If even the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank notices the ... problems in today’s CAIR-sponsored event with Stephen Walt and John Mersheimer, you know CAIR may have finally pushed their agenda a bit too far: Pronouncing Blame on the Israel Lobby.

It was quite a boner.

University of Chicago political scientist John Mearsheimer was in town yesterday to elaborate on his view that American Jewish groups are responsible for the war in Iraq, the destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure and many other bad things. As evidence, he cited the influence pro-Israel groups have on “John Boner, the House majority leader.”

Actually, Professor, it’s “BAY-ner.” But Mearsheimer quickly dispensed with Boehner (R-Ohio) and moved on to Jewish groups’ nefarious sway over Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who Mearsheimer called “ Von Hollen.”

Such gaffes would be trivial — if Mearsheimer weren’t claiming to be an authority on Washington and how power is wielded here. But Mearsheimer, with co-author Stephen Walt of Harvard’s Kennedy School, set off a furious debate this spring when they argued that “the Israel Lobby” is exerting undue influence in Washington; opponents called them anti-Semitic.

Yesterday, at the invitation of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), they held a forum at the National Press Club to expand on their allegations about the Israel lobby. Blurring the line between academics and activists, they accepted a button proclaiming “Fight the Israel Lobby” and won cheers from the Muslim group for their denunciation of Israel and its friends in the United States.

Whatever motivated the performance, the result wasn’t exactly scholarly.

Indeed. But Walt and Mearsheimer weren’t really playing to the scholarly audience:

When the two professors finished, they were besieged by autograph- and photo-seekers and Arab television correspondents. Walt could be heard telling one that if an American criticizes Israel, “it might have some economic consequences for your business.”

Before leaving for an interview with al-Jazeera, Mearsheimer accepted a button proclaiming “Walt & Mearsheimer Rock. Fight the Israel Lobby.”

“I like it,” he said, beaming.