Allen L Roland

Joe Lieberman is AIPAC's Senate minder like Emanuel is Obama's AIPAC minder. Lieberman bucks the Democratic party leaders because no one has the courage to buck AIPAC ~ who pushed the Iraq War and greatly influences both houses through their political influence and financial donations:

The Iraq War's main purpose was just the oil ~ it was to protect Israel. The removal of Saddam Hussein was the first step in remaking the Middle East into a region friendly, instead of hostile, to Israel. Their plan "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm," also signaled a radical departure from the peace-oriented policies of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated by a member of an extreme right-wing Israeli group.

AIPAC ( American Israel Public Affairs Committee ) greatly influences the US Government which is the real reason Joe Lieberman carries so much weight in the Senate. Rahm Emanuel is the AIPAC point man in the White House as President Obama's chief of staff.

It was Joe Lieberman who voted for and pushed for the War in Iraq ~ which George W Bush used as a symbol of bipartisan support and it was Joe Lieberman who brazenly called for a US "strike against and inside Iran" on Face the Nation Sunday, June 12, 2007. ( Two minute video ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nmwmGcVAws

Joe Lieberman speaks for AIPAC and, in turn, is protected by AIPAC. This is why Lieberman can cause so much havoc for the Democrats ( Healthcare Reform ) in the Senate because no politician wants to alienate both the power strings of Emanuel and the purse strings of AIPAC.

Chris Cillizza, Washington Post.com, writes on The Fix Why Joe Lieberman (still) rules the political world. " What gives? How has Lieberman exerted so much influence over a party to which he now seems to have only the most tangential connections and loyalty ? There are three answers to that question: basic math, the "hail fellow well met" attitude of the Senate and the "80 percent friend" theory." http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/how-joe-lieberman-rules-the-po.html?wprss=thefix

But Cillizza misses the third and most important reason for Lieberman's power in the Senate ~ AIPAC.

As Robert Parry correctly writes ~ " Is it possible that Lieberman’s obstructionist behavior doesn’t relate to Connecticut’s insurance industry or to his political ego ~ the two most cited explanations ~ but rather to a calculation that he can use his leverage on health care to limit the pressure that President Barack Obama can put on Israel to make concessions on a Mideast peace plan? " http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24195.htm

The answer is unequivocally YES! AIPAC's power and influence cannot be overestimated.

Ann Galloway wrote an insightful and still relevant article is May of 2007 ~ WHAT IS AIPAC AND WHY DOES IT MATTER ?

" AIPAC, with an army of 100,000 members and an annual budget in 2005 reported as $40 million, is at the epicenter of a powerful coalition of right-wing, neoconservative, mostly Republican Americans; and its agendas closely match those of right-wing Israelis drawn from the Likud and Kadima factions.... The same people who led us into the catastrophic quagmire that is Iraq also have close connections to AIPAC and a larger network of powerful lobbyists. Technically unaffiliated with Israel, AIPAC is an American-based force that has ties to the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute, Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), and such notorious figures as Dick Cheney, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, Joseph Lieberman, William Kristol, Elliot Abrams and Frederick Kagan (one of the prime architects of today's Middle East mess). The incestuous relationships among members of these influential and powerful entities preclude an open and rational foreign policy debate ~ as rewards and punishments can be meted out to members of Congress according to whether these officials cater to the agendas of AIPAC and its supporting network. While open debate on Middle East policy is alive and well in Israel, our mainstream press (largely in corporate hands) doesn't discuss this fact in US publications ... AIPAC's influence cannot be overestimated. In fact, Congressmen who speak at AIPAC conferences often deliver messages that differ considerably from those they would produce for consumption by the general public. For example, Joe Lieberman sings one song, a rather harsh one at that, to his constituents in Connecticut, then preens before his AIPAC audience, regaling this group with all manner of rhetoric that would appall mainstream voters. " http://www.myleftnutmeg.com/diary/7030/

So there you have it ~ the little king, Joseph Lieberman, holds sway in the Senate but the light that shines on him is AIPAC and until that light is diminished ~ our Republic is at great risk.

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Allen L Roland http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2009/12/16.html

Freelance Online columnist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews and speaking engagements (allen@allenroland.com) This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

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Allen Roland’s weblog: http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/
Website: www.allenroland.com
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