The Israeli lobby is second only to the NRA in power and influence and those who work for Israel get support, media time and lots of AIPAC ( Israeli lobby) money. Those who defy Tel Aviv are shut down rather quickly. Ron Wyden has consistently been among the top ten recipients of AIPAC money.

Vic Pittman Global News Centre

(SILVERTON) Would we Oregonians elect a senator who was also currently a senator for the state of California? Would we accept a governor who was also the governor of another state? It isn’t likely. We would want someone who represented us alone and not other interests. Anything less and we would understandably feel cheated. But did you know that Oregon senator Ron Wyden is an Israeli citizen? He is a “dual-citizen” of Israel and the US. Now I like Wyden….he is no Wayne Morse, but is as close as we have had for some time. However, I firmly believe that no US senator, congressman, president or vice-president, a representative of American citizens, should be a foreign citizen, whether Israeli, Danish or Italian.

However, given the huge amount of support and weaponry that we give Israel, and the resulting aggression, animosity and chaos this seems to regularly generate towards us, it is especially vital that our reps are free from any bias or debt to that country.

So why do American politicians care so deeply about a tiny country that seems to have only contempt for us? Why did every single member of the congress and senate (including Jeff Merkley) vote to support the ongoing slaughter in Gaza ? While we average Americans were horrified at the scenes of carnage and dead children on TV, they were scrambling over themselves trying to come up with the most clever way to blame the victims and prove who was the strongest supporter of Israel. Why? Are they soul-less?  Heartless? Are they all just straight up evil people?

It is nearing election time. The Israeli lobby is second only to the NRA in power and influence. Those who work for Israel get support, media time and lots of AIPAC ( Israeli lobby) money. Those who defy Tel Aviv are shut down rather quickly. Ron Wyden has consistently been among the top ten recipients of AIPAC money.

But what about those Palestinian rockets, you say? After all, who can blame the Israelis for defending themselves ? Notice how on the news you hear a lot about these rockets, but never hear any casualty figures?

According to the US State Dept., thirty Israelis and three foreign laborers have been killed by Palestinian rockets since 1948. That’s right, a grand total of thirty-three deaths in the last sixty-six years. These deaths are very significant to those affected, and are not to be dismissed, but hardly justify the annual slaughter of thousands of men, women and children who had nothing to do with them in “retaliation”. If Ron Wyden cannot comprehend this, or his loyalty to Israel and Israeli lobby money trumps his human decency and empathy, then we should ask ourselves if we really want a man like him representing us .

It is time for Ron Wyden to choose whether he is an American or an Israeli.

If Wyden can’t decide, then we should decide for him.