The AIPAC Girl

And Speaking Of Lobbies:
If George W. Bush launches a pre-emptive war on Iran, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will bear full moral responsibility for that war.

For it was Pelosi who quietly agreed to strip out of the $100 billion funding bill for Iraq a provision that would have required President Bush to seek congressional approval before launching any new war on Iran.

According to John Nichols of The Nation, Pelosi's decision to strip the provision barring Bush from attacking Iran without Congress' approval "sends the worst possible signal to the White House."

"The speaker has erred dangerously and dramatically," writes Nichols. Her "disastrous misstep could haunt her and the Congress for years to come."

"Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi received a smattering of boos when she bad-mouthed the war effort during a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and the Democratic leadership, responding to concerns from pro-Israel lawmakers, was forced to strip from a military appropriations measure a provision meant to weaken President Bush's ability to respond to threats from Iran."

This episode, wherein liberal Democrats scuttled a bipartisan effort to require Bush to abide by the Constitution before taking us into a third war in the Middle East, speaks volumes about who has the whip hand on Capitol Hill when it comes to the Middle East.

Pelosi gets booed by the Israeli lobby, then runs back to the Hill and gives Bush a blank check for war on Iran, because that is what the lobby demands. A real candidate for Profiles in Courage.

I used to think Pat Buchanan was 'nutty' until I realized it was nutty neoconservatives denouncing him because he saw the insanity of their nutty agenda. The fact that the Nation and The American Conservative are seeing eye to eye on foreign policy, and both are on the fringes of the establishment means that we have an elite that is not only out of touch with America, but so powerful that democrats are willing to reject the mandate that gave them back control of Congress. Interestingly both the Nation and American Conservative make their money solely from subscription. In other words they are only beholden to their subscribers ,not advertisers.

And they are strikingly similar on some issues (abortion is definitely not one of them :) ) For example here is an article from the American Conservative which easily could be in the nation, but you'd never find in US News or Time:

What Would Jack Bauer Do?
By Michael Brendan Dougherty
Fox’s hit drama normalizes torture, magnifies terror, and leaves conservatives asking why George W. Bush can’t be more like 24’s hero.