‘Hardball’ panel ascribes power of Israel lobby to Christian Zionists seeking Armageddon

Chris Matthews, David Corn, and Gene Robinson go in for the usual evasion about the power of the Israel lobby in American politics, ascribing Sarah Palin’s visit to the Jewish state to her desire to please evangelical Christian voters. There is the usual talk about Armageddon from Matthews and These people don’t like Jews from Corn. The only sense here is Matthews repeatedly asking why Palin is not visiting Christian sites in the occupied territories: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in East Jerusalem (which he puts in Israel) and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Good question. And Matthews knows the answer. This is not about evangelical Christians, this is about raising Jewish money, as honest Republican David Frum instructed us the other day. None of these three Dems speaks to the power of the Israel lobby inside Democratic Party life, which caused a progressive president to go back on his word to the Muslim world and support Israeli settlements, and which ties their tongues.