Comment:
This commentary from the author of "How Should a Patriot Act" is timely reading. On the one hand we have this very obvious push toward war by powerful interests who not only have much influence in the Republican Party, but the Democratic Party as well, despite the fact that most citizens want nothing to do with another war.
He points out that despite the harsh rhetoric used by Ms. Clinton when speaking before AIPAC last Friday evening, which concerned many people here at DU. But the concern among AIPAC loyalists was that it was not harsh enough. Is this the kind of special interest group we want Democratic candidates to serve?
On January 28th, Senator Schumer was on Meet the Press, and talked about the danger of "special interest groups". He gave one example:
When I got to Congress in 1980, for instance, and that was—that was about crime was ripping apart my district. I come to Washington, and I find out that the ACLU is writing crime legislation, has a veto over any piece of crime legislation.
If Sen Schumer can bring up a group like the ACLU, it seems about time we can bring up for discussion groups like AIPAC, and discuss their influence and their work to promote militaristic policies that most people don't want (including most Jewish Americans).
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Here are some excerpts from Greenwald's essay, but by all means read the
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2007/02/enforced-orthodoxies-and-iran.html">whole thing.
On Thursday, the neoconservative New York Sun published a remarkable article reporting on an event to be held that night by AIPAC, at which Hillary Clinton was to deliver the keynote address and John Edwards was to appear at the pre-speech cocktail party. The article made several points which are typically deemed off-limits to opponents of neoconservatism -- ones which almost invariably provoke accusations of anti-semitism when made by others.
First, the Sun noted how important AIPAC's support and financial contributions are to presidential candidates:
"When it comes to important gatherings like this, there is going to be a lot of pressure on the major candidates to not let one of their competitors have the room to themselves," a Democratic strategist
, Daniel Gerstein, said.
Tonight's event is the first time any of the 2008 candidates have competed for attention in the same room since they launched their campaigns in earnest. It is also an important illustration of just how much stock all of the presidential candidates, Democrats and Republicans alike, will put in the pro- Israel community, particularly for campaign dollars. http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2007/02/enforced-orthodoxies-and-iran.htmlI believe we should confront all lobbies for militarism, including aipac.
www.StopAIPAC.org
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