Jack & Jill Politics

A few weeks ago, I promised I would do a post on the 51st State, better known as AIPAC, or more formally, the American-Israel Political Action Committee.

Many of you know that this PAC has more influence than any other PAC that engages in anything on the Hill, and has been for many years.

Elected officials who have tangled with AIPAC in some way, shape, or form, has usually done so at their own peril.  For example, why would AIPAC have any interest in Congressional Black Caucus members in the South?  Maybe if those members are speaking up and saying that America’s foreign policy in dealing with both Israel and Palestine needs to be done more equitably, that might result in getting you tossed from your Congressional seat that you have held for near decades, in favor of an African-American challenger who holds views that line up with AIPAC.

But that’s chump change compared to what happened to Rep. Jane Harman.

If you thought the 51st State wasn’t capable of blackmailing a member of Congress, you might want to rethink your position.  The reason I haven’t written about this issue before now is that I was waiting to see if it would get picked up by the MSM.

It didn’t.  At least, not to the extent that should have put some heat on AIPAC like the Mormon’s involvement in Proposition 8 out in California did.

Here’s the skinny. From what I have been able to piece together, the following has happened:

1. Rep. Jane Harman, a Conservative Democrat from Southern California, and a ranking member of the intelligence committee, was caught on a wiretap back in 2005, talking to a suspected Israeli agent and former AG Alberto Gonzalez engaging in a cover-up to protect Harman, because Harman was going to turn a favor for the Bush Administration by way of supporting more wiretapping, as well as prevent this shyt from first being published by the NYT.
2. Former AIPAC lobbyists Keith Weissman and Steve Rosen are about to stand trial for passing  classified U.S. information to the government of Israel.  As of yesterday, the government filed an indictment to drop the charges.
3. NSA wiretapping and the Bush Adminstration’s manuever to allow more wiretapping.  The members of Congress who voted in favor of such wiretapping, like Harman, must have never dreamed that in voting to allow the government to spy on its own citizens, that the government would start with the legislators who gave them permission to violate any and all privacy rights.

Far more than being concerned about the government’s ability to eavesdrop on ordinary American citizens like myself (and I’m still concerned to this very day), I am concerned that a Member of Congress is being subjected to what looks like BLACKMAIL from lobbyists, and most notably, powerful lobbyists like AIPAC.  While Congressional Quarterly broke the story, the New York Times decided to act like it is a responsible newspaper and follow up with this:

The official with access to the transcripts said someone seeking help for the employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a prominent pro-Israel lobbying group, was recorded asking Ms. Harman, a longtime supporter of its efforts, to intervene with the Justice Department. She responded, the official recounted, by saying she would have more influence with a White House official she did not identify.

In return, the caller promised her that a wealthy California donor — the media mogul Haim Saban — would threaten to withhold campaign contributions to Representative Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who was expected to become House speaker after the 2006 election, if she did not select Ms. Harman for the intelligence post.

Well, obviously, Ms. Nancy didn’t bow down to the threat.  In fact, she went out of her way to say why Harman didn’t get the Chair position of the Intelligence Committee when she was up for it:

Pelosi passed over Harman for the Intelligence Committee chairmanship, eventually appointing Silvestre Reyes , D-Texas. Although she was frequently said to be a candidate for a high post at the CIA or Homeland Security Department, she failed to win a spot in the Obama administration.

Additionally, it was rumored that Pelosi passed over Harman because Harman had that intelligence that said Iraq wasn’t a threat that required America attacking them, and withheld that information that could have facilitated more of an outrage protest from the American people if the information had been made known, and it still would have been in keeping with National Security concerns.

Not to mention that the former AG, Alberto Gonzales, was engaging in a lil’ cover up to protect Harman – yet another of many duties he was “unaware” was going down on his watch, just like the firing of nine U. S. Attorneys for no other reason than they left their political ideologies at home when they went to work to UPHOLD THE LAW.

Another piece of news is that contrary to reports the Harman investigation was dropped for lack of evidence, the former national security officials and a former high-ranking law enforcement source say that it was Gonzales, President George W. Bush ’s top counsel before becoming attorney general, who intervened to stop the Harman probe because the administration wanted Harman to be able to defend the warrantless wiretapping program the New York Times was about to disclose.

Dayum, if that don’t beat all, people.  So, I have to put the question out there:  is anyone going to address the 51st State, as in defanging their asses, or is blackmailing our elected legislators going to be more business as usual in Washington?

Our current POTUS campaigned on a concept of changing how things are going to be done in DC.  If that’s true, he can start by unleashing Eric Holder to get to the bottom of this shyt.

Oh, well.  I kept my promise.  LOL