Obama Puts Lieberman In His Place!

Earlier today the nominee, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were both at AIPAC and I must say Senator Clinton did the right thing by speaking the truth about Senator Obama and how he will be as a President concerning Israel. His speech was convincing enough by itself. However, there was one turncoat afterwards that did not have very nice words for Obama. That's probably because he is supporting John McCain and goes by the name of Joe Lieberman. Usually I'd expect the Democrat to disregard Zell Miller reincarnate people like Joe but Obama thought otherwise.

From Talking Points Memo:

From Roll Call ...

Furthermore, during a Senate vote Wednesday, Obama dragged Lieberman by the hand to a far corner of the Senate chamber and engaged in what appeared to reporters in the gallery as an intense, three-minute conversation.

While it was unclear what the two were discussing, the body language suggested that Obama was trying to convince Lieberman of something and his stance appeared slightly intimidating.

Using forceful, but not angry, hand gestures, Obama literally backed up Lieberman against the wall, leaned in very close at times, and appeared to be trying to dominate the conversation, as the two talked over each other in a few instances.

Still, Obama and Lieberman seemed to be trying to keep the back-and-forth congenial as they both patted each other on the back during and after the exchange.

Afterwards, Obama smiled and pointed up at reporters peering over the edge of the press gallery for a better glimpse of their interaction.

Obama loyalists were quick to express their frustration with Lieberman's decision and warned that if he continues to take a lead role in attacking Obama it could complicate his professional relationship with the Caucus.

Now that's what I'm talking about. Joe Lieberman or any other Republican should be on notice next time they go after Barack Obama. That goes double for any Senator while Obama still works in the Chamber. Lieberman isn't going to be able to have things both ways anymore, that was made crystal clear today.

Finally, Something To Counter The Vaunted AIPAC

The American Israeli Political Action Committee, known more succinctly as AIPAC has long been the dominant force in Washington concerning American policy towards Israel. It has thousands upon thousands of members and ridiculous sums of money to keep it active in political circles and thereby influential with the President, Congress and its staff. It has done many good things for the small state of Israel that sits among many autocratic governments in the Middle East, but it has also taken a fundamentalist, hard-right veer in its policy goals recently. Many Jewish liberals have been disappointed in them recently, and now there is going to be an alternative.

From The Washington Post:

The lobbying group will be known as J Street and the political action group as JStreetPAC. The executive director for both will be Jeremy Ben-Ami, a former domestic policy adviser in the Clinton White House.

"The definition of what it means to be pro-Israel has come to diverge from pursuing a peace settlement," said Alan Solomont, a prominent Democratic Party fundraiser involved in the initiative. In recent years, he said, "We have heard the voices of neocons, and right-of-center Jewish leaders and Christian evangelicals, and the mainstream views of the American Jewish community have not been heard."

Solomont is a top fundraiser for the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), but the organizers include supporters and fundraisers for both Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). Many prominent figures in the American Jewish left, former lawmakers and U.S. government officials, and several prominent Israeli figures, as well as activists who have raised money for the Democracy Alliance and MoveOn.org, are also involved.

Too often, American Jews are grouped together as having one voice concerning Israel. Like Israel, there are many diverging views on what to do about Gaza, the West Bank and Arab-Israeli relations and specifically how America should be involved with those geopolitical affairs. For too long AIPAC has been the only "voice" in Washington and the Christian Right's influence on it has not been good for the multitude of political views concerning America and Israel. Although J Street PAC is dwarfed by AIPAC now, it is only their first year, so in time, this group can lead the way in letting every viewpoint be heard on the Hill.