Must reading: Tom Hayden’s “I Was Israel’s Dupe.” Here’s a snippet of Counterpunch editor and Nation columnist Alex Cockburn’s, um, irreverent introductory note:
“Twenty four years ago Ariel Sharon’s artillerymen bombarded Beirut, causing huge terrible civilian casualties, just as Israel’s bombs are doing today. … Standing next to those Israeli gunners and cheering them on were Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda, eager to promote Hayden’s political career in California. It was one of the most disgusting political spectacles of the 1980s and I wrote angrily that ‘in the halls of the National Gallery in Washington DC there are 54 portraits of Benedict Arnold. None look alike. All resemble Tom Hayden.’ Now, amid another Israeli onslaught Hayden makes amends, with a mea culpa for that trip and an important glimpse of how what’s loosely called “the lobby†really works, when it comes to electing its chosen politicians.”Â
Hayden’s piece originally appeared on the truthdig website, under a different title, but hasn’t shown up yet on the Huffington Post, where Hayden is a contributor. It may be that Tom just hasn’t gotten around to posting it there, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the editors suppressed it.
There must be a reason why the Huffpost hasn’t huffed or even puffed much about the Israeli re-invasion of Lebanon — could this be the one war the “antiwar” Huffpuffers find tolerable? Arianna Herself has so far been mum on the subject, which is rather odd. Silence on any subject is most unusual behavior coming from her. At any rate, don’t hold your breath waiting for “I Was Israel’s Dupe” to show up on Arianna’s group blog — which she once described to the Los Angeles Times as consists of “postings that don’t hew to any political line.”
UPDATE: I see here that Hayden has put his piece on the Huffington Post. I stand corrected — although I wonder about the significance of the time lag.