It turns out that the joint study by Harvard and the University of Chicago concerning the preeminence of the Israel Lobby in formulating "American" foreign policy for the Middle East appears in the current issue (Vol. 28, No. 6) of the London Review of Books, to which I am a subscriber. Unfortunately, it has not arrived in the mailbox yet. But it is on-line right now. You should be able to read it, if you click here: [LRB]. This article in the LRB is an edited version of the original paper (containing many interesting explanatory footnotes) published by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. For a PDF copy, click here: [Harvard].

Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt are to be congratulated for pointing out the ten ton pink pachyderm sitting in the corner of the room, which creature everybody has tried hard to ignore. To say that Mearsheimer and Walt have produced a blockbuster is an understatement. It is more like a bunker-busting nuclear cruise missile, if that is not too indelicate a term. They cover the subject from all angles with matter-of-fact, deadpan precision.

From the sidelines, in my own eccentric, non-professorial way, I have been calling attention to many of the same facts and curious circumstances for years. It is encouraging to know that, safe behind the thick battlements of Academe, there still exists isolated diehards of sanity and clear-sightedness, immune to the brainwash and the bankroll. The question now is, will anything positive come out of this devastating study by these two scholars and their research assistants? Will their "working paper", as it is called, be buried by the mainstream American news media, not to mention Washington itself? If this most important report is ignored, the reason will be that it reflects horribly upon the Republicans, upon the Democrats, upon the entire Washington establishment, upon Israel, and by implication upon the American media itself. In brief, it is a red hot potato which no one, except those on the margins, will want to touch.

A central contention of "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" is that the Lobby's tremendous power is predicated not upon morality, the legitimate interests of the United States, or upon geopolitical ideas proffered by those brilliant thinkers, the "neoconservatives". Rather, it all comes down to cash, to wit, political campaign contributions, backed up by good old-fashioned intimidation. This racket, this scandal, has been in place for decades. It is highlighted in my book, published in July 2005, The Unauthorized World Situation Report: "That a powerful lobby is taking full advantage of the situation is unfortunate, of course, but on the other hand, who can blame it for doing so? Capitol Hill has allowed itself to become a door mat. Raw domestic politics overrules and dictates foreign policy, and Uncle Sam is being taken for a ride." (Page 122.)

We can hardly blame the Israeli Lobby for the laziness, ignorance and corruption of America's elected officials. These hollow men and women are simply a reflection of our own laziness, ignorance and corruption. Thanks to POTUS 41, 42, 43 and to Congress, Ex America has been led further and farther astray.