We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Zionist influence on garish display in the US Senate

By Ron Horn for this blog.

Gen. Hagel was confirmed today by the Senate as Defense Secretary. But this came only after an unprecedented campaign by Zionist lobbies and neo-conservative operatives such as Bill Kristol who opposed the nomination on the grounds that Hagel was not sufficiently pro-Israel. This campaign involved huge, expensive anti-Hagel ads in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, anti-Hagel editorial attacks in mainstream publications, and a Senate filibuster. I cannot recall a more disgraceful display of pro-Israel influence in our government than this campaign. It was so outlandish that even a mainstream TV program, Saturday Night Live, did a parody of his Senate committee confirmation hearing: