April 18, 2008, - 11:23 am
Hypocrite, Fraud: Hezbollah’s Congressman Now Claims He’ll Defund Carter on HAMAS
By Debbie Schlussel
Many readers and bloggers have sent me articles about Republican Congressman Joe Knollenberg’s bill to defund the Carter Center because of Jimmy Carter’s meeting with HAMAS leaders.
But, dear readers, you must read very closely between the lines on this one and look at the background info. Because it’s not what meets the eye.
First, the bill won’t take a single dollar–not even a penny–away from Jimmy Carter. It’s just a “sense of Congress” resolution and is non-binding. Meaningless. So, it’s no biggie–and a complete waste of time.
Moreover, Knollenberg is the one who should be defunded, as he is far more dangerous than the powerless former Peanut Farmer Prez.
As long-time readers know, Knollenberg, who was my Congressman and whom I’ve known for many years, has a record of sending millions of your tax dollars to Hezbollah, and–in exchange–taking thousands of dollars from American Hezbollah frontman Nijad Fares and his pan-Hezbollah front, the American Task Force for Lebanon PAC. Fares’ father, Issam Fares, was the Hezbollah-installed Deputy Prime Minister of Lebanon, a perch from which he did Syria’s bidding.
Moreover, Knollenberg takes orders from Jim Zogby, head of the Arab American Institute, which successfully got Knollenberg to get $86 million in U.S. Aid for Southern Lebanon, all of which went to Hezbollah. Knollenberg also obtained millions of dollars in federal earmarks for the anti-Israel Arab American National Museum, which is not in his Congressional district. And he got millions in federal funding for the deceptively-named Seeds of Peace camp, founded by Yasser Arafat’s favorite biographer.
So why is Knollenberg now seeking to defund Carter for meeting with HAMAS?
Politics, my friends. Knollenberg is in the race of his life. His once-safely-Republican seat is now trending Democratic. His 2006 Dem opponent, Nancy Skinner, lost by a few hundred votes, even though she barely put on a campaign. His current Dem opponent–Gary Peters, whom I am endorsing, because he has not shown a penchant for Hezbollah–has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and the Democratic Party, nationally, has targeted Knollenberg’s seat, which he’d hoped to hand over to his State Rep. son, Marty Knollenberg (who also got campaign cash from Hezbollah’s Nijad Fares and Abdullah Bouhabib, another pan-Hezbo guy).
My past writing on Knollenberg’s Hezbollah funding, etc. has been making the rounds. A lot of conservatives want to sit this out (Knollenberg is not a conservative and supports gay marriage, gay rights, etc.). And Knollenberg, previously a recipient of a lot of Jewish campaign donations in this district with a significant Jewish population, are now supporting his opponent, Peters.
So, now, Joe Knollenberg is pretending to be tough-on-Islamic-terrorism with his fake bill to defund Jimmy Carter. It’s a win-win for him. He knows the non-binding bill will not do what he’s saying and that it will go absolutely nowhere in a Dem-controlled Congress, and he gets to go all over Detroit radio and TV–as he did yesterday on the Mitch Albom show–to sound like he’s against the same type of Islamic terrorism he’s been funding with your tax dollars for his entire career in Congress.
Don’t believe the hype. Joe Knollenberg is still Hezbollah’s Congressman and his sympathies against HAMAS are as phony as a $3 bill.
If you live in Joe Knollenberg’s suburban Detroit Congressional District, I urge you to vote for Gary Peters in November. A Congressman who supports Hezbollah with your tax dollars (and lies about it) is far worse than a liberal Democrat who has a blank record on the matter. Plus, it sends a message that support for Hezbollah in the Republican Party–a growing problem–will not be tolerated. The Democratic Party already supports terrorists and is beyond repair. Only the Republican Party can be saved . . . through tough love.
Joe Knollenberg is telling the media:
America must speak with one voice against our terrorist enemies.
Tell it to the mirror, Joe.
It sends a fundamentally troubling message when an American dignitary is engaged in dialogue with terrorists. My legislation will make sure that taxpayer dollars are not being used to support discussions or negotiations with terrorist groups.
Again, no it won’t. It’s a non-binding resolution, and you know it, Joe. Quit lying. And what about the fundamentally troubling message when an American Congressman send millions of tax dollars–not for dialogue with terrorists–but right to the terrorists’ coffers? When will we see Congressman Knollenberg’s binding resolution to make sure taxpayer dollars are not being used to fund the Hezbollah terrorist group?
Don’t hold your breath.
Not Paid For By Any Candidate or Candidate Committee.
I don’t take issue with anythng you said about Knollenberg. I’m not very knowledgable about Michigan politics, but you have a lot of facts that it would be difficult to dispute. My only reservation is your suggestion that Carter is powerless. I think he is an insidious enemy agent who has been legitimizing our country’s enemies for many years. His visits to places like No. Korea & Hamas legitimize them in the eyes of many. I don’t know whether his 1994 visit to No. Korea was orchestrated by Clinton or not, but it certainly made Clinton’s agreement with them easier. I am very apprehensive about what is coming as a result of his pandering to Hamas.
I realize that people like Knollenberg & others have deceptive & concealed motives, and I am not justifying these tpes of dishonest maneuverings.
But as far as the overall activity in Congress on this issue, even though it is not binding, I thnk that opposition to the treason being conducted by Carter has to start somewhere, just like the opposition to Harriet Miers, the Dubai Port deal, etc. had to start somewhere, and I’m sure that some of that opposition was also insincere. Granted, the Dubai Ports deal was a drop in the bucket and Bush is doing the same kind of thing over & over again — nevertheless expression of our country’s interests in Washington has to start somewhere, & be manifested somewhere. Hopefully the overall good of this opposition will not be at the expense of electing hacks like Knollenberg & others like him.
I’m glad to see what’s going on in Congress, if only because it hopefully helps establish a tradition of protesting elitist actions that are not in our country’s interests. Maybe next time there will be a little more pressure from below, and a few of the Congressional mouthings might even be a little more sincere. I keep hoping that at least a few of them are sincere.
c f on April 18, 2008 at 2:58 pm