far between.

    Rarely do the congressional visitors meet any Palestinians or even see the Wall, even though a visit to President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority is sometimes said to be scheduled. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), who went in August 2005 (costing $8,864), said she agreed to go because her delegation was supposed to meet with President Abbas and other Palestinian officials, but that part of the trip was canceled after she arrived. “The experience only furthered my belief that this (Bush) administration’s Middle Eastern policy has been a failure, and that achieving peace will require the U.S. to engage at the highest diplomatic levels as an honest broker,” she told Geiger.

    High placed visits to Iraq, Egypt, or anywhere in the Middle East are never considered complete without a scheduled stop in Israel. Thus a visit to Iraq by the influential Senate Armed Forces Committee in October, including Sen. John Warner(R-VA), Carl Levin (D-MI), Jess Sessions (R-AL) and Mark Prior (D-AR) also stopped in Israel to meet with the Israeli prime minister, the foreign and defense ministers. Who can doubt the links between Israel and the American prosecution of the war on Iraq?

    Politicians who have been reprimanded for straying from the Israel lobby line are now required to atone for their sins by visiting Israel. After he complained to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about the undue loss of life in Lebanon, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) paid an immediate visit to Israel to make amends. He told the Washington Jewish Week that the trip “reinforced my ongoing commitment to ensuring Israel survives and thrives in a very dangerous neighborhood.” The AIEF sponsored the trip, and an AIPAC staffer accompanied Van Hollen, should he fail to get the message.

    This being an election year, politicians wishing to launch careers or having ambitions for high political office pay a de rigeur visit go to Israel. Former Virginia governor Mark R. Warner, went in June – before he dropped out – because, as his spokesman explained, he hadn’t visited the country in 10 years. He scheduled meetings with Ehud Olmert, as well as with King Abdullah II of Jordan – but not with any Palestinian –and took time to visit the Lebanese border, Golan Heights and to the Wailing Wall, the arrangements being made by AIPAC, which nonetheless didn’t fund the trip. Earlier, Thomas Kean Jr., who is running for senator in New Jersey, made his obeisance to Israel in April.

    Millions of Americans have marched in the streets of all of the major US cities opposing wars in the Mideast. Yet the US Congress, which supposedly exists to represent the will of the people, refused to listen. Instead, they voted the President the authority to take this nation to war. More recently, and despite the exposure of the President’s justifications for war as fiction, Congress again voted for more war by voting against legislation intended to end US involvement in Iraq, introduced by Kucinich, Abercrombie, and Woolsey.
    So, the US Congress isn’t listening to the people. They are listening to someone who WANTS more war.

    Well, Israel certainly wants war! But that is Israel. Why would the US Congress, which supposedly exists to serve the will of the AMERICAN people, be obeying the will of Israel?

    Well, maybe because Israel’s lobbying/spying organization, AIPAC, is PAYING THEM TO!

    You heard me. Members of AIPAC, the organization suspected of spying for Israel, donate vast sums of money to the members of US Congress. And the US Congress has sold our young men and women in uniform to go off and fight and die in wars Israel has created.

    So, here is what you need to do. You need to call all of your congressional representatives and tell them they can either work for AIPAC, or they can work for you, but you will not tolerate a Congress that accepts money from suspected spies of a foreign government and then quite obviously proceeds to serve the will of that government. Tell them that not only will you never again vote for any Congressman that accepts money from Israeli agents but that you intend to work for and support their opposition next election. Tell them better no government at all than a government that serves a foreign power. Get angry. Who is Congress listening to? It is time to make certain Congress listens to you!

    The checks and balances outlined in the American Constitution and Bill of Rights have been ripped to shreds right before our eyes: the country I thought I used to live in has stopped existing, except in name only.

    Please, Secretary Rumsfeld, remind the American people of how wonderfully well things are going in Iraq right now.

    Have the neo-conservatives—many of whom are senior officials in the Defense Department, National Security Council and Office of the Vice President—had dual agendas, while professing to work for the internal security of the United States against its terrorist enemies? Make AIPAC an agent of a foreign government.
    TOTAL 1978-2004 Funds to Congressional Candidates: $39,532,465 ( Israel’s AIPAC bought
    our congress. AIPAC Foreign Agent, International
    organized crime Organization)
    In early March, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) held its forty-seventh annual conference in Washington. AIPAC’s executive director spent twenty-seven minutes reading the “roll call” of dignitaries present at the gala dinner, which included a majority of the Senate and a quarter of the House, along with dozens of Administration officials.
    As this event illustrates, it’s impossible to talk about Congress’s relationship to Israel without highlighting AIPAC, the American Jewish community’s most important voice on the Hill. The Congressional reaction to Hezbollah’s attack on Israel and Israel’s retaliatory bombing of Lebanon provide the latest example of why.

    AIPAC is the leading player in what is sometimes referred to as “The Israel Lobby”—a coalition that includes major Jewish groups, neoconservative intellectuals and Christian Zionists. With its impressive contacts among Hill staffers, influential grassroots supporters and deep connections to wealthy donors, AIPAC is the lobby’s key emissary to Congress. But in many ways, AIPAC has become greater than just another lobby; its work has made unconditional support for Israel an accepted cost of doing business inside the halls of Congress. AIPAC’s interest, Israel’s interest and America’s interest are today perceived by most elected leaders to be one and the same. Christian conservatives increasingly aligned with AIPAC demand unwavering support for Israel from their Republican leaders. (In mid-July, 3,000-plus evangelicals came to town for the first annual “Christian United for Israel” summit.) And Democrats are equally concerned about alienating Jewish voters and Jewish donors—long a cornerstone of their party. Some in Congress are deeply uncomfortable with AIPAC’s militant worldview and heavyhanded tactics, but most dare not say so publicly.

    “The Bush Administration is bad enough in tolerating measures they would not accept anywhere else but Israel,” says Henry Siegman, the former head of the American Jewish Congress and a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. “But the Congress, if anything, is urging the Administration on and criticizing them even at their most accommodating. When it comes to the Israeli-Arab conflict, the terms of debate are so influenced by organized Jewish groups, like AIPAC, that to be critical of Israel is to deny oneself the ability to succeed in American politics.”

    AIPAC continues to enjoy deep bipartisan backing inside Congress even after two top AIPAC officials were indicted a year ago for allegedly accepting and passing on confidential national security secrets from a Defense Department analyst. “The US and Israel share a lot of basic common values. The vast majority of the American people not only support Israel’s actions against Hezbollah but also the fundamental US-Israel relationship, and the bipartisan support in Congress reflects that,” says AIPAC spokesman Josh Block. Rosenberg, himself a former AIPAC staffer, puts it another way: “This is the one issue on which liberals are permitted, even expected, by donors to be mindless hawks.”

    By blindly following AIPAC, Congress reinforces a hard-line consensus: Criticizing Israeli actions, even in the best of faith, is anti-Israel and possibly anti-Semitic; enthusiastically backing whatever military action Israel undertakes is the only acceptable stance.

    It’s hard to imagine any Congress, or subsequent Administration, returning to the role of honest broker. What the region needs now, according to Brzezinski, is an American leader brave enough to say: “Either I make policy on the Middle East or AIPAC makes policy on the Middle East.” One can always dream.

    The American people know AIPAC, Israel, Mossad are running our government, that our government has been purchased a long time ago. That is why neither Party will survive for long. The American people will take their Country back, come hell or high water.

    A STRONG third party is on the way. AMERICA One America: Barack Obama, Colin Powell, John Edwards, and many others will take the leadership.They may do so under the pretense of DEMOCRAT PARTY but will be taking back the Country for Americans. We will as votersdemand an END to AIPAC influence, and registered as a foreign AGENT.

    We need to end the Corruption of, influence of, the

    largest organized crime organization that they try

    to put off as “RUSSIAN MAFIA”.. No JEWISH MAFIA.

    WE CAN NOT PULL OUT OF IRAQ. BUSH PROMISED AIPAC & ISRAEL THAT HE WOULD BUILD PERMANENT MILITARY BASES IN IRAQ. 14 ENDURING BASES SET IN IRAQ.

    From the ashes of abandoned Iraqi army bases, U.S. military engineers are overseeing the building of an enhanced system of American bases designed to last for years.

    Last year, as troops poured over the Kuwait border to invade Iraq, the U.S. military set up at least 120 forward operating bases. Then came hundreds of expeditionary and temporary bases that were to last between six months and a year for tactical operations while providing soldiers with such comforts as e-mail and Internet access.

    Now U.S. engineers are focusing on constructing 14 "enduring bases," long-term encampments for the thousands of American troops expected to serve in Iraq .
    Just 655,000 Iraqis Dead; Bush Promises To Do Better:


    Christian Zionism, a belief that paradise for Christians can only be achieved once Jews are in control of the Holy Land, is gathering strength in the United States and forging alliances that are giving increasingly weird shape to American policy toward the Middle East.

    The international implications of such beliefs are profound, as an increasing number of Americans believe that God sets foreign policy goals.

    It works closely with Jewish Zionist organizations in the US, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, to promote the continued occupation of Palestine by the Israel (land God has given the Jews), it works just as effectively in dehumanizing the original inhabitants of the Holy Land, both Muslims and Christians.

    The irony of the alliance between Christian Zionists and Jewish Zionists is that the one ideology promotes the ultimate destruction of the other. As Smith pointed out, the "Christians United for Israel" is all about Israel, not about the Israelis, and only a little surface digging into Christian Zionism shows how anti-Semitic it really is.

    The ability of CUFI and other far right Christian religious leaders like Jerry Farwell and Pat Robertson to raise money for Israel, including Israeli settlements, is well documented.

    Its practical impact is the killing of people in the Holy Land. The recent statement by the Christian religious leaders of Jerusalem that warned against Christian Zionism's policies of racist intolerance and perpetual war was much needed, but it should have come from America's religious leaders.
  • shabeen
    i need some money , im from maldives and
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