re: AVATAR Cultural Bankruptcy turned in on itself and dropped to a new lower moral level http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A3RFXU3P0XKKF4/ref=cm_cr_dp_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview
==== re: Spy Trade: How Israel's Lobby Undermines America's Economy http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ParanoidTimes/message/34159 http://www.amazon.com/Spy-Trade-Israels-Undermines-Americas/dp/0976443716 http://www.middleeastbooks.com/aetbookclub/nonfiction/smith-spytrade.html The Real Problem is not Israel per se, but lack of Integrity in the American Political system, November 22, 2009 By Herbert L Calhoun "paulocal" (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) This is a carefully documented account of how Israel, since its inception, has used to its advantage (and often the U.S. disadvantage) its American assets to exploit weaknesses in the U.S. political system. And especially how it has used and misused the U.S. election finance laws, how it has exploited easy exposure and access to spying (for both business and security purposes), engaged in illicit trade in and smuggling of arms, and how it has constantly exploited the corrupting influences of lobbying, and other aspects of corruption that seem all but endemic to the American political system. While this author makes a strong case that Israel's actions have undermined both the U.S. economy and its national security, I believe an even stronger case should have been made that Israel historically, has simply been picking the low hanging fruit of the systemic corruption of the American political system. It is this corrupt system that is being exploited, not just by Israel, but also by other nations. It is just that Israel and its number one surrogate, AIPAC, have a sizable head start in its ability to "game the corruption" extant in the U.S. system. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has also been "gaming" it with proficiency almost equal to that of Israel's. >From its inception (1945-48), and then as an existential matter, Israeli assets were skilful deployed so as to establish a pattern of borderline criminal exploitation of the U.S. political system. As the U.S. was winding down from WW-II, trading surplus arms for much needed cash while assisting an evolving Middle Eastern ally, was a "no brainer." Among many other reasons, giving Israel large caches of surplus weapons relieved the U.S. of the burden of having to dispose of them itself. For Israel, cutting deals that were "borderline" illegal" was a minor moral inconvenience, gladly overcome in the interest of survival. And given the circumstances of the times, our authorities too did little more than wink as this unwritten quid pro quo unfolded and continues to play itself out even today. For U.S. national security, many have treated Israeli spying, theft of U.S. secrets, its attack on the USS Liberty, etc. as cases of "no harm no foul." It is argued that after all, Israel is our only reliable ally in the Middle East. But more importantly, since 1948, they also have carefully oiled the greasy palms of our greedy politicians and decision makers through our corrupt lobbying system with tons of money. Even today, to a casual observer - and judging solely by how U.S. Congressmen of all political persuasions and across all ideological divisions, obsequiously genuflect in unison and snap to attention to vote for any issues affecting Israeli interests (sometimes even at the detriment of U.S. own interests) -- it would seem that Israel has a very much "protected status" not enjoyed by any other U.S. domestic political groups or other foreign groups of influence. It is simply incomprehensible that even when the health of our economy and our national security are at stake, our Congressmen (and even some of our Presidents, including the present one) have not been able to find the strength to close the loopholes that leave our political system wide open and our national jugular exposed to the corrupting influence of outsiders. Does anyone other than me still remember the BCCI bank scandal involving the Saudis during the Carter administration? Or, the Bush I and Bill Clinton flirtation with Chinese influence peddling? Or, Reagan's attempt to set up a Contra "arms-for drugs pipeline" that went through Mena, Arkansas? Or his even worse bungled arms for hostage trade with Iran that went through Tel Aviv to Tehran? While the author has made a well-documented case against Israel, that includes bullying our weak kneed and corrupt Congressmen, a more general case should have been made to the effect that even when Israel occasional goes over the line into criminality, it is not Israel per se that is the problem as much as it is an increasing lack of integrity in the American political system and process itself. It is corruption as far as the eye can see, and not Israel per se, that is the root cause of the problem. As other nations have been discovering more recently (the Saudis and the Chinese in particular, but also even indirectly, Osama bin Laden's 911 crew) spreading money around in Washington DC equals a lot more than just political access. Often it means you literally get the keys to the U.S. kingdom: everything is allowed, spying, the selling of business and national security secrets, most favorite nation status, trafficking in guns and drugs, high level access: and most of all, unwarranted influence, which includes the ability to bully our weak kneed Congressmen and politicians into "putting their votes wherever the money is." We have yet to see an Israeli issue that the pre-paid U.S. Congress did not like and could not resist supporting, unless (as the Saudis did in the F-17 purchase) the Israelis are out gunned with dollars by another nation with more money and thus more corrupt influence? For sure, this kind of corrupt influence peddling comes at a very high cost to the American people and to the integrity of our political system and our democratic process. But who cares about that? Thus it is true that a thinly argued case is made well here that Israel's shenanigans have affected both the U.S. economy and U.S. national security. However, this case (which perhaps unavoidably seems to have a anti-Semitic edge to it) pales in comparison to the larger issue left untouched by this author: That it is the overall weaknesses in the integrity of the U.S. political structure itself that allows Israeli exploitation. It is this lack of integrity that leaves us vulnerable to being "gamed" by outsiders, including (but not exclusively) by Israel. As it stands now, our Congress is an open door "co-prosperity sphere" for anyone (or any group or nation) that comes knocking at our politician's doors with bags full of money. Four stars google results: http://tinyurl.com/yekc6nu __._,_.___ ===================== -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ShadowGovernment" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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