Following a smear campaign by pro-Israel groups, Charles W. Freeman, a former U.S. diplomat, has been forced to withdraw from being nominated to be the head of the National Intelligence Council. Article here.

This is really disturbing, and seems to be yet another event proving Harvard professors’ Mearsheimer and Walt’s thesis of an ideologically driven Israel Lobby playing a disproportionate role in our foreign policy. Even when it would be better for America, better for the Middle East and even better for the Israeli people, our government stupidly aligns itself with a particular right-wing, Israel-is-the-key-to-all-Middle-East-progress ideology. It’s affecetd all levels of our discourse. This is why a number of Palestinians have told me it is actually much easier to criticize Israeli policy in Israel than it is in the United States.

The worst thing about this is that it shows Obama may not be deeply reevaluating our troubling, uncritical and constant support for all things Israeli — or at least all things that Israel’s American neocon, evangelical and right-wing Jewish lobbyists tell us are pro-Israeli.

As Freeman put it:

It is apparent that we Americans cannot any longer conduct a serious public discussion or exercise independent judgment about matters of great importance to our country as well as to our allies and friends.