C-SPAN March – April 2012

By: Myron Kaplan February 12, 2012
• April 15, 2012 – 7:36 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY

Topic: Former president you admire and why.

Caller: Darrell from St. Charles, Missouri (click here to listen).

Host Scully characteristically fails to challenge the repeat obsessively anti-Israel caller although to any reasonably informed person the rant is filled with obvious falsehoods. Scully’s only response is “Okay. Thanks for the call.” Phoner “Darrell” has used different names at different times, including Bill, Bob and Darrell. Examples: Feb. 5, 2012 (7:19 AM) Bill (click here to listen), Oct. 12, 2011 (7:19 AM) Bill (click here to listen), Sept. 21, 2011 (7:06 AM) Bill (click here to listen), May 19, 2011 (7:15 AM) Darrell (click here to listen), May 2, 2011 (9:18 AM) Bill (click here to listen), March 18, 2011 (7:30 AM) Bob (click here to listen), Feb. 26, 2011 (7:16 AM) Bill (click here to listen), Feb. 1, 2011 (7:21 AM) Darrell (click here to listen).

Caller: “My favorite president was John F. Kennedy for three reasons: He was going to get rid of the CIA, he was going to get rid of the Federal Reserve, and he was going to get back all of Israel’s illegal nuclear weapons. I believe that is why they assassinated him.”

SCULLY: “Okay. Thanks for the call.”

• April 9, 2012 – 7:46 AM

Host: JOHN McCARDLE of Greenwire (covers energy and environmental news policy), formerly of Roll Call (covers Congress).

Topic: America’s role in the world.

Caller: Gilbert from Tulsa, Oklahoma, a repeat obsessive “blame-the-Jews” caller, is indulged yet again by C-SPAN (click here to listen).

This caller’s anti-Israel rant and counter-factual remarks on March 2, 2012 about Iran were characteristically unchallenged by C-SPAN’s president (click here to listen). On Dec. 23, 2011 (9:16 AM), this caller alleged that Israel is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel. On May 11, 2010 (7:27 AM), this caller scored the Washington Journal equivalent of an undefended double, getting in a sort of reverse anti-black slur on his way to an anti-Zionist declaration.
 
Caller: “Three things, if I may. One is our military industrial complex. We have more than 122 military bases all over the world. Why are we still in Japan? Why are we still in Europe? We’re spending billions and billions and billions of dollars on the military industrial complex.”
 
“Secondly, our country is a capitalistic country, so they will go where they can make the most money. So we fall in line where slavery is close to being in existence. For example, in Vietnam making those Nike shoes, the people – little children – are making less than 26 cents an hour and we are falling apart in our infrastructure in this country. I mean, there’s not one expressway, not one bridge that is absolutely 100 percent in good condition.”
 
“And thirdly, and more importantly, why are we bending over backwards for a non-Christian country like Israel? Israel runs and dictates to this country and we fall in lock step behind them. This is why the rest of the world is looking at us. Israel can do whatever it wants to but Iran can’t even get one nuclear weapon.”
 
Host: “That’s Gilbert on the Independent line from Tulsa, Oklahoma, talking about this conversation we’ve had in the first 45 minutes about the future of the U.S. role in world affairs. We want to end that conversation there.”
 
NOTE: Typical of C-SPAN hosts, McCardle tacitly accepts caller’s anti-Israel, antisemitic rant, “And thirdly, and more importantly, why are we bending over backwards for a non-Christian country like Israel? Israel runs and dictates to this country and we fall in lock step behind them. This is why the rest of the world is looking at us. Israel can do whatever it wants to but Iran can’t even get one nuclear weapon.” This caller, dismisses the danger posed by the anti-Western, Islamic-fundamentalist theocracy ruling Iran, a danger spotlighted by countless experts and politicians across the spectrum. He singles out Israel as a “non-Christian country” as if its status as the world’s only Jewish state, albeit with the Middle East’s only free, growing and prosperous Christian minority, disqualified it from relations with the United States. He thereby implies that the United States need not deal with countries with Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and other non-Christian religious majorities. And he repeats the antisemite’s conspiracy view that “Israel runs this country.” Yet he again is indulged by C-SPAN.
 
• April 5, 2012 – 8:06 AM

Host: PETER SLEN

Guest: FRANK DONATELLI, Chairman of GOPAC (a Republican state and local political training organization).

Topic: Unregistered eligible voters and elections.

Caller: Pat from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (click here to listen). In typical C-SPAN style, a caller’s baseless, anti-Israel charge is accepted without scrutiny. This is the second call this week from this person, the previous one, containing similar unfounded accusations, took place on April 1. C-SPAN routinely fails to enforce its “one-call-per-30-days” rule.

Caller: “Everybody’ s vote does not count. When Tim Murphy and the Republican Party gerrymandered districts, which he has been elected in over and over again, everybody’s vote did not matter. When the American people are witnessing the massive manipulation of the election process when our election machines are being manufactured in the state of Israel which is manipulating our country on virtually every level, I think it is understandable that the skepticism of the American people is as high as it is. I have never in my life witnessed a greater distrust in this country of government and of our leaders as it is now. Ronald Reagan would turn over in his grave. I was a Republican for 20 years.”

DONATELLI: “It’s good to talk to someone from Pittsburgh, that’s my old home town; go Steelers this Fall. Again, I think what we are seeing from the gentleman’s comment is an alienation and a cynicism about the way politics work and the way things work. Again, at the risk of repeating myself, I would say, what is the alternative? The alternative is to sit back and complain and not participate in the way. We are suggesting is: get involved. If not with a political party, there are plenty of issue groups out there that are fighting for open and honest government or for a particular issue or for state and local issues. There are multiple ways to get involved in politics and hopefully make a difference positively.”

• April 4, 2012 – 7:08 AM

Host: GRETA BRAWNER

Topic: Mitt Romney wins Wisconsin, Maryland, District of Columbia presidential primaries.

Caller: Terrence from Virginia Beach, Virginia (click here to listen).

The caller, using a special line designated for Newt Gingrich supporters, castigates the United States, Gingrich and Gingrich supporter “somebody from Israel” after claiming to be a Gingrich supporter (until recently) which is obviously unlikely since he, the caller, denounces capitalism and supports the Occupy Wall Street protesters. Terrence called Washington Journal at least once previously: “Terry” from Virginia Beach (click here to listen) phoned on Dec. 16, 2011 (7:25 AM) castigating two nations (only) – United States and Israel. On that occasion, typical of C-SPAN Washington Journal moderators, host Susan Swain (top executive of C-SPAN), like host Brawner on this day, indulged the caller’s vehement anti-capitalist, anti-Israel fringe attack, while saying virtually nothing and nothing at all of substance.

BRAWNER: “Terrence, supporting Newt Gingrich in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Go ahead.”

Caller: “Yeah, I was a supporter of Newt Gingrich until he made all those statements about Obama being a food stamp president. And then after that, I look at it as a whole process and we’ve been on this campaign for two years now and it seems like no issues have been really discussed and after – well, Romney’s going to win and it’ll be Obama-Romney but how about discussing things like capitalism? You know, is capitalism the right thing for this entire system because you have people losing their homes, their jobs, jobs going over seas, student loans (indistinct) trillion dollars? And the American people are really not really represented by the two-party system.”

BRAWNER: “Well, Terrence, hang on the line. Let me show you and our viewers what the former Speaker [Gingrich] had to say last night after the primary results came in. He said ‘We cannot win on an etch-a-sketch platform that shows no principle or backbone …’ What do you think of that? Should your candidate get out?”

Caller: “Well, my response is – what backbone does Newt Gingrich have? Gingrich has been supported by this billionaire, somebody from Israel who got rich from gambling and gambling destroys people’s lives.”

BRAWNER: “Okay, so Terrence, let me ask this. You were a Newt Gingrich supporter – so now who are you supporting?”

Caller: “Well, I’m supporting – probably an independent candidate, somebody who has a backbone to run – Cynthia McKinney [former Congresswoman from Georgia known for her anti-Israel positions] or anybody because – well, what I really support is – first of all – to get money out of politics and we should support the Occupy Wall Street movement.”

BRAWNER: “Alright, let’s move on.”

• April 1, 2012 – 9:42 AM

Host: PAUL ORGEL

Guest: MARC LYNCH, Director for Middle East Studies at George Washington University, member of Center for a New American Security.

Topic: International response to Syrian uprising.

Caller: Patrick from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (click here to listen). Host Orgel tolerates lengthy anti-Israel propaganda tirade long beyond the point at which the caller’s intent and falsifications are manifestly obvious.

Caller: “My friend is a consul general with the major Mid Eastern nation that was involved in the whole crisis point across the Arab spring. When she came back to the United States, she went to the U.S. State Department and the Mid East section where the various consuls are. I have to tell you that she was absolutely overwhelmed by the fact that as she went from office to office to office to office to office, almost virtually all of the offices were occupied by Israelis. The outrage that the American people should have that a billion people are being represented by an occupying force in our country. This is now an occupation of America. The American people are beginning to wake up to the massive manipulation, the co-opting of our entire military industrial complex to accommodate a country the size of New Jersey. To illustrate this, all you have to see is the mixed signals that the United States government is providing relating to General Dempsey conveying that a military campaign against Iran would be disastrous, which it will be. Then the Secretary of State turning around and saying time is running out for the Iranian government, basically because Israel, as the puppet masters of America, are now choreographing us into yet another manipulated war of lies. The American people need to wake up and stop this.”

Guest: “There is no denying that the relations between the United Israel are very close. Israel and the United States have deep military and intelligence relationships and there is a strong social bond between American society and Israel. Israel is a friend of the United States. It is sometimes a turbulent relationship. All you have to do is look at the extremely tense relationship between President Obama and the current Israeli government to see that there are disagreements, conflicts of interest, and problems there. But I think that, in my experience at least, in the State Department and Defense Department, these are hard working professionals who believe in the American national interest and work extremely hard and I do not think it is right to describe the State Department or Defense Department as Israeli-occupied territories. I do not think it is true. If you look at the depth of expertise, compassion, and the hard-working civilians in a place like the State Department, I do not think you can sustain that.”

“So, it is always important to consider all aspects. It is very important to look in your own example of the fact that the Pentagon and the State Department are pushing back and articulating America’s interests and trying to have a frank public discussion about what an attack on Iran would look like or an intervention in Syria. That is a sign, in fact, that you have real professionals, dedicated citizens, who are trying to protect American national interests. I think there is no conflict between that and also recognizing that Israel is a valued friend of the United States.”
 
NOTE: On this April Fools Day, host Orgel tolerates an off-topic, lengthy anti-Israel propaganda tirade that begins with an unsubstantiated and hearsay claim of a diplomat finding a key section of the U.S. State Department “occupied by Israelis,” proceeds to the wild assertion there are “a billion” Americans (there are a little more than 300 million) and ends with the canards – popular with both neo-Nazis and the extreme left – that “Israel is the puppet-master of America” and leading this country into “another war of lies.” The guest’s dispassionate refutation of the caller’s smears could not relieve, ex post facto, Washington Journal host Orgel of his professional responsibility to have recognized and quickly terminated the anti-Israel, anti-Jewish phone call in the first place.

• March 16, 2012 – 7:20 AM

Host: SUSAN SWAIN, C-SPAN President and Co-CEO.

Topic: [Hamad] Karzai [President of Afghanistan] demands U.S. pullback.

Caller: Joseph from Greensborough, North Carolina (click here to listen). C-SPAN President Swain characteristically indulges anti-Israel caller who obsessively blames the Jewish state for all of America’s problems in the eastern half of the world.

Caller: “Despite this specificity of the issue this morning I would like to pose a general question to listeners. I sure would like to hear some responses. We’re talking about specifically Afghanistan. Ever since the state of Israel has been created, we’ve been stuck in one or another quagmire in the Middle East and in the Arab nations et cetera. I wonder what other people think about the possibility of us simply focusing on our own hemisphere. I know we’re so deep and so commonly used to nitpicking about this war or that war or anything and perhaps I’m oversimplifying the issue but it seems to me that our affiliation and our total and unconditional support of Israel is the total impetus of any problems with that hemisphere.”

SWAIN: “Joseph, a question for you. What about the fact that a good portion of our oil, our energy comes from that region of the world? So, how do we focus on our own hemisphere if in fact it provides a strategic commodity?”

Caller: “Of course this would be disastrous in a way and I do appreciate that fact. But there are so many ways around that with the Canada pipeline and with Mexico and with Alaska. I’m not pro-oil in any respect, but I also acknowledge that we are in need of oil and it would take a very long time for us to stop using it. Nonetheless, we are always, at the end of the day – people do not like us. And really, why don’t they like us? Susan, they don’t like us because of our unconditional support of Israel.”

SWAIN: “All right Joseph, we’re going to stop you at that point.”
 
NOTE: Yet another example of the familiar scenario of a C-SPAN host indulging an anti-Israel caller. C-SPAN President Swain accepts the off-topic caller’s unfounded premise – which he obsessively returns to after being questioned – that America’s support of Israel is the sole cause of every American difficulty in the greater Middle East. Obvious consequential examples to the contrary, including Russia and China’s obstruction of U.S. desires to see Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad ousted, the often violent division between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims and Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the first Persian Gulf War, go unmentioned by Swain. So too the caller’s repeated assertion that U.S. support of Israel is “unconditional” when, from the 1956 Suez War through Israel’s destruction of Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981 to Israeli insistence on Palestinian reciprocity in the “peace process,” Washington and Jerusalem have experienced many sharp divisions. Instead, C-SPAN’s president treats the obviously Israel-obsessive caller as a legitimate interlocutor and offers him a chance to continue expounding, this time on the issue of oil and energy.

• March 16, 2012 – 8:13 AM

Host: SUSAN SWAIN, C-SPAN President and Co-CEO.

Guest: DAVID IGNATIUS, Washington Post foreign affairs columnist.

Topic: Middle East tensions.

Caller: Steve from Harrisville, Indiana (click here to listen). C-SPAN, for the second time on this day, characteristically indulges an anti-Israel caller who, abundant examples to the contrary notwithstanding,  blames Israel for all of America’s problems abroad.

Caller: “Number one, we should have never been in Afghanistan, we should have never been in Iraq, and we need to tell Israel to leave Iran alone because they [Israel] are the ones that are causing all of the problems for us.”

Guest: “Well, first, I guess I’ve come to agree that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake. At the time, I thought it was justified, as a lot of people did, but seeing the costs and the benefits, it is hard to come to that conclusion. On Afghanistan, if you go back to 2001, most Americans had the feeling that we had to take the fight to the people that did this terrible thing to our cities. It is hard to think that we would not have gone into Afghanistan. The question is how hard, how long, what kind of forces – as I said earlier, I have learned that a (indistinct) use of military forces and a smaller footprint makes sense. In terms of Israel and Iran, as I said before, it is clear that President Obama and most U.S. officials and most U.S. military commanders think it would be a mistake for Israel to attack Iran and trigger what could be another Middle East war that is not as useful as it should be in dealing with the Iranian nuclear problem and has enormous unintended consequences that could catch us up in a big, complicated war all over again.”
 
NOTE: The guest’s response fails to come to grips with the caller’s sweeping claim that the Jewish state is to blame for all of America’s problems abroad or its obvious and direct antisemitic echo, “It’s all the Jew’s fault. Host Swain either doesn’t recognize the irrational hostility underlying the charge or chooses to remain silent about it. Ignatius’ columns, despite their often well-sourced reporting, have not been as reliable when it comes to forecasting. See, for example, here, here, here and here.

• March 9, 2012 – 8:25 AM

Host: PEDRO ECHEVARRIA.

Guest: ELLEN TAUSCHER, former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security (2009-2012), currently a member of board of trustees for the Atlantic Council.

Topic: Middle East tensions.

Caller: Tony from Norfolk, Virginia (click here to listen).

This caller, whose real name is James Morris (using a fake southern accent on this day), accuses guest of being disingenuous but Morris, an obsessive anti-Israel deceiver, uses aliases in his frequent calls that often violate C-SPAN’s ostensible “one-call-per-30-days” rule. Most recently, Morris phoned on March 5 as Tim from Los Angeles, March 4 as John from Dallas, and Jan. 20 as Don from Los Angeles.

CAMERA’s C-SPAN Watch has documented Morris’ approximately 70 similarly scripted calls to Washington Journal since December 2008. Very few, if any, of these Morris diatribes have been challenged. Morris epitomizes the numerous callers to the Journal’s 3-hour daily broadcasts who spew invective and falsehoods against Jews and Israel. C-SPAN, watched by more than 28 million viewers (C-SPAN’s estimate) weekly, allows no other ethnic or religious group or nation to be repeatedly vilified on these broadcasts.

Caller: “I am with the military here in Norfolk. I’d just like to say that you are so disingenuous there. This is a pro-Israel lobby pushing action against Iran. You can go to [Morris names three Web sites dedicated to railing against American foreign policy, Jews and the Jewish state]. Thank you.”

Guest: “I may be a lot of things but I’m not disingenuous.”

• March 8, 2012 – 7:12 AM

Host: PETER SLEN

Topic: U.S. military intervention in Syria?

Caller: Jennette from New York, New York (click here to listen).
 
Off-topic caller’s defamation of Israel is indulged by C-SPAN. This C-SPAN failure is not surprising since the network has a long, indefensible record of permitting without challenge on a regular basis, callers who defame Jews and Israel, something rarely permitted by C-SPAN in the case of any other religious or ethnic group.

Caller: “I don’t think Israel should decide what wars we should fight in the Middle East. Israel has decided that we went into Iraq and they decided that we went into Libya. They have assassinated scientists in Iran to involve us in the war. They are the poison in the Middle East.”

Host: “Jennette, thank you for calling in.”

• March 7, 2012 – 9:04 AM

Host: GRETA BRAWNER.

Guest: BEN CARDIN, Senator (D-Maryland), member of Foreign Relations Committee.

Topic: U.S. foreign policy.

Caller: Rose from New Jersey (click here to listen) defames Israel. Guest responds.

Caller: “I have two questions. The first one is, how come routinely we give our most advanced weaponry to Israel when they ship arms to China? They have the third largest arms dealership in the world. I think all of this is to give Israel hegemony in the Middle East and it’s a double standard because now it is called a Jewish state of Israel, they do not want to include any Palestinians in the population. Thank you.”

Guest: “First of all, Israel is our closest ally in the Middle East. They are a close friend. They supply us with intelligence information. We do a lot of joint military operations. They are a reliable partner; they share our values. It is not right to say that they are shipping arms to any of our concern countries. That’s just not correct. It is correct that Israel is a Jewish state. There are many Christian states. There are many Muslim states. What makes Israel unique is that they protect their rights of all their citizens, whether they are Jewish or non-Jewish. They all have equal opportunities in life within the state of Israel. So, they share our values like in the United States. We give full rights to all of our citizens regardless of their ethnic background or religious background. That is how it should be. That is why I think there is that special relationship that is so strong between the Unites States and Israel.”

Host: “What about the first part of the comment, that we give Israel some of our best weaponry?”

Guest: “We do. We share technology with Israel. We share technology with a lot of our NATO partners and our key allies. Israel, although not a NATO partner, is a key ally of the United States and we do share information. Quite frankly, they share information with us. Some of Israel’s technology has helped advance America’s security. They have been on the cutting edge of many of the technology advancements that has helped our defense.”

• March 7, 2012 – 9:10 AM

Host: GRETA BRAWNER.

Guest: BEN CARDIN, Senator (D-Maryland), member of Foreign Relations Committee.

Topic: U.S. foreign policy.

Tweet from @Super_Tone (click here to listen) consists of falsehood defaming Israel. Guest responds.
 
Tweet (displayed on screen): “Now, Senator, that is not true. Israel does not treat all of its citizens the same. What’s going on in Gaza is oppression.”

Guest: “Well, the residents of Gaza are not Israeli citizens. I think all of us want to see a peace between the Palestinians and Israelis with two states living side by side in peace. Those that live within Israel within the boundaries of the state have full citizenship and full participation regardless of their religion, regardless of their race or their ethnic background. The people who live in Gaza, the people that live in the West Bank, we are very hopeful that we can get the peace negotiations started and we can have two states living side by side in peace.”

• March 7, 2012 – 9:11 AM

Host: GRETA BRAWNER.

Guest: BEN CARDIN, Senator (D-Maryland), member of Foreign Relations Committee.

Topic: U.S. foreign policy.

Caller: George from San Diego, California (click here to listen).

Caller: “My name is George. I am an American citizen originally from Syria of Christian background. I do feel that U.S. involvement in Syria would eventually lead to the onslaught of hundreds of thousands of Christians in Syria. We have to be very, very careful about Assad and be careful and not just support Israel. Syria going down will help Israel and we have no problem with that. We want to have peace with Israel but at the same time the U.S. needs to be very careful about the Syrian population of Christian background. I was willing to help the U.S. and its war effort in Iraq as a linguist. I am one of the top linguists here in the United States. I wish the United States would listen to the Christian community in Syria, the only community that has gotten along with Muslims all over the world – all over the Muslim world.”
 
Guest: “The Syrian population is interesting in regard to the minority population. The first point that the caller made is we have to be careful. I agree with that. T he ultimate action in Syria needs to be by the Syrians, and we think it is happening. Again, using Libya as an example, the success of that mission: The Libyans wanted a new government. Gaddafi had lost credibility. The same thing is true in Syria. Assad has lost credibility. People in Syria, whether they be of different Muslim backgrounds, whether they be Christian, they all have agreed that Assad needs to go. What we want to do is assist that happening without causing the slaughter of people in Syria by the Assad regime and to do it in the most orderly way possible. Sometimes we have stronger opportunities than others. A lot will depend on how resistant Assad will be when the inevitable happens, when his government falls.”
 
• March 5, 2012 – 7:03 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.

Caller: Ike from Tampa, Florida. First of this broadcast‘s 11 callers alleging that Israel is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “I think it seems like everybody is beating the drums of war here. A lot of people make a lot of money off war. There are a lot of untold stories out there.. In Afghanistan, there are 500,000 refugees rolling around. It’s winter time over there. This war stuff has just got to end. It’s perpetual. It’ s nothing but profit driven. This oil stuff, just like in Afghanistan. We just propped up another dictator. It is insane, this war stuff. I do not think Iran is that big of a threat. I think we can put a stop to it any time. I think we need to cut off all funding to Israel. Let them fight their own wars. It’s just getting ridiculous.”

• March 5, 2012 – 7:04 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.
 
Caller: David from Victorville, California. First of this broadcast’s only five callers charging that Iran is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “I think we’ve got to stand up for Israel. It is in the Bible. It’s fundamental to who we are as a nation. Obama has not been standing up for Israel like he should. Israel is on the verge of another Holocaust. The Iranian dictator, Ahmadinejad, might deny that, but that’s what’s about to happen.”

Host: “David what did you think as a Republican, of the President’ s message yesterday – did you like his tone?”

Caller: “I am not sure I saw that message.”

Host: “Do you want to hear more about it?”

Caller: “Sure.”

Host: “Okay, we will play more clips about that and get some response From the Republican presidential contenders.”

• March 5, 2012 – 7:05 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.
 
Caller: Jim from South Bend, Indiana. Second of this broadcast’s 11 callers alleging that Israel is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “Good morning Libby, and C-SPAN. I saw the President’ s speech. I think (indistinct) AIPAC. I hope CSPAN will let me get my comments in. While I think there is some room for concern for Iran and their nuclear program – I think it is unfortunate, again, that we have to police the world and pander to the Zionists and AIPAC.. I think the saber rattling really does not do us any good. Of course, the President has to go there to AIPAC and do that. It is unfortunate that we are still policing the world like that, dictating who does what when. I do not think Iran would be suicidal, wanting to lob one weapon over into Israel like that. Everybody knows what the results would be.”

• March 5, 2012 – 7:08 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.
 
Caller: Dave from Coldwater, Michigan. Second of this broadcast’s only five callers charging that Iran is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “I do not think Obama makes a strong enough statement. When Nixon was President, as he told Barbara Walters in an interview, “Barbara, I would just simply level Tehran.” If Obama would launch two or three hundred nuclear weapons into Iran and just smoke the country off the map, I think that would solve all the Middle East problems. All these things going on in Afghanistan are really driven by Iran.”

Host: “Dave, do you think that the President should have the rhetoric that he’s going to go that far. It sounds like you think he should actually do that.”

Caller: “Yes, I do. I don’t think he should just put out bullcrap. Usually whatever I hear from Obama ends up being a lie. Basically. I think he should really step down from the office of the Presidency and let somebody that can run the country take over. I mean look at the mess he’s gotten us into. He’s failed miserably – Solyndra, bailouts. I think he secretly goes over there and

makes deals to (indistinct) these Arab countries. He’s kind of like building up the Arab world. They increase the price of gas so they can make a lot more money …”

• March 5, 2012 – 7:10 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.

Caller: James from Newark, New Jersey. Third of this broadcast’s 11 callers alleging that Israel is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “There is kind of a simple solution on how to solve the problem between Iran and Israel. It is something I’d been discussing with President Bush when he was President. He did not listen to me in 2007. Try to negotiate peace between Israel and the Palestinians (indistinct) and stop the settlements that the Israelis are building. Now, according to the Bible, it is their country, so they could build settlements if they want to, according to the Bible. And yes, I’m a Christian, but still, at the same time, try to stop building the settlements and leave the Palestinians alone, and show Iran you are stopping building the settlements. And in this way, Iran would back off.”

• March 5, 2012 – 7:13 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.
 
Caller: Jim from Buffalo, New York. Fourth of this broadcast’s 11 callers alleging that Israel is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “I think the President is a bit over his head.. I Really think the United States needs to stay out of it. We cannot go into every trouble spot in the world and keep sending troops. We need to let Israel stand on it s own and fight its own battles. For all the callers that really support the U.S. going to war in Iran, I’m sure if they took a leave of absence from their job, Israel would be happy to sign them up in their army.”

Host: “Let’ s take a listen at what Ron Paul had to say Yesterday …”

• March 5, 2012 – 7:20 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.

Caller: Doug from Staten Island, New York. Fifth of this broadcast’s 11 callers alleging that Israel is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “This has been a good segway into what I was going to talk about. Mr. Ahmadinejad has no control over the military over there. His rhetoric has been counterproductive as to what the Ayatollah, as radical as he is, in which he states that his religion does not allow for the nuclear weapons. That’s number one. Number two, 16 intelligence agencies have all come to the conclusion in the United States that Iran has not even considered going forward with nuclear weapons, never mind actually developing it. Number three, anybody knows that even if they were to get one, even if they were to allow it to be transported to someone else, nuclear technology has a signature, plutonium and uranium. So, it would be a very short time we knew exactly where it came from and we would turn Iran into a parking lot. You’d have to think that they were that would be completely irrational and they would want to destroy their nation. Number three, Mr. Netanyahu only controls 28 seats out of 120 member parliament.

He is under a very big amount of stress in his own country economically. The people there are not looking forward to war. Hundreds of thousands camped out in Haifa and Jerusalem and various other places with their weapons shown here on the international networks. This was done for weeks upon weeks, because of the economic conditions over there. He’s under a lot of strain. On [Pacifica Network’s] Democracy Now, on July 19, 2010, I listened to a tape of Mr. Netanyahu when he out of office. He was speaking to settlers. He did not know he was being taped. He was speaking to settlers about how he will undermine the Oslo peace talk policies going forward on how he’ll be able to take land from the Palestinians and use the guise of martial security concerns to push it. This is what he said about America. ‘I know what America is. America is a thing you can move very easily in the right direction. They will not get in the way.’ What happens is that the American media takes all these basically policies in e-mails from the Israeli consulates and embassies in this country. We have 17 of them around this country. And they take it as basically as gospel truth and it’s promoted in the newspapers…”

Host: “Doug, thanks. You made a lot of points.”

• March 5, 2012 – 7:28 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.

Caller: John from New Canada, Maine. Third of this broadcast’s only five callers charging that Iran is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “It is like history repeating itself. The guy from Staten Island stole my thunder. It is like the Iranian leaders are trying to relive the Persian empire again. He was right about the appeasement process. History, again – Chamberlain, all over again. The Israelis – I would not hold out waiting for somebody to make promises. President Obama is a little naive. I do not know what he is thinking. He’ s a little too young for me to be President, anyway. But anyway, the guy from Staten Island stole my thunder. Thank you.”

Host: “John, how old do you think someone should be to be President?”

Caller : “60 or more.”

Host: “That’s the cut off?”

Caller (laughing): “Well I’m 63.”

• March 5, 2012 – 7:31 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.
 
Caller: Ken Zimmerman from Kensington, Maryland. Fourth of this broadcast’s only five callers charging that Iran is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “This is Ken Zimmerman, I am also the President for Foundation for Democracy in Iran. I work with the pro-freedom movement in Iran. I can tell you this President has missed a great opportunity in June of 2009 when you had 3 million people on the streets of Tehran and other cities in Iran begging the United States to do something to support the pro-freedom movement. I believe that President Obama and people like [Congressman] Chris Van Hollen and [Congresswoman] Nancy Pelosi are taking us directly through their appeasement policies to war we do not need and we can actually avoid..He [President Obama] is not taking all the measures that he says he is, that he could use all of our powers to prevent a war. The most important thing that we should be doing is to be helping the pro-freedom movement inside Iran…”

Host (interrupting): “Ken, how should that be done, in your opinion?”

Caller: “For one thing, we could get the Iranian agents out of the Voice of America. The Voice of America has become the “Voice of Tehran”. It’s an absolute disgrace. Congress is doing some oversight of this. I’m a Republican candidate for Congress in the 8th district here in Maryland. If elected, I will conduct fierce oversight of the Voice of America. Secondly, we can actually help the pro- freedom movement on the ground with money, with secure communications, with advisers, not people on the ground inside Iran. We can give them advice and information and help them to connect with each other. In 1999, you had uprisings in 18 different cities, but they didn’t know what was going on in other cities.”

Host: “Let’ s look at a full page advertisement in the “Washington Post” today. This was paid for by the National Iranian council. It says – “Not every challenge has a military solution.”

• March 5, 2012 – 7:34 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.
 
Caller: Jerry from Mckeesport, Tennessee. Sixth of this broadcast’s 11 callers alleging that Israel is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “Thank god for C-SPAN and the Internet. On the Internet, if your viewers and your listeners would do this – we all know about the Hebrews. If they just do a Bing or a Yahoo search for ‘Hebrews and Zionism’, I think that – that would pretty much settle the whole thing because Israel is not going to attack nobody unless we provide the bullets and the bombs and cannon fodder.”

• March 5, 2012 – 7:34 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.

Caller: Rick from Singer Island, Florida. Seventh of this broadcast’s 11 callers alleging that Israel is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “I am really blessed with the idea that we can watch C-SPAN and express our ideas as the common man meeting the populace. I called this morning because, you know, Israel and Iran getting together and going – if Israel attacks Iran, it will infuriate the Iranian people to draw nearer and closer to the idea that we really do not want to go there. It really just seems like we got to use the diplomatic sources. We have been through so many wars in the last 20 years. The diplomatic source needs to be exploited to its most – well, until it is exhausted. If Israel goes in and does a emptive strike and does not do it all – They’re moving all their underground facilities. We’re talking about – I hate to be doom and gloom kind of guy, but I mean we are talking about the idea of possibly Armageddon. I do really do not want to go there . I would like to get past the year 2012. I hope mankind figures this all out. We need to know what to do. I am open for suggestions. I wish Hillary Clinton would just help us all out.”

• March 5, 2012 – 7:36 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.

Caller: David from Biloxi, Mississippi. Eighth of this broadcast’s 11 callers alleging that Israel is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “I was curious how – when India become a nuclear power, it did not seem like there was much hoopla over that. India becoming a superpower. I did not know. It seems like this Iranian thing – it seems like everybody ought be a nuclear power. It’s kind of a deterrence for everybody pushing the button. Israel’s got plenty of nuclear pop. Everybody just ought to have them get this thing over with. But I’ve got a question for C-SPAN. How come C-SPAN don’ t get some CEOs from (indistinct). They’re going to biochip the whole world and I’d like to know why they don’t have them on your program and expose it to the American people.”

Host: “What do you mean by biochip the whole world?”

Caller: “Well, they are biochiping babies in the hospitals now. They ask the parents if they want to be. biochiped and they are planning on biochiping the American people. I do not understand why you do not have some CEOs from (indistinct) and get this thing rolling and let everybody know. Thank you.”

• March 5, 2012 – 7:39 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.

Caller: Tim from Los Angeles, California (click here to listen). Ninth of this broadcast’s 11 callers alleging that Israel is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel. “Tim” is the notorious anti-Israel, antisemitic frequent C-SPAN caller, James Morris, who has identified himself variously as John, James, Jim, Tim, Ron, Tyrone. Morris phoned the day before (March 4) as “John from Dallas, Texas” (click here to listen).

Caller: “Hi. Thank you for taking my call. You can go to [names a Web site dedicated to railing against American foreign policy, Jews and the Jewish state]. It’s a full-court Zionist …”

Host cuts off the caller without comment.

• March 5, 2012 – 7:40 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.

Host: Caroline from Bedford, Texas. Fifth of this broadcast’s only five callers charging that Iran is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “I think if we are worried about Iran and as he was talking about, Iraq did not have any nuclear weapons – I am sure Iran will eventually get them. If we think President Obama is going to stop the Israelis from defending themselves, he is nuts. Israel has been known to be defensive, and they are very good at it. If they attack Iran, they will do a very good job of it.”

• March 5, 2012 – 7:43 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Topic: President Obama’s message on Iran.

Caller: John from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Tenth of this broadcast’s 11 callers alleging that Israel is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel. Host Casey fails to respond to this caller’s absurd, inflammatory claim that Israel and the United States are guilty of a “war crime in international law”against Iran.

Caller: “It would be really nice if the [Washington Journal] moderator were to inform people of certain things when you get these calls. In this case, if any nation threatens another nation with war, such as Israel and the United States have been doing to Iran for years, that’s a war crime in international law and according to the Nuremberg trials. If you knew that, you should pass that along. C-SPAN is not doing anybody any service. You guys just accept on face value a lot of the junk that comes on the air. These are war crimes. Obama is no better than Bush.”
 
NOTE: Disengaged host Casey accepts caller’s false claim that Israel and the United States are guilty of a “war crime in international law” against Iran. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a Christian centrist non-profit organization based in Washington D.C. which is recognized to present oral arguments before the Supreme Court of the United States, points out that

The threat of an attack, or indeed the carrying out of an attack, on Iran does not constitute a violation of either customary international law or United Nations law. First, an Israeli preemptive attack, to prevent an Iranian armed attack, on Iranian nuclear facilities would reflect Israel’s inherent right under international law to self-defense rather than constituting an initiation of a war of aggression. Secondly, The United Nations Charter in Article 51, while banning aggressive war, upholds a nation’s inherent right of self-defense. In fact, Iran is clearly in violation of Article 51 by conducting armed attacks on Israel through its terrorist surrogates (including Hamas and Hizbullah) and – its development of nuclear weapons of mass destruction constituting an imminent existential threat to Israel.

Read the entire ACLJ report, “Israel’s Legal Case for Stopping Iran.”

• March 5, 2012 – 9:42 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Guest: Todd Jacobson, senior reporter, Nuclear Weapons & Materials Monitor magazine.

Topic: Nuclear weapons and materials safety.

Caller: Greg from California. Eleventh of this broadcast’s 11 callers alleging that Israel is the culprit in Iran-versus-Israel.

Caller: “I just wanted to point out that you said that Israel has over 400 nuclear weapons – or you said over 75 nuclear weapons. How come they do not make that a point when they’ re talking about the Middle East and Iran? I don’t even think they are declaring. Why do we not send nuclear inspectors to inspect their stock and then show that we’ re doing something proactive – that we’ re showing the Iranians that hey, it’s not only you, and then go to Iran. Why is that not done?”

Guest: “That is not really in the direct lane of what I cover. Yes, you are right, Israel is not a declared nuclear weapons state. We assume they have nuclear weapons, That is not in the direct lane of what I do. It is hard for me to answer why the U.S. does not have a policy of going into one of its allies and inspecting its nuclear weapons.”

• March 5, 2012 – 9:46 AM

Host: LIBBY CASEY

Guest: Todd Jacobson, senior reporter, Nuclear Weapons & Materials Monitor magazine.

Topic: Nuclear weapons and materials safety.

Caller: Donna from Baltimore, Maryland.

Caller: “In response to your earlier caller, I’d just like to say, it was almost right after President Obama cut the military budget, I think like $38 billion. The following week, he gave $31 billion, yesterday, I believe, at the Israeli conference with Netanyahu, he gave him $31 billion for their defense. It just seems redundant. My first question was, are they working on like everything getting smaller with computers? Are they working on tiny nuclears that could be on drones and things like that?”

Guest: “I do not think nuclear weapons would ever be on a drone. The debate right now is of we keep all three legs of the nuclear triad. The airborne leg is the bombers we have that are equipped to carry nuclear weapons. The sea leg is the submarines are always out on patrol. They carry submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Then the ICBMs that we have around the country. I do not think there is any possibility of drones carrying nuclear weapons.”

• March 4, 2012 – 9:15 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY.

Guest: DAVID MAKOVSKY, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Project on Middle East Peace director.

Topic: President Obama to speak at AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] today.

Caller: John from Dallas, Texas (click here to listen). This caller is actually James Morris, obsessive anti-Israel phoner, who uses aliases in often violating C-SPAN’s “one-call-per-30-days” rule.
 
Caller: “Yes, you can go to [names a Web site that is dedicated to railing against American foreign policy, Jews and the Jewish state]. Thank you. This gentleman is with the AIPAC spinoff think tank…”
 
Host (in a rare instance of cutting off a frequent anti-Israel caller): “John, I’m going to stop you right there because you are a repeat caller. We do ask that folks wait for 30 days before with they go through with their questions and comments.”

• March 4, 2012 – 9:16 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY.

Guest: DAVID MAKOVSKY, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Project on Middle East Peace director.

Topic: President Obama to speak at AIPAC today.

Caller: Logan from New York, New York (click here to listen).

Caller: “Your guest mentioned, regarding Israel’s window, that they can’t act because they are not a superpower. I disagree. I feel like Israel, a lot of times in world affairs, acts like the little nerdy kid that pays the big bully to just back it up.”

Guest: “I didn’t say Israel could not act, I said it has a closing window. That means it has to make a closer calculation that it could be now-or-never for them in this year, 2012. Ehud Barak, the Defense Minister said so in an interview to an American television network just a few months ago, saying there is about a nine-month window. Why is it that the window? Because Iran is building a nuclear enrichment facility in a place that is outside of the Iranian holy city of Qom. It is an enrichment program that they have announced. It is like 250 meters underground. There is a belief that it will be impossible to hit a site like that if you wait too long. He has called it an Iranian zone of immunity that at a certain point it becomes just too hard to hit Iran. Therefore, he believes, certainly for Israel, that their window is closing.”
 
“I did not say that Israel does not have that capability. I just said that I think that it is a closing window. That’s bringing some drama into the current situation because if they hand off this issue to the United States, therefore they would be foregoing their ability to hit an existential threat. That is a very big deal for a country that was founded in the ashes of the Holocaust. ‘Never again will this be allowed to happen.’ So, they have to make a very big decision and that is why the meeting with the President is so important.”
 
• March 4, 2012 – 9:18 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY.

Guest: DAVID MAKOVSKY, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Project on Middle East Peace director.

Topic: President Obama to speak at AIPAC today.

Caller: Doug from Boston, Massachusetts (click here to listen).

C-SPAN repeat caller “Doug from Boston” is a British-accented basher of Israel and Jews to whom C-SPAN has provided a platform on at least these occasions: Jan. 8, 2012 (9:06 AM), Nov. 25, 2011 (9:06 AM), April 24, 2011 (9:32 AM), Feb. 19, 2011 (8:45 AM), Dec. 27, 2010 (7:50 AM), Nov. 24, 2010 (9:10 AM), April 11, 2010 (8:51 AM), Jan.1, 2010 (9:13 AM), Dec 20, 2009 (9:09 AM).

Caller: “Two questions – one for C-SPAN, one for your guest. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy promotes the interests of Israel. How is it that they get so much time on C-SPAN? The second question is if you attack another country without a United Nations Security Council Chapter VII resolution, you are war criminals. How do you square this conundrum? Thanks.”

Host: “Thank you, Doug.”

Guest: “The people who are these critics tend not to read anything we write. Just look at, like, Dennis Ross’ who was President Obama’s top Middle East adviser for the last few years; read some of his books on statecraft. I’ve written one with him. Look at our positions on these issues which certainly have veered from what AIPAC would say on it anyway. We are a group that has called for strong U.S.-Palestinian relations as well as a good U.S.-Israeli relationship. We testified on Capitol Hill calling for continuing U.S. support for the Palestinian Authority despite differences over their move for a unilateral statehood declaration by the U.N. We have been very clear against settlement activity and unwavering in support of a two-state solution. I just feel that these critics who, unfortunately, to the left, I think, of the mainstream liberal groups and those to the right of mainstream centrist or conservative groups – these people coming from the fringes. They do not read what we write. If they did, they would have a much clearer position.”
 
NOTE: The guest corrects the caller’s tendentious claims and is allowed to do so at some length by the C-SPAN host. However, neither host nor guest challenged the anti-Israel caller’s out of context assertion, “if you attack another country without a United Nations Security Council Chapter VII resolution, you are war criminals.” In fact, under the U.N. Charter, Article 51, member nations retain individual and collective rights to self-defense if attacked. Iranian aggression against Israel, including repeated attacks by its terrorist surrogates, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, already have provoked legitimat e Israeli military counter-strikes. Repeated calls by Iranian rulers to “wipe Israel off the map” and pursuit, while obstructing U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency inspections and U.N. resolutions, of a nuclear weapons program, has compelled U.S. as well as Israeli leaders to consider pre-emptive strikes. Iran’s clandestine pursuit of nuclear arms coupled with threats against Israel already violate U.N. charter requirements of members as “peace-loving” states.
 
• March 4, 2012 – 9:20 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY.

Guest: DAVID MAKOVSKY, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Project on Middle East Peace director.

Topic: President Obama to speak at AIPAC today.

Caller: Bill from Lincoln, Nebraska (click here to listen). C-SPAN obsessively indulges this antisemitic caller who denies the right of the Jewish people to their own homeland – and vilifies those who oppose Iranian behavior threatening the destruction of Israel, the disruption of shipping through an international water-way, the Straits of Hormuz, and as the world’s leading state sponsor of international terrorism.

Caller: “President Carter darn near had that solved until they assassinated the guy. Harry Truman made a big mistake when he set up the state of Israel because – who knows what the truth was. But they were not supposed to build any base like that (indistinct). The way we have treated Iran over the years, it is just disgusting. Ron Paul is the only guy who could possibly stop it.”

Host: “Bill, going back to 1948 with the creation of the state of Israel by President Truman, why was that a mistake?

Caller: “Well, because he broke the promise (indistinct) the oil companies could go over and get that oil out of the sand for 75 cents a barrel. They were not to build that thing there and Truman went ahead and done it anyway.”

Host: “From your standpoint, do the Israeli people deserve a homeland?

Caller: “Well, I don’t know. It sure was not legal the way we went around messing with all those Arab countries and making enemies of ourselves. The way they act, I don’t think they really deserve to be there – the way they bomb Palestine.”

Host: “Keep in mind, this is following the Holocaust and the Israeli people are looking for a homeland. Go ahead.”

Caller (interrupting): “The soldiers from that stupid war…”

Host (interrupting): “I will stop you there.”
 
Guest: “First of all, let’s go back to this whole issue. If you discuss it. This has been an issue that did not start with Truman. Support really came back as far as Woodrow Wilson for self-determination. When Truman did recognize it, it came six months after the United Nations General Assembly. This was one of the first acts of the U.N. since being founded. Also, when Truman recognized Israel, he imposed an embargo of arms. The United States gave no arms to Israel since it was established in 1948 and until 1963 when John F. Kennedy gave Hawk surface-to-air missiles. It was Truman, certainly, whose recognition of Israel was important. But it was not decisive in any way. If you talked to Arab colleagues of mine, they say that war was won on the ground. I think, respectfully, I would have to disagree with the caller.”
 
NOTE: Rather than cut off a caller making vague, unsubstantiated generalizations, beginning with his first remark, the C-SPAN host repeatedly indulges the caller’s weird assertions, including “They’re [Israel] not supposed to build any base like that.” Caller denies the right of the Jews to their own country but apparently has no problem with the existence of dozens of Arab and Islamic countries, many of whom deny basic human rights to their citizens and threaten other countries. Host Scully, misreading history, speaks erroneously of “the creation of the state of Israel by President Truman.” Israel was created by the Jewish people pursuant to the League of Nations’ Palestine Mandate, subsequently adopted by the United Nations, and, in 1949, recognized, not created, by other countries including the United States. Instead, the Washington Journal host treats this meandering, anti-Jewish caller as deserving of repeated follow-up questions, which are not so much questions – “broke the promise that oil companies could go over and get the oil out of the sand for 75 cents a barrel” – as additional ramblings.

• March 4, 2012 – 9:24 AM

Host: STEVE SCULLY.

Guest: DAVID MAKOVSKY, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Project on Middle East Peace director.

Topic: President Obama to speak at AIPAC today.

Caller: Don from Baltimore, Maryland (click here to listen) blames Israel as the main reason for United States problems with Iran.

Caller: “I’d like to say that I believe the main problem, Iran, we have with the United States, is that we continue to support Israel even though they built settlements into the Palestinian area. The Palestinians obviously have a problem with that. We don’t put any sanctions on Israel when the U.N. tells them not to build these settlements but they do anyway, by force. The rest of the Arab nations sees us supporting Israel and not stopping them from doing that.”

Guest: “The caller is right. The settlement issue has been a real irritant in this issue. The question is – is it the only issue? I think each side has their narrative. Israel believes the issue is its existence. To the Palestinian people, the issue is land, for Israel it is existence. They got out of Gaza, they got out of Lebanon. All they have gotten is rockets from the areas they vacated. I personally think both are true. This conflict will not be resolved until both sides cross a historic threshold. The Israelis understand that you would have these have these, you know, we call a ’67 border, but there would be land swaps on both sides where 80 percent of the settlers live on five percent of the land. That is a doable proposition. Palestinians see that baseline as very important. That’s what Anwar Sadat got in Egypt. On the other hand, the Palestinians also have to make a move as well which is to understand that there has to be a mutual recognition to accept the moral legitimacy of both these enterprises, a Palestinian Authority for Palestinians and Israel, as the majority state of the Jews with equal rights for all citizens. I think that they have to cross those thresholds together. I do not minimize the issue of land at all. I think if people look to the map, they would see that the President’s ideas are workable in terms of these land exchanges. I have spent a year working on three different maps. Look at our Washington Institute Web page and the New York Times has replicated our map. There are solutions here. This conflict is not fated that this terrible tragedy that has gone for too long will go on indefinitely. There is a way out, but the parties have to want it.”
 
NOTE: The guest, seemingly bending over backward to avoid being viewed as partial to Israel, emphasizes the settlements issue but t hat was designated a deal-breaker by Palestinian leaders only after President Obama called on Israel to halt new construction early in his administration. Previously, the Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority had reached agreements with Israel absent a halt in settlement construction. The issue has now became a formal distraction for the Arab side to avoid negotiating and coming to grips with the necessity of recognizing the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state. Both guest and host ignore the fact that, under international law, Jewish settlements in the disputed West Bank are not only legal but encouraged by Article 6 of the League’s Palestinian Mandate and that the Mandate’s terms were continued under the U.N. Charter, Article 80. Neither host nor guest acknowledges that Palestinian leaders have shown, at least publicly, no support whatsoever for the Washington Institute’s maps outlining possible territorial agreements. And both host and guest fail to contradict the caller’s delusional remark attributing U.S. problems with Iran as being due to Israel’s relationship with its Arab neighbors. They weren’t when Iranian revolutionaries overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran in 1979, when Iran created Hezbollah in Lebanon and backed the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks there in 1983, or, for example, when the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Republic bombed U.S. military housing in Saudi Arabia in 1996.
 
• March 2, 2012 – 7:11 AM

Host: SUSAN SWAIN, C-SPAN President and Co-CEO.

Topic: Open phones (considers the day’s top news in newspaper articles).

Caller: Gilbert from Tulsa, Oklahoma (click here to listen). Caller’s anti-Israel rant and counter-factual remarks about Iran are characteristically accepted by C-SPAN’s president. This repeat caller previously phoned on Dec. 23, 2011 (9:16 AM) (click here to listen) when host Swain then, as now, accepted without challenge, Gilbert’s anti-Israel falsehoods and distortions and false portrayal of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Republic.
 
Caller: “I need some help in understanding why the clarion call is to attack Iran? Netanyahu [Israel’s prime minister] is coming here to talk with President Obama and this is the same prime minister that talks so violently in the House and the Senate against Barack Obama. And he got 27 standing ovations. And for the amount of money and materials that we have sent to Israel, what is so wrong with Iran getting even one nuclear weapon? This is why I like Ron Paul. At least he speaks of that especially, the important aspect of war in the Middle East. And what are we getting from Israel that would require us paying that kind of homage and money to? And the frightening thing is that why attack a foreign country for what they want to do in their own country? Iran has not, to my knowledge, attacked any other country.”

SWAIN: “Alright Gilbert, I’ll tell you some stories about this topic. And in fact the AIPAC meeting, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee meeting, is happening this weekend in Washington and is setting the stage for conversations between the leaders of the two countries, U.S. and Israel. Here is the story [from New York Times]. Obama and Netanyahu weariness on Iran will dominate the talks…”

• March 1, 2012 – 8:42 AM

Host: PETER SLEN

Guest: DOUG LAMBORN, Congressman (R-Colorado), chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.

Topic: Gas prices and energy policy.

Caller: Kathleen from Dayton, Ohio (click here to listen). Notorious frequent caller allowed as usual by C-SPAN to violate its own ostensible “one-call-per-30-days” rule.

Typically indulged by C-SPAN, deceptive repeat caller “Kathleen,” also calling herself  “Mary,” “Rebecca,” “Patricia,” “Jackie,” “Ann,” “Kay,” “Kate,” usually condemns Israel and rails against American foreign policy in each of her numerous calls. Her most recent calls: Mary (click here to listen) Feb. 24, 2012; Rebecca (click here to listen) Jan. 15, 2012; Kathleen (click here to listen) Jan. 13, 2012; Jackie (click here to listen) Jan. 9, 2012; and Ann, Jan. 8, 2012.

Caller: “First, C-SPAN is an absolute national treasure for the public to have these types of conversations. But, I wanted to ask the Congressman, I have changed my views are lot on extracting fossil fuels in the U.S. over the years because of wars, wars that we’re going in for instance in Iraq for oil, and I am also looking at my own use of fossil fuels, taking a really hard look at my own patterns and what I use. But how important do you think it is to enforce existing regulations in regard to extracting, and also, creating regulations – necessary regulations – like, for instance, this hydraulic fracturing. On CNN, on Fareed Zakaria this Sunday and also on MSNBC, the Chris Hayes program, they both had economists on – one guy – I encourage the public to go listen to both those programs – one guy was Mr. Stockman, an economist, and the other guy was – oh shoot!, I’ve forgotten his name – but anyway, they both talked about speculators buying up oil at this point based on the big possibility that Israel may attack Iran which would close down their oil output as well as the sanctions that go in (indistinct).”

Host: “A lot to work with there.”

Guest: “Good question. To answer the first part of the question, I think regulations to protect the environment are very important and I do think we have good regulations already in place. We have good safety regulations now for deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, the most stringent that they ever have been before since the Laconda [Gulf] disaster. So, it is important to have strong regulations in place to protect our air and water and we do. When it comes to hydraulic fracturing underground, the states are doing a very good job of regulating that. I had a field hearing of my subcommittee in Ohio recently and we learned that Ohio’s geology and water is different than other states. So, I would rather have the various states who know their own location and their own geology better than Washington does, to stay in control of fracking and not impose a federal layer of regulations on top of what the states are already doing a good job of.”

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