It seems unlikely that Hagel would take money from a group named “Friends of Hamas” or any group tied to Hamas even if he harbored the deep antisemitic views his other detractors claim he has. But this is surely the ugliest nomination process I have ever seen and seems more a demonstration of the dysfunction of Washington than the failings of Chuck Hagel.

The US and its allies have been attacking one evil empire after another for decades, including the evil empire of Mohammed Mosaddegh, the scary Red Menace in Iran, in 1953. We have nothing to show for any of them. Why do US, European and Israeli leaders think this time things will be different?

http://attackerman.firedoglake.com/2010/01/09/hillary-mann-leverett-pwns-jeffrey-goldberg/

It’s the 30th anniversary of the Tehran embassy seizure. The Iranian dissidents are out in the streets. But they’re not condemning U.S. imperialism. They’re condemning the brutality and avarice of the Iranian regime, and reclaiming their revolution. And they’re risking life and limb to do it. At one point, one crowd of protesters turned its [...]