Bill Moyers and Michael Winship have an interesting article at Salon that describes the pernicious role of billionaire gambling magnate Sheldon "Smelly Shelly" Adelson in both U.S. and Israeli politics. Smelly Shelly's millions have been funneled to right-wing, neocon Republicans in our Presidential, Senate and House races for the purpose of promoting hard-line positions that comport with Israel's right-wing party, Likud, and its leader Bibi "Bibi Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu. It was no coincidence that billionaire Smelly Shelly and his wife were guests at Bibi Bomb Bomb's speech to Congress last Tuesday (where, symbolically, his wife accidentally dropped her purse from the gallery and almost hit a Dem Congressman). It's not an exaggeration to say that Smelly Shelly was presiding over his employees as he surveyed the Rethug majority below on the floor of the House.
Smelly Shelly's dropped hundreds of millions in Israel, owning Likud-supporting media and showering Netanyahu and friends with the proceeds from his gambling enterprise. He's shown that he's is willing to spend whatever is necessary to make sure Likudniks call the shots in Israel, and here in the U.S. through their Rethuglican surrogates.
