http://youtu.be/bzhEkHzIUno
Elizabeth Warren, refusing to answer questions about Gaza.

Elizabeth Warren is making the keynote speech at Netroots Nation this morning, and of course everyone loves her. But once again, too many members of the netroots think supporting a progressive hero like Warren will somehow fix everything.

FYI: She’s not progressive on everything. She’s either not knowledgeable about Middle East politics, or she’s going along with AIPAC to get along re: Israel and Iran.

And I have a friend who’s a legislative aide specializing in sustainable food issues. She told me she was really disappointed when she found out that Warren backs the Monsanto position on GMO food labeling.

We know exactly what Warren thinks about the banking industry, and about many facets of income inequality. She’s a tremendous asset on the Senate banking committee, and with Democratic control of both houses, I have no doubt she will move some great legislation. If she stays in the Senate, she’s going to do good things.

Just don’t make assumptions about everything else. Because if you do, and she ends up in the White House, she will break your hearts. You will have simply repeated the exact same mistakes Dems made with Obama, you will have learned nothing. You will have handed unquestioning support to someone on the basis of their ability to make you feel inspired without finding out where they actually stand on the issues, and that’s no way to run a country.

Warren goes on to describe Iran as “a significant threat to the United States,” echoing a key talking point of fear-mongering pro-war forces. She calls for “strong sanctions” and declares that the “United States must take the necessary steps to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon” — a veiled endorsement of a military strike if Iran crosses the constantly shifting American “red lines.” Perhaps the only option Warren does not endorse or implicitly support is diplomacy. Her foreign policy views are hardly distinguishable from those of her Republican rival, who also marches in lockstep with AIPAC.

The same progressives who refused to vet Barack Obama’s views on foreign policy when he ran for president in 2008, and who now feel betrayed that he is not the liberal savior they imagined him to be, are repeating their mistake with Warren. With AIPAC leading the push for war at the height of an election campaign, there is no better time to demand accountability from candidates like Warren. Who does she serve? The liberal grassroots forces that made her into a populist hero or the lobby seeking to drag the US into a dubious, potentially catastrophic war? It is far better for progressives to grill her on her foreign policy positions before the campaign is over than after the next war begins.