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Cruz’s McCarthyite accusation: Hagel got money from ‘radical and extreme… anti-Israel groups’

Liberal news organizations are focusing today on wild statements by Texas Senator Ted Cruz about Chuck Hagel: that he has Iran’s endorsement and he may have taken money from “radical and extreme” and “anti-Israel” groups. From TPM:

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Tuesday argued that defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel must turn over further financial disclosure information because it’s possible he received money from or gave speeches to “radical or extreme groups.”

“I will point out that right now this committee knows absolutely nothing about the personal compensation Chuck Hagel received in 2008 and 2009 or 2010,” Cruz said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “We do not know, for example, if he received compensation for giving paid speeches at extreme or radical groups. In my view, given the two letters he received, it is a fair inference to assume that he and those handling his nomination assembled that information, assembled his compensation, and the only reasonable inference, I think, is when they assembled it, there was something in there that they did not want to make public. It may be that he spoke at radical or extreme groups or anti-Israel groups and accepted financial compensation. We don’t know.”

And here is the Cruz statement from the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday about Iran: 

We saw with this nomination something truly extraordinary. which is the government of Iran formally and publicly praising the nomination of a Defense Secretary. I would suggest to you that to my knowledge that is unprecedented, to see a foreign nation like Iran publicly celebrating a nomination.

Senator Bill Nelson:

Senator Cruz has gone over the line. He basically has impugned the patriotism of the nominee… about him in essence being cozy with Iran.

Senator Jim Inhofe, supporting Cruz:

I’d say he’s endorsed by them. You can’t get any cozier than that.

Senator Claire McCaskill, upbraiding Inhofe:

You might have an organization that endorsed you that you find abhorrent.

Senator John McCain stands up for Hagel:

No one on this committee at any time should impugn his honor or his integrity.

Cruz gets eviscerated for several minutes on Morning Joe. Nothing about the Israel lobby in the segment, but Joe Scarborough: “I was stunned.” Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, says that the charges of anti-Semitism about Hagel were also over the line.

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But apparently its OK to take money from (American) pro-right-wing-expansionist-lawless-Israel groups. No possibility of having your loyalty to the USA swayed by THAT money, no way. (Hmm, did they say “extremist”? what’s that supposed to mean? Might it mean folks who believe in using force and violence illicitly against civilians to achieve political goals? And isn’t that sort of thing often called ‘terrorism” — though not so often when USA-folks or Israeli-folks do it, whether or not in military uniform [think Mossad, CIA, drones, other assassinations, cross-border kidnappings, etc.].

The author of Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill endorses Inhofe:

“We know Senator Inhofe,” David Bahati, the author of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, told me. “We respect him.” Bahati considers his anti-gay bill (which Inhofe didn’t see fit to condemn until after it started making headlines in the US) a prime example of Inhofe’s teachings: “When he says ‘political philosophy of Jesus,’ I think he’s responding to politics as the management of society according to Jesus.”

“You can’t get any cozier than that.”

The one person (Bill Nelson) mentioning American “patriotism” is indeed “special” coming from a group of people (US government officials) who spend so much of their time openly groveling at the feet of the Zionist lobby (aka unregistered agents of a foreign government). This is so much the case that it was/is almost impossible to tell SNL’s “joking” donkey skit apart from the ACTUAL Hagel nomination hearings!

Really, who do the I-firsters think they are kidding with their ‘concern’ over special foreign interest money?

http://www.wrmea.org/component/content/article/214/3342-pro..

”Over a generation, this magazine has compiled a list of some 128 pro-Israel political action committees. This has not been easy. Most of them have been established by officers of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to get around the limitations AIPAC, as a single PAC, would face in donating to a candidate. If one PAC can give only $10,000 to a candidate, 50 like-minded PACs can give half a million dollars. And usually there are at least 50 pro-Israel PACs active in every election cycle. Interestingly, where most PACs have descriptive names so that donors can discern what they are supporting, the PACs established by AIPAC officers have non-descriptive names, making no reference to the Middle East, Israel, Zionism or Judaism. Among them are Badger PAC of Wisconsin, Beaver PAC of New York, Desert Caucus of Arizona, Garden PAC of New Jersey, Southpac of South Carolina, Gold Coast PAC of Florida, Elections Committee of the County of Orange in Southern California, Americans for Better Citizenship of New York, Citizens Concerned for the National Interest of Illinois, San Franciscans for Good Government, Hollywood Women’s Political Committee, Tennesseans for Better Government and even the wildly misleading Walters Construction Management Political Committee (Colorado). You get the idea.”

http://maplight.org/us-congress/interest/J5100/view/all

Top Senate Recipients Funded

Recipient Amount

Recipient Amount
Mark Kirk $945,679
John McCain $772,327
Benjamin Cardin $446,948
Mitch McConnell $404,700
Carl Levin $366,278
Robert Menéndez $343,394
Richard Durbin $325,112
Kirsten Gillibrand $312,687
Mary Landrieu $294,259
Harry Reid $261,708
Frank Lautenberg $258,333
Barbara Boxer $245,179
Charles Schumer $243,149
Bill Nelson $236,150
Ron Wyden $219,931
Sheldon Whitehouse $214,421
Sherrod Brown $212,175
Robert Casey $203,450
Claire McCaskill $175,396
Debbie Stabenow $169,089
Barbara Mikulski $168,250
Mark Udall $162,923
Roger Wicker $152,561
Bob Corker $151,820
Roy Blunt $144,750
Susan Collins $141,518
Mark Warner $140,651
Mark Pryor $138,250
Jeff Merkley $137,130
John Rockefeller $123,807
John Thune $122,725
Max Baucus $121,050
Amy Klobuchar $119,302
Pat Roberts $116,900
Jeanne Shaheen $114,374
Jon Tester $113,557
John Reed $111,140
Michael Bennet $109,126
Al Franken $109,018
Tom Udall $107,468
John Cornyn $107,000
David Vitter $105,469
Joe Manchin $103,910
Saxby Chambliss $103,650
Tim Johnson $92,465
Kelly Ayotte $90,350
Martin Heinrich $89,160
Maria Cantwell $87,722
Jefferson Sessions $86,550
Lisa Murkowski $85,900
John Barrasso $84,550
Lindsey Graham $84,515
Daniel Coats $81,733
Tammy Baldwin $81,637
Patty Murray $81,550
Thomas Harkin $81,480
Richard Blumenthal $80,640
Orrin Hatch $80,250
Patrick Leahy $74,062
Marco Rubio $73,800
Richard Burr $70,850
Robert Portman $68,815
John Hoeven $67,535
Thomas Carper $64,450
Mike Johanns $63,635
Dianne Feinstein $63,520
James Inhofe $60,000
Charles Grassley $57,600
Jerry Moran $53,400
Thomas Coburn $47,445
Dean Heller $47,100
Michael Crapo $45,750
Mike Lee $45,030
James Risch $41,750
Jeff Flake $39,250
Patrick Toomey $38,500
Mark Begich $36,727
Joe Donnelly $35,400
John Boozman $34,250
Kay Hagan $32,933
Michael Enzi $31,600
John Isakson $31,600
Richard Shelby $27,250
Jim DeMint $24,270
Chris Coons $20,774
Mazie Hirono $20,300
Christopher Murphy $13,550
Ron Johnson $10,400
Bernard Sanders $9,000
Tim Scott $6,000
Rand Paul $5,500

More:

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=Q05

My paleocon pal and editor Daniel McCarthy had a nice line: “This is what happens when Ted Cruz is allowed to stay up and watch The Manchurian Candidate.”