Sloppy Dissident Seconds

Paul Findley, another high-profile individual, another new friend of the left of center, anti-war, anti-AIPAC, etc. Findley served 22 years in congress from 1961-1983. Originally a pro-Vietnam hawk he momentarily joined the doves in the early 1970s.

Post congressional career Findley has been quite cranky; a former hardliner now hard lining anything with the words Israel and Jewish lobby. An old used-up republican gasbag turned out and turned to the left of center crowd - sloppy seconds from the Republicans.

Back in 1978 regarding the Turkish arms embargo ... "some media foreign relations experts" were searching for a House member with a good overview of the situation and in particular the Palestinian Arab reaction. They turned to Findley. He has even influenced President Carter ... to be the House floor leader in the administration's effort to lift the arms embargo against Turkey. The struggle was uphill, and Findley told the President so. The President, in turn, promised his support, and the result was the House repealed the Turkish arms embargo by a vote of 208-205. Jimmy and Findley, what a team.

Turkey, 99 percent Muslim, predominantly Sunni, appreciated the repeal so much that in 1980 the right-wing generals had another coup d'état (the 3rd since 1960). The National Security Council informed President Jimmy Carter about the coup with the words "Our boys (in Ankara) did it!"

The usual tens of thousands were imprisoned, executed, tortured. The US has since aided Turkey with billions in economic and military aid and loans. But hey! Turkey is secular, just like Saddam was.

In 1983 Findley lost to Dick Durbin because the Jews did it. Thus began his career of writing and warning that Israel and pro-Israel groups somehow force congress to "give priority to Israel over America."

Today Findley writes : "There is an open secret in Washington. I learned it well during my 22-year tenure as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. All members swear to serve the interests of the United States, but there is an unwritten and overwhelming exception: The interests of one small foreign country almost always trump U.S. interests. That nation of course is Israel. Both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue give priority to Israel over America. Those on Capitol Hill are pre-primed to roar approval for Israeli actions whether right or wrong, instead of at least fussing first and then caving. The White House sometimes puts up a modest and ineffective show of resistance before it follows Israel’s lead."

For 22 years Paul Findley was a happy fat cat serving the same interests. His replacement, Durbin, was listed in April of 2006 as one of American's 10 Best Senators and according to the National Journal conservative/liberal source, Durbin is currently the most liberal Senator. I guess that means Durbin is kissing a lot of Jew butt?

Although Findley jumped on the blame-the-jews bandwagon he does not entertain that 9/11 may have been an inside job. "Nine-eleven would not have occurred if the U.S. government had refused to help Israel humiliate and destroy Palestinian society." Hmmm, so did Findley believe Ariel Sharon's claim that al-Qaeda militants were operating in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon? Sort of a round about way of blaming Palestine for 9/11?

According to Findley : How did Israel gain this influence? "It all started 40 years ago. On June 8, 1967, the U.S. commander-in-chief, President Lyndon B. Johnson, turned his back on the crew of a U.S. navy ship, the USS Liberty, despite the fact that the ship was under deadly assault by Israel’s air and sea forces. The Israelis were engaged in an ugly scheme to lure America into their war against Arab states. They tried to destroy the Liberty and its entire crew, then pin the blame on the Arabs. This, they reasoned, would outrage the American people and immediately lead the United States to join Israel’s battle against Arabs."

(Mr. Findley, Jewish power on US policy began longer than 40 years ago, and as an educated man you should know that.)

But, why wasn't Findley screaming this truth and these open secrets to the American public from 1967 to 1983, before he was ousted from congress? Because he's a self-serving liar? Then and now. Findley wasted no time, publishing They Dare to speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby in 1984. And it only took Findley 22 years to speak out.

However, time would be better spent reading Who Will Tell The People? : The Betrayal Of American Democracy (1992) by William Greider.

I have an old copy of Greider's book around and remember it making quite an impression on me. I need to reread it.

A review of Who Will Tell the People from Kirkus : An angry inquiry into the putative decline of democracy in the US. Unlike many observers, Greider goes beyond the manifest deficiencies of electoral campaigns to focus on the politics of governance--and he concludes that so-called monied interests are ascendant in Washington's power centers. By the author's anecdotal account, the institutionalized intervention of these corporate advocates into administrative as well as legislative affairs costs ordinary citizens dearly--from purposefully lax enforcement of federal law and indulgent treatment of casino capitalism through an inequitable tax system. In Greider's canon, the sorry state of the union does not lack for guilty parties. He blames the ebb of democracy in America on both major political parties (which cater to affluent elites), the press (which no longer mediates between the public and its representatives), big business (as exemplified by the awesome influence wielded by General Electric Co.), and even the populace (whose activism has been limited of late to grass-roots concerns).

---- Corporate advocates, monied interests – they ain't all Jews – so which advocates and interests are paying Findley now?