The Democratic party used to stand up for the dispossessed, the out of luck, the poor. Now the party has become an embarassment because it stands up for thugs and fat cats. Case in point: leading Democratic politicians with few exceptions routinely sell out American interests to the Israeli lobby. My question is, who among the leading Democratis, is the most craven?
Few Democrats will stand up to the thugs of the pro Israeli lobby. They've seen what that lobby will do. They called Carter an anti-semite for his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid; they smeared Walt and Mearsheimer, both distinguished professors, for their book; they were behind Norman Finkelstein being denied tenure at DePaul and even went so far as to threaten to sue the University of California Press if it published one of his books, etc. etc. Go to your local bookstore and more likely than not books by the likes of Walt and Mearsheimer or Jimmy Carter or Noam Chomsky will be "missing." To my knowledge no TV commentator, even a progressive like Olbermann, will go near the topic of the Israeli lobby with a ten foot pole.
Here are some Democrats and their comments on Israel:
- Obama last week had an ad pulled from Amazon.com because the ad occasionally popped up on the same page as an ad for Walt and Mearsheimer's best selling "The Israeli Lobby." That same day, in the face of questions from the media, Obama's campaign released a statement saying that while he had not read the book it was "dead wrong." Talking about being a scaredy cat!
- Edwards to an Israeli group: "your future is our future;" "the bond between the United States and Israel will never be broken."
Why is the future of Israel, a country half way around the world, so tied to the US especially when Israel engages in apartheid, ethnic cleansing, occupation, land theft?
- Clinton to AIPAC: "what is vital is that we stand by our friend and our ally and we stand by our own values. Israel is a beacon of what's right in a neighborhood overshadowed by the wrongs of radicalism, extremism, despotism and terrorism." Is disobeying the world court's order to tear down the wall of apartheid right? Is the theft of Palestinian lands right? Is an illegal occupation right? Who's values is she talking about? And what about the vote for the Lieberman amendment giving Bush the authority to bomb Iran?
- Pelosi said that she feels that she is a Jew in her heart. I don't care if she loves jews or hates them, loves catholics or hates them, I care about what her policy is. Is it just? Her record is one indiscriminant support of Israeli occupation and militarism.