Content about Washington

On June 8, 1967, two squadrons of Israeli warplanes bombed, napalmed and machine-gunned the US intelligence-gathering ship, USS Liberty, in international waters, killing 34 US sailors and wounding another 172.  The assault took place on a sunny afternoon, with the US flag and identifying markers clearly visible.  The Israelis targeted the antennae to prevent the crew from broadcasting for help and shot up the lifeboats to ensure no survivors.  There were, however, survivors who rigged up an antenna and radioed their distress, a call for help that reached Washington D.C.  In an unprecedented act of betrayal, President Johnson, in close liaison with powerful American Jewish Zionist political backers, covered up the mass murder on the high seas by issuing orders first to recall Mediterranean-based warplanes from rushing to assist their besieged comrades, then threatening to court-martial the survivors who might expose the deliberate nature of the Israeli assault and finally by repeating the Israeli line that the attack was a matter of mistaken identity, a lie which numerous military leaders later rejected.

What was novel and historic about this session was the president's fielding of questions from lawmakers across the political aisle, on their own turf - a Republican political meeting - in an effective and disarming manner. These are GOP politicians who would not ordinarily find themselves in a one-on-one venue with the Democratic president.