#AIPAC influence on democratic primaries

[contemplatingoutlander]

This is just another example of how the Roberts' Supreme Court decimated campaign finance regulation in its Citizens United v. FEC and McCutcheon et al. v. FEC decisions.

In particular, according to Politico Magazine, in McCutcheon, SCOTUS decided that unless money is given to a candidate's campaign in exchange for favorable policy decisions/laws (i.e., "quid pro quo") it isn't technically a "bribe." Therefore, it isn't sufficiently "corrupt" to be outlawed.

(Although even the SCOTUS "gang of six" must be feeling a little anxious that Trump appears to be running around lately begging billionaires for campaign contributions with promises that he will do their bidding.😳)

An article in Quartz, comparing the U.S. and British election systems, mentions a theory by a political science professor, Justin Fisher, that the difference in how much money is allowed in both systems is largely due to different values,

Fisher says the vast differences in money spent stem from contrasting philosophical approaches: the US favors liberty—the freedom of expression, which includes financial donations—while the UK favors equality. “Most European elections, and the UK is an example of this, are based on the principle of equality, of trying to ensure that the spending does not unduly advantage one side or another,” he explained. [color/ emphasis added]

The Roberts' Court clearly values the "liberty" of the wealthy and corporations to "freely speak" by making large monetary contributions to political campaigns.

Yet, it seems that the Roberts' Court doesn't value the "liberty"/ "free speech" rights of "the little guy" as much.

For instance, if, as the Roberts' Court claims, "money = speech," then wealthy people and corporations produce such a huge amount of "speech" (through their enormous campaign donations) that it drowns out the "voices," and limits the impact of the average American's political "speech."

And given how Trump appears to be "selling" his presidency to those billionaires willing to make huge campaign donations, the Roberts' Court's overvaluation of the "liberty"/ "free speech" rights of the wealthy and corporations results in corruption and the undo influence of the wealthy/ corporations on the laws and policies that the political benefactors of their monetary largesse implement when they are in office.

I think the only way to undo the damage the Roberts' Court has done to our nation will be if we elect a Democratic president and Congress, and are able to expand the Court. Because the "gang of six" isn't going to change their minds about any of this. And as long as they are in a majority, our nation is in peril of becoming a kleptocracy.

“Billionaires buying elections is not what this country is supposed to be about,” said Sanders.

By Sharon Zhang , TRUTHOUT

Published August 9, 2024

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) have spoken out about corruption in politics following the defeat of Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) in her primary this week by pro-Israel groups that poured millions of dollars into unseating the progressive lawmaker.

AIPAC’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP), spent $8.5 million on the campaign to oppose Bush, helping to make it the second-most expensive House primary in history — only beaten by Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s (D-New York) primary in June, in which UDP poured $14.5 million into electing a pro-Israel challenger to Bowman.

To many who championed the two lawmakers for speaking out against Israel, the two losses were a show of AIPAC’s outsized influence on elections and the ability for deep-pocketed interest groups to buy elections.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Edward Helmore at The Guardian:

Progressive groups reacted with disappointment and anger over Jamaal Bowman’s decisive primary loss to a moderate Democrat in New York’s 16th district, calling for the party to cut ties with pro-Israel lobbying groups they blame for the result. In a letter to the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, more than a dozen progressive organizations said they had “dire concerns” over the party’s continued association with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), “the future of the Democratic Party, the future of our multiracial democracy, and the future of our planet”.

Aipac and its affiliates plan to spend $100m across the election cycle, and Bowman’s defeat marks their most significant victory to date. Looking ahead, they have already set their sights set on the Missouri congresswoman Cori Bush, who will face Wesley Bell in her August primary. United Democracy Project, a Super Pac affiliated with Aipac, has already spent nearly $1.9m promoting Bell’s candidacy. The signatories of the letter included the Center for Popular Democracy Action, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, New York Communities for Change and New York City Democratic Socialists of America. In the letter, they said that in the run-up to the vote, UDP had flooded the Westchester county–northern Bronx district with nearly $20m in mailers and ads “funded largely by Republican billionaires, to drown out Jamaal Bowman’s message of humanity, dignity, and a thriving future for all”.

[...] Protect Our Power said in a statement that Bowman’s defeat was a “loss for young people and anyone who cares about our continued movement toward justice, peace, and building a multiracial democracy”. The progressive group blamed “Aipac and the Maga billionaires who recruited and paid for George Latimer’s campaign from start to finish” for the defeat, and vowed “to tell Aipac they have no business creating division in our democracy”. In a separate letter of protest, Jewish Voice for Peace Action said it was “saddened” by the results that had unseated a congressman who “has been one of the few members of Congress committed to defending Palestinian human rights”. “Today is a sad day for American democracy,” said JVP’s political director, Beth Miller. “To protect progressive candidates moving forward it is essential that Democrats reject Aipac,” she added. Bob Herbst, a member of the group and a constituent of NY-16, called Aipac’s multimillion-dollar spend in the district “a dangerous interference in our democracy”.

AIPAC’s influence in American politics is a cancerous rot on America. #RejectAIPAC

[plethoraworldatlas]

Progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman lost his reelection bid in New York's 16th Congressional District on Tuesday to an establishment-backed county official whose campaign was propelled by nearly $15 million in spending by AIPAC's Republican-funded super PAC.

The United Democracy Project's (UDP) spending made the Democratic primary contest the most expensive House race in U.S. history. According to a Sludgeanalysis of independent election expenditures dating back to 2001, UDP's $14.5 million onslaught to oust Bowman was "more than any other group besides those affiliated with a political party has ever spent on a House election."

The investment paid off, with Westchester County Executive George Latimer leading Bowman by a margin of 58% to 42% with close to 90% of the vote counted in the 16th District, which was redrawn ahead of the 2022 midterms to include more of suburban Westchester County and less of the Bronx.

Bowman, a former Bronx middle school principal who won his House seat in 2020 by defeating AIPAC favorite Eliot Engel, said in his concession speech late Tuesday that "we should be outraged when a super PAC of dark money can spend $20 million to brainwash people into believing something that isn't true."

"When we say 'Free Palestine,' it is not antisemitic," said Bowman, one of the House's most vocal critics of Israel's assault on Gaza. A majority of Democratic voters in the U.S. believe Israel is committing genocide in the Palestinian enclave, according to a recent survey.

"I would like to make a public apology for sometimes using foul language," he added, referring to remarks he made during a rally over the weekend. "But we should not be well-adjusted to a sick society."

[tieflingkisser]

Dems throw activists under the bus in election postmortems

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but a number of pundits are attempting to blame the left for Kamala Harris’s loss. In this narrative, it’s not the highly-paid Democratic consultants or the donor class who helped deliver another four years of Trump. No, the blame should be pinned on activists and progressive groups. One such argument was put forward in a recent New York Times op-ed by Adam Jentleson, “When Will Democrats Learn to Say No?” According to Jentleson one of Harris’s big problems was the fact she backed handful of progressive positions five years ago.

[...]

His conclusion is straightforward: Democrats need to reject calls for progressive reforms and champion “heterodox” politics in order to win the 2026 midterms. In other words, they have to throw vulnerable populations under the bus and abandon any kind of commitment to combatting climate change. There’s a lot missing from Jentleson’s analysis, but let’s start here: the progressive stances endorsed by Democratic candidates during the 2020 primaries did not materialize out of thin air. The first Trump presidency was greeted by immediate protest and vast organizing, which led to some of his most draconian policy plans being blocked. We went on to watch the government botch the public health response to COVID and leave workers hung out to dry. People flooded the streets and demanded change after watching George Floyd get murdered by a police officer on camera. By some metrics, they were the most attended protests in the history of the United States and the actions led to a wider national conversation about race, history, and policing. We also saw millions of young people enthusiastically support the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, who ran on the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and higher taxes on the rich. The fact that Democrats publicly endorsed some of these positions is a testament to the hard work of activists who helped shift the public discussion through organizing. This is one of the ways that progress has historically worked in the United States. Jentleson’s assertion that this ended up being a big problem because there was Republican backlash could be used to throw water on virtually every social movement ever. That’s how it always works. In his book The Reactionary Mind political scientist Corey Robin writes that conservatism is a meditation on the felt experience of having power, seeing it threatened, and trying to win it back. Jentleson neglects to point out that Harris openly abandoned all the progressive positions she embraced while running to be the 2020 nominee during her 2024 presidential campaign, but maybe that goes without saying. Perhaps it also goes without saying that Harris’s presidential campaign was partially geared to win over Republicans, by touting an endorsement from Dick Cheney, promising a tough border policy, and failing to articulate any kind of robust plan for the working class. Maybe it doesn’t have to be pointed out that Harris vowed to continue weapon sales to Israel, despite continuous left-wing pressure calling on her to change course.

[...]

But let’s leave all that aside and talk about the elephant in the room. How does someone write a piece about groups having too much influence on the Democratic party and not mention pro-Israel lobbying organizations? AIPAC spent over $100 million on the last election cycle and ousted multiple progressives with massive help from GOP donors. I’m going to go out on a limb and say they are a more relevant target when we’re assessing what’s wrong with the Democrats. The real punchline of this Op-Ed is revealed in the author bio section at the end. Jentleson is the former chief of staff to Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, a guy who has spent the past year enthusiastically celebrating the genocide in Gaza. He’s even positioned himself to the right of the Biden administration on the issue, criticizing the White House for briefly threatening to condition military aid. Last week Fetterman attacked The Pope for calling for an investigation into Israel’s genocide.

[thefirsthogokage]

“The truth,” he began. “@AIPAC is a conservative org, raising money from rich Republicans & tries to buy Democratic primaries with it. It distorts campaign finance law in the worst way. Their big money influence is toxic to democracy. Forget what they claim, look at their record. Toxic money.”

Above was posted on twitter on November 24th, 2023.

It wasn’t the first time Pocan put AIPAC on notice. Earlier this month, he made it clear he does not care for, or about, the organization.

“I don’t give a fuck about AIPAC—period,” he told Slate. “I think they’re a cancerous presence on our democracy and politics in general, and if I can be a surgeon, that’s great.”

Nice to see a white person have a spine and use his voice, added awesome for him directly slamming AIPAC.

[odinsblog]

Before I say this, please understand that for me personally, my primary concern with election 2024 was to get rid of Trump and as many Republicans and Libertarians as possible.

That said, there are a host of valid reasons Harris lost: 107 days for a Black woman to run a campaign against Trump was setting her up for failure; racism; sexism; the DNC refusing to let a Palestinian person speak at their convention; foreign governments pouring money into the election (yes, I’m referring to AIPAC); Elon Musk using Twitter to push mis/disinformation; Kamala’s refusal to distance herself from Biden, a deeply unpopular candidate—but iMho, the greatest reason is the influence the Clintons still have over the Democratic Party

Clintonism and their obsession with “triangulating” with Republicans (read, capitulating to, acquiescing to, and forever chasing after conservative voters who won’t everrr vote for a Democrat, let alone a Black Democratic woman) has and will doom the Democratic Party perhaps for generations to come.

Remember when Nancy Pelosi did or said things like this:

Republicans fear their base. Democrats seem to disdain theirs. Republicans energize their base, centrist Democrats try to have it both ways; they try to court conservative Republicans and simultaneously demonize the progressive left.

Democrats have lost the presidency, the House, the Senate and the Judiciary branches of government. That should make them seriously reconsider their positions, but like OP said, it won’t - the only lesson they will learn from this election is that they should have gone further to the right.

I have no clue how Republicans convinced non-white voters that conservative billionaires have their best interests at heart, but I dO know that: 1) centrism and neoliberalism and Clintonism are not the answer, 2) Democrats have failed miserably at being a true opposition party, one that truly and reliably represents the downtrodden.

So, between the two of them, there are about 19 million people from the 2020 election that neither Harris nor Trump were able to mobilize last night. Mostly on Harris's side, who fell about 11 million short of what Joe Biden was able to pull together four years ago. You can call that anything you want, but the one thing you can't call it is insignificant.

To me, the lesson here is obvious. You cannot run a campaign that offers your base nothing but fear of your opponent and expect them to come out for you. You can't just pretend everything is fine the way it is when it's obvious most voters do not feel that way. Chasing after imaginary moderates does not work. This is actually the second time this has happened to Democrats. It's the exact thing that sunk Clinton in '16.

But just like last time, they're not gonna learn a thing from this. People like Carville are going to be running this party's elections for forever, and just like the last two times, primaries are going to continue to be set up in favor of unpopular, right of center party faces who are not capable of campaigning in a Post-Millenium world.

[bllsbailey]

AOC Criticized For Claiming Pro-Israel Lobby Group Caused Democrats To Lose 2024 Elections

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks to reporters as she arrives for a vote series at the U.S. Capitol on September 25, 2024 in Washington, DC.

“Squad” member and far-left Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is now blaming the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for Democrats’ Election Day losses, triggering a firestorm from critics who say she would rather blame Jews than second guess her party’s own policies.

“If people want to talk about members of Congress being overly influenced by a special interest group pushing a wildly unpopular agenda that pushes voters away from Democrats then they should be discussing AIPAC,” the Squad member posted on X.

The chaos was prompted by a comment from Bernie Sanders’ adviser, Jeremy Slevin, who noted that Democrats need to have a reckoning over their ties to corporate and industry lobbies, which he believes have “too much influence” over the Democrat Party. 

However, X users were quick to call out Ocasio-Cortez’s post, maintaining that the bipartisan pro-Israel group is important and that AOC was falling into an anti-Semitic conversation yet again in order to shift blame from Democrat policies. 

“Every former Democrat I know is more concerned about the wildly unpopular agenda of the Teachers’ Union that closed our schools, masked our kids, lowers rigor, standards and accountability while teaching an ahistorical, hateful version of America, but go on with your Jew hating,” posted NYC education council member Maud Maron.

Meanwhile, other users pointed out the irony in the squad member’s critique of AIPAC, which typically helps Democrat candidates’ popularity grow.

“AIPAC has raised more money for Democrats than AOC has,” responded Ethan Fine. “She has a weird obsession with Jews… always talking about AIPAC and Jews controlling Congress.” “Why hasn’t she called out other advocacy groups? Why is she obsessed with Jews?” he added. “Most of the candidates supported by AIPAC are Democrats,” Jewish writer Joel Petlin commented. “But AOC doesn’t want you to know that important fact because it would obscure her Anti-Semitic theory.”

AOC’s assertion that U.S. support for Israel is declining is untrue, according to recent polls.

A Harvard-Harris poll from October found that a staggering 81% of Americans support Israel over Hamas. Among Democrats, 76% say that they back Israel as well.

AIPAC lists their priorities as strengthening U.S.-Israeli relations, combatting terrorism, promoting peace, opposing anti-Israel discrimination, and countering Iran’s nuclear aggression.

Soon after, the group responded quickly to AOC on X on Sunday night, countering the Democrat with a “fact check” on what Democrat voters believe is popular, attaching the winning results of AIPAC-backed candidates in Democrat primaries.

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

[sa7abnews]

Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed’ Newsletter: What passing over Shapiro says about Kamala

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/09/fox-news-antisemitism-exposed-newsletter-what-passing-over-shapiro-says-about-kamala/

Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed’ Newsletter: What passing over Shapiro says about Kamala

Fox News’ “Antisemitism Exposed” newsletter brings you stories on the rising anti-Jewish prejudice across the U.S. and the world.IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:- JD Vance says Kamala Harris’s bypassing of Josh Shapiro shows she’s ‘bent the knee’- Federal judge rules Harvard must face antisemitism lawsuit from Jewish students- Israeli Olympic athletes getting threats in Paris to generate ‘psychological terror’TOP STORY: GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance reacted to Vice President Kamala Harris picking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her 2024 running mate, saying the former high school football coach is “far-left.” Walz was chosen over Jewish Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in the veepstakes race, a move Vance told “Hannity” shows Harris has “bent the knee to the far-left” of the Democratic Party. VIDEO: Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri used her concession speech this week to blast the nation’s largest pro-Israel group, warning them to “be afraid.” Bush — who lost her primary election to a pro-Israel Democratic rival financially backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — warned that the group’s influence on the election has “radicalized” her.‘CANCER’ AT HARVARD: A federal judge denied Harvard University’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by six Jewish students alleging the school did not properly address ongoing campus antisemitism. Jewish students filed the lawsuit in January claiming Harvard violated their Title VI rights by failing to tackle the “antisemitism cancer” growing on campus following the Hamas attack against Israel on Oct. 7.ATHLETES UNDER FIRE: Israeli National Olympic Committee president Yael Arad said the nation’s Olympics athletes had received “centralized” threats meant to generate “psychological terror” at the Paris Olympics. Israeli gold medalist Tom Reuveny, who won gold in windsurfing at the age of 24 on Sunday, spoke out about some of the threats that he and his teammates have received.BACK TO SCHOOL: Hundreds of Jewish and pro-Israel college students gathered in Washington, D.C., this week for a leadership summit to prepare for the coming school year after universities nationwide faced rampant protests against Israel and repeated instances of antisemitism. QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “She is only in this to obey the far-left radicals within her own party. It’s a really shameful moment for Kamala Harris.” – JD Vance on Vice President Kamala Harris’s decision to bypass Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate.UP NEXT:- Looking for more on this topic? Find more antisemitism coverage from Fox News here.- Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe to additional newsletters from Fox News here.

[abs78895]

The Dark Side of AIPAC's American Israel Education Foundation and Political Action Committee

AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, wields considerable influence in U.S. politics, primarily through its American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF) and Political Action Committee (PAC). While these entities are presented as educational and advocacy tools, critics argue that their operations reveal a darker side of political influence and manipulation.

The AIEF funds trips for U.S. lawmakers to Israel, ostensibly to educate them about the region and its complexities. However, these trips are often criticized for providing a one-sided perspective that aligns closely with Israeli government positions. Lawmakers are given a carefully curated experience that emphasizes Israel's security concerns while downplaying the plight of Palestinians. This "education" serves to create a pro-Israel bias among U.S. politicians, which critics argue is the primary intent of these trips.

AIPAC's PAC is another powerful tool, channeling substantial financial contributions to political campaigns. This financial influence is seen as a form of political coercion, ensuring that elected officials remain supportive of Israel's policies. The PAC's contributions are strategically targeted, supporting candidates who align with AIPAC's agenda and opposing those who do not. This has led to accusations of undermining democratic processes by prioritizing special interests over the will of the electorate.

The opacity surrounding AIPAC's operations adds to the controversy. The organization's financial dealings and lobbying efforts are often shrouded in secrecy, leading to suspicions of underhanded tactics and undue influence. Critics argue that this lack of transparency allows AIPAC to operate with impunity, exerting a disproportionate influence on U.S. foreign policy.

In conclusion, the AIEF and PAC represent the darker aspects of AIPAC's influence. Through strategic education initiatives and financial contributions, these entities shape U.S. politics in ways that critics argue undermine democratic principles and perpetuate a biased approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

[readingsquotes]

NY-16 (Westchester County and Co-Op City, Bronx)

Jamaal Bowman (i) vs. George Latimer

Paradoxically, we sometimes find ourselves with little to say about the biggest elections in these previews. There are state assembly elections in this preview with tons of details we wanted to share, but NY-16? You already know.

Jamaal Bowman defeated long-in-the-tooth incumbent Eliot Engel in an absolutely triumphant 2020 primary election. However, New York lost a congressional district almost immediately after, and the domino effect was that Bowman had to be drawn a much whiter district that was nearly all Westchester County and almost no Bronx. (The previous district had been about ⅔ in Westchester and ⅓ in the Bronx.) A Black leftist was never going to have an easy time in those wealthy, whiter new towns, and Bowman indeed did quite poorly with his new voters in 2022, taking only 55% of the vote against a pair of badly underfunded challengers. So AIPAC set their sights on him.

There’s no need to rehash the details: AIPAC recruited moderate County Executive George Latimer, who used his influence to keep NY-16 as white as possible in the 2024 redistricting, and after he got his wish, AIPAC began to dump millions upon millions into the district. They spent over $14 million on independent expenditures alone, an amount that might as well be $140 million or $140 billion—in a congressional primary race, it all becomes something approaching infinity at that point. (Some other PACs, including Democratic Majority for Israel and the cryptocurrency industry front Fairshake, threw down a couple million more.) Bowman and his allies on the left, like Justice Democrats and the Working Families Party had nowhere near that amount of money, and, even after a fundraising like hell for months, could only put together about $4 million to back him up. Polling has been ugly for Bowman, with the only independent poll of the race coming from Emerson in early June, and putting Latimer’s lead at 48% to 31%. Latimer has spent the closing stretch of the race making racist statement after racist statement, but they hardly seem to matter to the white voters of Westchester County, which is why Latimer fought so hard to keep them in the district, to give himself an “ethnic benefit”, as he puts it.

Progressives and the left, including NYC-DSA, who voted to re-endorse Bowman after pulling their support in 2022 over Israel-Palestine issues, are fighting like hell to pull off a miracle here, but are universally braced for a loss, and a painful one. AIPAC is funneling ludicrous amounts of Republican money to elevate a white grievance candidate in the suburbs of diverse, progressive city, and it all appears to be working. Bleak. The early voting numbers are even bleaker: Scarsdale, Mamaroneck, and Rye, all white majority towns that hate Bowman based on their previous voting patterns, have cast more early votes than majority-Black Mt. Vernon, despite Mt. Vernon being somewhere from two to five times their size. Bowman has to hope for an improbable surge of election day voters, something on par with the kind of turnout you would see in a contested presidential primary, or even greater. Again, bleak. We promise the legislative races have more reasons for optimism.

[xtruss]

The Left Is Finally Building A Response To AIPAC 🐖 🐷 🐗 (The Incurable Zionist Cancer)

AIPAC has Become the Key Force Against Progressives in Democratic Primaries, But a New Coalition is Seeking to Protect the Party’s Left Flank.

— Akela Lacy | March 11 2024 | The Intercept

Palestine Solidarity Demonstrators hold placards that say “Dump AIPAC” at a rally in New York City on February 22, 2024. Photo: Jimin Kim/Sipa via AP

After Decades Of avoiding Direct Involvement in Electoral Politics, the country’s flagship Israel lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, formed a pair of political action committees in recent years and has been spending millions on political races.

Its targets have been progressives, with AIPAC becoming heavily involved in Democratic primaries. In addition to recruiting candidates to challenge incumbent Democrats, the group plans to spend at least $100 million on 2024 races.

Now, progressives are fighting back, building a bulwark against the pro-Israel lobby onslaught with a new campaign to reject AIPAC.

A group of 25 progressive organizations — including Justice Democrats, the Working Families Party, the IfNotNow Movement, and Jewish Voice for Peace Action— launched the Reject AIPAC coalition Monday. The coalition plans to organize against AIPAC across electoral, political, and digital arenas. One facet of the plan calls for a seven-figure electoral spending campaign to defend members of Congress being targeted by AIPAC.

In a press release announcing its launch, the coalition said it would work to “organize Democratic voters and elected officials to reject the destructive influence of the Republican megadonor-backed AIPAC on the Democratic primary process and our government’s policy towards Palestine and Israel.”

Financed by AIPAC’s major donors, including Republican billionaires and key GOP funders, the 2021 launch of the Israel lobby’s new super PAC was readymade to outspend progressives. AIPAC and its allies have reshaped the electoral field in key primaries, shifted the balance of power in Congress, and imposed costly consequences for criticism of U.S. support for Israel’s human rights abuses.

The Washington debate around the Israeli–Palestinian conflict has become particularly fraught amid Israel’s relentless assault on the Gaza Strip. Even as the International Court of Justice ruled that a case against Israel for genocide should proceed, progressive members of Congress have been attacked for using the term — or, early on in the war, just for calling for a ceasefire.

AIPAC recruited and is bankrolling a challenger to Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., for instance, who made early and forceful calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza war. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., who faced an AIPAC spending onslaught in 2022, is expected to face millions in AIPAC expenditures again this year.

“We have watched as AIPAC has done everything it can to silence growing dissent in Congress against Netanyahu’s assault on Gaza — which has killed over 31,000 Palestinians — even as Democratic voters overwhelmingly support a ceasefire and oppose sending more blank checks to the Israeli military,” the coalition said. “Now, AIPAC’s Republican donor-funded Super PAC, the United Democracy Project, is threatening to spend $100 million targeting the handful of Black and brown members of Congress who have led the calls for a ceasefire and the equal protection of Palestinian and Israeli lives.”

AIPAC And Its Allies’ Growing Influence on Democratic Party Politics has presented a major problem for progressives. The organizations backing progressives rely mostly on small-dollar donors and can’t compete with AIPAC’s war chest.

Even as it attacks Democrats on the parties left flank, however, AIPAC has cozied up to the GOP’s far right. In the 2020 election, AIPAC endorsed more than 100 Republicans who voted to overturn the results of that year’s presidential race.

This year, the group encouraged Republicans to switch parties to vote in at least one Democratic primary where it recruited Westchester County Executive George Latimer to run against Bowman. AIPAC is the biggest donor to Latimer’s campaign so far, The Intercept reported.

While progressive candidates like Lee have fended off AIPAC and its allies, its chilling effects reach far beyond elections. The group also has an outsized lobbying influence on Capitol Hill and spends millions of dollars a year on lobbying efforts, another arena in which the left has been outmatched.

The Reject AIPAC coalition says it will try to counterbalance those efforts on the Hill and call on members to disavow AIPAC’s endorsement and instead sign a pledge not to take any more money from the group. For the moment, however, many senior Democrats, including those in leadership, have benefited from AIPAC’s largesse.

“The overwhelming influence of corporate Super PACs on our democracy and elections has expanded the gap between voters and their elected leaders into a canyon that has been exploited by every special interest and corporate lobby,” the coalition said. “Rejecting AIPAC is a crucial step in putting voters back at the center of our democracy.”

[canichangemyblogname]

Other things to watch for:

Conflating the critique and sanction of weapons manufacturers with “antisemitism.” Are the bombs Jewish? Or are you suggesting the Jews control global and/or US weapons manufacturing and armament sales?

Calling AIPAC “Israeli” or “Jewish.” AIPAC is made up exclusively by US Citizens and only US Citizens can give them money. Literally any US citizen can become a member; this is NOT and NEVER was an organization of Israeli nationals. It was also NEVER a faith-based organization. The majority of their members are non-Jews and they primarily get their money from American right-wing super donors. Their members include sports-team owners, congress members, the co-founder of Zumba, the creator of squishmallows, the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret, and others who have a stake in US imperial interests. Their board is notably, predominantly not Jewish, similar to the make up of their members and donors. They also have a history of using their money and influence to oust Jewish people from positions of influence, especially if they’re progressive. They are also not THEE only lobby on Capitol Hill or THEE most powerful, but that does not mean they don’t have considerable influence in Democratic Party primaries.

Anything that labels charitable organizations, non-profits, and international assemblies as part of some conspiratorial “Hamasnik” world-order, bonus-points if they’re also characterized hell-bent on “destroying western values” << this should all set off so many red flags.

Remember two months ago when news came out that Israel’s military sicced a dog on a disabled man and the internet jumped to ride Israel’s dick, saying, “Dogs can’t be Jewish, stupid Arabs” because the locals who first reported it described the dog as a “Zionist attack dog”? Yeah? There were not enough non-Palestinians and non-Jews calling out the fallacious conflation of Jewish and Zionist by the pro-Israel crowd. In fact, there’s never enough call-out of this practice. Most of the people I saw say, “Hey, this is a really weird characterization and critique of the language an occupied people use to communicate the violence of an occupational power,” were themselves Palestinian.

This fallacious conflation would be like if I said “These colonialist and illegitimate United States forces sicced a police attack dog on an autistic black man, #ACAB,” and someone replied, “Dogs can’t be Anglo-Saxon Evangelicals, stupid liberal.” Huh??? You see how this makes zero sense? You see how this is a fallacy?

[plethoraworldatlas]

As the leading U.S. pro-Israel lobby's political action committee unleashes a nearly $2 million ad blitz targeting Congressman Jamaal Bowman, Jewish allies of the New York Democrat—who is an outspoken critic of what he and many experts call Israel's genocide in Gaza—on Thursday joined progressive lawmakers in condemning right-wing efforts to defeat pro-Palestine incumbents.

United Democracy Project (UDP), the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) super PAC, has booked $1.9 million in television ads to influence the outcome of the Democratic primary in New York's 16th Congressional District, according to Wednesday reporting by Sludge's David Moore.

"This new ad spending in New York shows once and for all that my opponent, George Latimer, is bankrolled by a right-wing super PAC that has received over $40 million from Republican megadonors who want to defend Republican insurrectionists, overturn voting rights, and ban abortion nationwide," Bowman said in a statement.

"Democrats across New York deserve better, and will reject these attempts to buy our elections and undermine our democracy," he added.

Jews for Jamaal, a pro-Bowman coalition spearheaded by the group Jews for Racial & Economic Justice Action, said in a statement that "we recognize this media blitz for what it is: a desperate move by powerful interests to silence the district's first Black representative in history."

"UDP is overwhelmingly spending its millions in Democratic primaries, mostly against Black and brown Democratic incumbents who speak out against war and for the human rights of Palestinians," the coalition continued. "This massive amount of spending distorts the political landscape, drowning out the needs and voices of everyday constituents with the interests of a few wealthy donors."

"It undermines the very foundation of our democracy, which must be built on the principles of transparency, accountability, and genuine representation," Jews for Jamaal added.

[creepingsharia]

Illinois: Grandson of honor-killing, terror-linked ‘Palestinian’ Muslim running for Congress

Rashad “Rush” Darwish’s platform: support for sanctuary cities, amnesty for illegals, and taking guns from law-abiding Americans.

via Ballotpedia:

Rush Darwish (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 3rd Congressional District. He is on the ballot in the Democratic primary on March 17, 2020.

via Chicago-Sun Times: Chicago-area congressional candidate’s remarks about Jews, Israel spark questions

Rashad “Rush” Darwish, 42, runs a television and photography production business in Pilsen. He said in the interview he adopted the less ethnic-sounding name of Rush in 2001 — before the 9-11 attacks — when he was hired for an on-air TV news job in Tyler, Texas. He later switched careers and returned to the Chicago area.

His parents, now Lemont residents, were born in the West Bank village of Beitin. At age 6, his family moved from Stone Park back to Beitin for two years to live with his maternal grandmother. At that kickoff event this summer, Darwish said, “The very foundation of who I am, the values I learned growing up in Palestine, is embedded in me.”

Darwish is on the executive board of AMVOTE, the American Middle East Voters Alliance PAC, a state-level political action committee.

As he seeks to make history, Darwish’s newfound political muscle is bringing attention to comments he made this summer and years ago.

At a campaign kickoff event in June, Darwish in a speech incorrectly said Lipinski got $15,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel influential lobbying group. However, AIPAC is not a political action committee, does not endorse and does not donate to campaigns. AIPAC members and allies, like anyone, can contribute as individuals and use their personal networks to raise money for candidates.

Darwish provided no details to back up his $15,000 assertion when the Sun-Times asked him about it, saying “what I can do at this stage” is “take a closer look. … So if I technically said it wrong, then, I would have to look into that.”

Back in 2015, as a provocative radio talk show host, Darwish excoriated a guest, Ray Hanania — who, among other things, comments on and writes about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Darwish told Hanania he sounded “like you are praising the Israeli people and the Jewish civilization as if they are great people.”

Darwish told the Sun-Times, “I’ll be honest with you. I may have misspoke if I said the word Jews. That was a mistake on my part. Usually I think I’m pretty good at knowing on the show not to use the word Jews because Jews are not, that’s not the problem.” His problem, he said is with a “pro-Israeli government agenda.”

--------------------------------

A quick look at Darwish’s webpage and he is open about not only his platform in support of illegal aliens but his ongoing personal support to illegal aliens. Excerpts from his platform below:

In my personal time, I have been connecting undocumented families I know with pro-bono immigration attorneys to assist them in gaining legal status...what we need as a country is comprehensive and fair immigration reform to put these families on a path to citizenship...

As your Congressman I would:

Support sanctuary cities and asylum seekers...

Support comprehensive and fair immigration reform to make our immigration system simpler, more accessible, particularly for non-native english speakers

Expand my work personally to create and market a large network of pro-bono immigration attorneys to assist undocumented families in gaining legal status.

Darwish is also anti-Second Amendment and an open gun grabber. Again from his platform site:

Taking assault rifles, high capacity magazine clips, and other weapons of war completely off our streets...

Rush believes Congress should immediately pass a national ban on the importation and sale of all assault rifles and high capacity magazine clips.  These weapons should only be utilized by our Armed forces and at certain times by local law enforcement.

--------------------------------

Darwish focuses on preventing some law-abiding Americans from even purchasing guns, specifically, what he refers to as “white nationalist” and Trump supporters. There is no mention of his co-religionists and their jihad.

But Darwish is not only an open border, sanctuary city supporting, amnesty for illegals, gun grabbing socialist, Darwish is the grandson of one of the first known Muslim honor killers in the United States.

Twitter user @kristintweeted engaged Rashad, aka Rush, about this on her Facebook page. Shortly thereafter he blocked her. Screen shots here.

Darwish’s father is Amir Darwish, President of “The Coalition of Palestinian-American Organizations.”

In this 1991 St. Louis Post Dispatch article on the 1991 honor killing of Tina Issa, Rush Darwish’s father defended his father in law who was convicted in the Islamic honor killing of his own daughter. via Parents guilty in murder of daughter:

A St. Louis Circuit Court jury deliberated less than four hours Friday before finding Zein Isa and his wife, Maria, guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing of their youngest daughter.

The prosecutor, Assistant Circuit Attorney Dee Joyce-Hayes, said she was pleased but added she had been concerned that jurors might have found Maria Isa guilty of the less serious crime of second-degree murder.

Her lawyer, Charles M. Shaw, had contended that Maria sided with Tina in a growing family rift. The mother tried to protect Tina when Zein Isa plunged a knife into the girl's chest on Nov. 6, 1989, at the family's South Side apartment, Shaw said.

Amir Darwish of Chicago, a son-in-law of Zein Isa, said he was distressed by the convictions.

''I think all the facts were not on the table for the jury in this case, '' he said.

The prosecution's most important evidence was a secretly made tape- recording of the murder. Seven minutes of it was filled with Tina's shrieks as she was being stabbed. Some jurors cried when the tape was played for them on Wednesday.

But they asked to hear the tape Friday for a second time, and sat grim-faced and alone in the locked courtroom, listening to the tape over headphones.

In her final argument to the jury, Joyce-Hayes said, ''I can't think of any other way to describe this incident other than as a blood sacrifice.''

She said the Isas believed the only way to ''cleanse'' the family was through Tina's blood. ''They assassinated her,'' the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor could not bring herself to call the heinous crime what it really was. An honor killing. And she even went so far as to claim it had nothing to do with Islam.

A 1993 Chicago Tribune article, A FAMILY TRAGEDY OR TERRORISTS' SCHEME?, uncovered the terrorist ties in the honor killing.

Again, this is the family of Rush Darwish - now running for a seat in the Unitied States Congress.

"Quiet, little one! Die quickly, my daughter, die!" Zein Isa said in Arabic. He stabbed her six times while his wife, Maria, held her by the hair.

"Mother! Please, help me!" Tina pleaded.

"What help?" Maria Isa replied.

As Tina lay dying, her father put his foot on her mouth to muffle the cries.

Jurors heard it all. An FBI bug picked up the parents' words and the daughter's screams. Zein Isa, the bureau explained, was suspected of working for the Palestine Liberation Organization, which at that time had not publicly disavowed terrorism.

Jurors were told that he, his wife and Tina's older sisters believed she had dishonored the family, going against Muslim tradition by having a boyfriend.

She dishonored the family. Her penalty was to be honor killed. But the FBI suggested she knew too much about her father’s involvement in an Islamic terror group for which he was later indicted.

The organization, a violent and nihilistic 1974 offshoot of the PLO, was labeled by the State Department in 1989 as the world's most dangerous terrorist group. It is responsible for more than 90 terrorist attacks in 20 countries, according to the department's annual assessment of terrorism.

A federal grand jury in April indicted Zein Isa, 61, already on Death Row for his daughter's murder; Saif Nijmeh, 33, of St. Louis; Luie Nijmeh, 29, of Miamisburg, Ohio; and Tawfiq Musa, 43, of Racine, Wis. All are in Missouri prisons awaiting trial.

The four are accused of a variety of acts under federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) statutes: obtaining illegal weapons, such as a rocket-propelled grenade launcher; procuring and using bogus passports; illegally transferring money overseas; and conspiring to murder Tina Isa.

...

But reviews of tape-recorded conversations between Zein Isa and his daughters and their husbands also show that killing her to preserve the family honor was being discussed as early as August 1989.

-------------------------------

While Rashad “Rush” Darwish was not involved in the honor killing of his aunt, he doesn’t stray far from his ‘Palestinian’ roots. He is adamantly anti-Israel, pro BDS, and he has the support of Hamas-linked CAIR.

Darwish has also campaigned with another name-changing ‘Palestinian’ grandson of an Islamic terrorist whom we posted on two days ago: Ammar Campa-Najjar.

When “Rush” still went by the name Rashad, he was a member of the notorious Hamas-funding Bridgeview Mosque.

The mosque hosted al-Qaeda’s spiritual leader and it’s terror ties were so well known that a bank shut the mosque’s account and refused to do business with them. The mosque was also linked to the largest terror-financing conviction in U.S. history.

What other skeletons are in Rush Darwish’s closet? The media won’t investigate.

Do Illinois voters really want to find out the hard way? Was the lesson of Barrack Hussein “Barry Soetero” Obama not enough? 

In less than ten days we’ll find out.

--------------------------------------------------

Update 1: Rashad Darwish lost, and Lost Big

[itsmassivecollectionpatrolus]

The Main Source of Foreign Interference

The unrelenting preoccupation of the Democratic Party with “Russian disinformation” continued into the election season of 2020. For instance, Adam Schiff, the Head of the House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee, misled the public by fraudulently claiming Hunter Biden’s Laptop from Hell had been created and planted by Russian agents.

The perspectives of both Schiff and Sidney Powell fail to acknowledge the obvious fact that the main source of foreign interference in US domestic politics, including in elections, comes from the government of Israel as well as from some influential American Jews whose primary political attachment is to their perception of Israel’s best interests.

The main agencies for the exercise of Israeli and Jewish influence on US politics, including on US elections, are abundant, well funded, well organized and many-faceted. The clout of this complex of agencies plus the people that staff and support them have been examined by Walt and Mearshimer in their much discussed book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. Walt and Mearshimer devote much attention to explaining the deep and wide political influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC. They also devote considerable attention to the ADL.

Like AIPAC, the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith is core agency among the numerous and many-faceted organizations that together constitute the Israel Lobby. The ADL’s activities extend to close integration with law enforcement agencies at all levels, with media, and with the key movers and shakers of Silicon Valley.

In the course of 2020, Silicon Valley with its ADL bastion of Jewish power has been an important platform of operations for those intent on seizing control of the content of the Internet and especially of its main search engine, Google.

This preoccupation with controlling Internet content is a fundamental aspect of the effort to overcome and destroy the protections of the First Amendment in the US Constitution. The ADL’s participation in the tightly-coordinated attack on constitutional protections of free speech in this presidential contest can be conceived as component of Israeli interference in a US election.

The foreign influence of Israel on US politics including on elections goes far beyond the role of any other national or corporate lobby in the United States. The influence of, for instance, Venezuela, Cuba, Russia, Canada, or the UK on this US election does not come close to that of Israel. For decades the US political process has been constructed so that every US presidential election is a contest between Republican and Democratic Party advocates of close and friendly integration between the US and Israeli governments.

The lack of any genuine rivalry between Trump and Biden when it comes to the need for vigorous debate on US-Israel relations is par for the course. The foreign interference of Israel in US elections has been institutionalized to the point where it is made to seem normal. An aspect of the foreign interference puts certain important topics off limits as media cartels devote their resources to propagating Zionist propaganda rather than building up constitutionally-protected free speech including on sensitive subjects.

Both political parties share the bi-partisan principle that all candidates for top office must be vetted to disqualify any contenders whose platforms include significant criticisms of Israel. Generally speaking, any significant commitment to the principle of justice for the dispossessed and persecuted Palestinians is treated as the basis for disqualification from the even the possibility of achieving high office. The strength of this taboo against any honest discussion of Israel-Palestinian relation in presidential politics amounts to foreign interference in US elections on steroids.

Tony Hall

[treybien]

I love that you called my post bad faith, but didn't actually respond to the part where I specifically addressed your point. Also, I didn't call you condescending, I said it was a condescending take. I don't know you.

Okay, here are your words: "It's about people who have, pretty explicitly, stated that they're not going to vote because they think the Democratic Party will "wake up" or change because of it."

And here are mine: "For those reading, absenteeism is absolutely a valid expression of an educated voter. Democracies are judged in large part by their turnout."

Democrats, just like Republicans, are primarily interested in maintaining power. If you (not necessarily you, OP) think otherwise, you're the naive one unfortunately. If people don't vote for Democrats, whether by voting for another party or staying home, they lose that power. I call that sending a message, even if I don't agree with the means. In our system, many think that threatening to take away the Democrats power is as close as we can realistically get to influencing them

Large sections of the Democratic BASE voted against Biden in the primaries. They're absolutely terrified of Democrats/left-of-center voters staying home, but they're not doing anything to address the core of the issue because that would go against the interests of the donors and lobbyists, AIPAC, etc. I'm saying, stop looking at the individual level and start looking at the core of the fucking issue with why that group you identified refuses to vote

I'm trying very hard not to wade into US election discourse because I think a lot of it is like trying to talk to a brick wall that also has terminally online brainworms but at the very least do not be one of those people who deludes themselves into thinking that they're "sending a message" or "teaching the Democrats a lesson" by not voting for Biden. That has almost never worked and the Democratic party are not suddenly going to become Marxists overnight because some 25 year-old Tumblr user didn't vote.