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The recent (March 19) issue of The Washington Examiner has an outstanding op ed by Kyle Orton entitled "The Corbynization of the Democratic Party." There is a strong undercurrent caused by radicals to destroy democracies. Britain is threatened, our own nation is threatened and the list is primed to expand.
The Democrat Party is so infected it no longer is worth saving.
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I believe youth are critically behind many cravings for change because they generally are.
Where would MLK's Movement been without the lunch counter sitters? Where would the Viet Nam Protests been without the anti-war crowd? Where would the French Republic be were it not for the barricaders? Where would Israel be without the Kibutzim?
Youth, by nature, is energetic and thus, easily motivated. They are more susceptible to being radicalized because they also can be easily manipulated. They are very idealistic because they have nothing to lose and quick to come to the side of the perceived under-dog.They are less sophisticated and capable of and/or impatient enough to understand comprehensive/sophisticated/subtle nuances.
When youth comes up against "establishment push back" they are generally consumed by the moment and thus, are seldom deterred by their lack of knowledge of history.
Meanwhile, the Democrat Party has been radically impacted and shaken by its roots by several of their new members. The fact that senior members of that party have taken the pusillanimous route marks that party's death knell.
What is happening serves the interests of our adversaries. How long and far this trend will go is any one's guess. These episodes burn out over time partly because sought change occurs and impatient youth move on to new challenges. Stay tuned.
https://www.foxnews.com/
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Trump has proposed universities, who receive federal research funding, address the issue of restricting free speech on their campuses. He also has suggested the same logic should apply in response to sanctuary entities that defy federal laws.
This from a man Trump haters and assorted detractors claim is a tyrant and dictator.
Finally, Trump has accomplished what Obama was afraid to do - smash ISIS for the moment. Islamic terrorism, like mercury, will reform.
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As the prospect of Mueller's report nears Democrats, and specifically Schiff, have pirouetted from Trump colluding with Russia, then, when that seemed unlikely, they accused Trump's firing of Comey as an effort to thwart an investigation. That always was a thin ice accusation so now they seem to be attacking Mueller.
They are so hell bent on disparaging Trump and bringing him down they cannot restrain themselves.
Schiff is one sick puppy and were he up for adoption I would pass.
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My memo list comprises more Christian friends than Jewish and my focus on Israel, issues of interest to Jews an anti-Semitism is purposeful. Why? Because what Jews face is, all too often, the leading edge of what all decent people's will ultimately confront. Hate is a virus that spreads and if not met head on will, as it has in the past, will lead to tragedy.
Being Jewish, I probably have a bias but my goal is to try and warn my readers that ignored in-grown toe nails can result in the loss of an entire limb, even sepsis and death.
I have been a member of AIPAC for probably 40 years. Sam Nunn actually urged me to join when he was kind enough to take me to lunch while I was attending a business meeting in D.C.and after I had a scheduled meeting with him.
AIPAC's non-partisan purpose is to build strong relationships between America and Israel. The organization is made up of members who are center left and over the years I reduced my level of contributing membership and been less active. Why? Because I saw what was coming down the pike and thought their approach would eventually end in dysfunction with Democrats. It is one thing to be impartial and it is another to realize you are being rejected and slowly cooked like the frog story..
It now appears the Democrat Party has turned its back on Israel. They began going down this road after Obama was elected. AIPAC has been one of the more effective lobbying organizations and in the last few decades sympathizers, with the Palestinian cause, have been hard at work building a co-alition of resistance to AIPAC. With the election of radical Muslim Representatives and assorted anti-Semites as influential Democrats Party members their anti-Israel/AIPAC attitude has come full front and center.
I doubt it will have much impact on Jewish liberal thinking because they will find it difficult breaking their enslaved ties to the Democrat Party. Some might stay home, some might give less but they will use their hate for Trump as an excuse to remain loyal to their own self-hanging. It is Ship of Fools all over again. (See 1 below.)
Lou Weiss is a friend and fellow memo reader from Pittsburgh.His daughter, Bari, is an up and coming shining star with The Wall Street Journal. (See 1a, 1b and 1c below.)
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Kim pursues the truth and uncovers more lies.(See 2 below.)
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Dick
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1) I received this from a very dear friend and fellow memo reader who, when I first met him, was a typical liberal. Over the years I believe he has modified his political views because of his relationship with me. I received this from him this morning:
"I send this article to my friends, both Democrat and Republican…..with no intention of being divisive. I just think it’s important to consider priorities. Yes, Trump’s behavior is objectionable, likely dishonest (although I haven’t met many honest politicians) and at times borders on despicable. But, the article below asks us as Jews to consider other realities when we evaluate alternatives and watch the world unfold as it is in relationship to Jews.
In my view, it’s time we start speaking with one voice in support of Israel and Jewry. I can guarantee you, much of the world isn’t. When we are faced with a party, many of whose members actively promote anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment (and those in that party who won’t disassociate themselves from these people), with a party led by someone who people “accuse” of inciting anti-Semitism (in essentially a group consisting of some 10,000 people)….which appear to be our choices, I will risk favoring the latter. I’m no fan of Trump, but I will support him for the reasons which are pretty obvious….and well described by the author in the article below.If you decide to rebut this message, please don’t bother telling me that Trump was elected by the Russians, that some of his associates are crooked, that he is anti-immigration, etc. If you have evidence to dispute that members of the Democratic Party can’t be trusted to support Jews, are anti-Semitic and anti-Israel and that Jews should whole-heartedly support the Democratic Party, I’m all ears.Should you agree with the sentiments expressed in the article below, I encourage you to pass it along to all those who might value reading it.
It’s Time For a Talk
You are the resounding 72-74% majority of the 5.4 Million American Jewry who have backed the Democratic Party since the sun has risen in the East. We get it; you’re for minority rights because you will forever identify as a minority. You’re forever for JFK , even though his brand of liberalism is long gone and has actually morphed into modern conservatism. You’re forever for FDR, even though it was the Republican Ronald Reagan who delivered approximately 3,000,000 Soviet Jews from bondage of Anti-Semitic leftist oppression.You have the power to determine how history will judge us.From one Jew to another. From one parent/grandparent to another. From one who utters “Never Again!” to another. From one witnessing the vile anti-Semitic floats in Belgian parades to another. From one in horror watching the U.K. descend into 100 monthly anti-Semitic incidents to another. And from one seeing, in disbelief, the rise of anti-Semitism in the U.S. to another. We may not agree on much else, but this outrage we have in common.
We’re in the Situation Room of the 11th hour. Let’s connect all the dots together.The Democratic Party of the 1950s was the party of the underdog, and you’re forever the underdog, in your mind, in your memory and by virtue of our tiny demographic. Your parents and grandparents have been married to the Democratic party since before you were born, and you can’t let go of what has been engrained in you with mother’s milk. Understandable.Today is 2019, not the 1950s. And after the devastating failure of your Party to stand with you (as Jews) unequivocally against the rabid Nazi-era anti-Semitism of Democratic Congresswoman Omar, you stand in the final hour of a critical decision, depleted of all excuses for your political loyalty. And you know it.
First, your history:
• At the UN, your favorite President Barack Obama, famously called for Israel to return to 1967 Borders. You said nothing and continued to exalt his virtue.
• The same man orchestrated UN’s resolution #2334, de facto proclaiming most of Israel illegitimate in Jewish hands. You said nothing and continued to exalt his virtue.
• On his way out of office, the same Democratic POTUS released a whopping $150 Billion to the mullahs of Iran who have a single clearly stated goal; washing Israel out to sea with their nukes. You said nothing and continued to sing the 44th praises.
• You watched as Obama whispered to French President Sarkozy “…You are sick of him, but I have to work with him every day.”, mocking PM Benjamin Netenyahu of Israel. You said nothing and continued to applaud Obama.
• You watched the spiraling souring of America-Israel relations under Obama’s leadership. You said nothing and continued the love affair with Obama.
• You knew of Obama’s $350,000 interference in Israel’s national election to subvert the democratic process. You looked the other way and said nothing.
• You never once heard the word “Jihad” leave Obama’s lips when describing Islamic terror attacks against Jews in France. You said nothing and continued to praise him in your liberal synagogues.…Because Obama is your guy. Because he had the visible color of the underdog. Because the Democratic party is the perceived home of your ancestors.Those ancestors are dead, but here is your record:• President Donald Trump, by virtue of the American Embassy move, underscores Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel. You instantly end your supine silence and find your voice in loud opposition to the most logical, lawful, courageous and Israel-loving politic. With trembling knees, you proclaim “he’s angering the Arabs” in your posturing speeches on Shul Bimahs, in schools, social media and in endless editorials. When WW3 failed to occur, you retreat back to your silence, having sufficiently defamed the President.
• President Trump reaffirms a record-setting annual budget of $4 Billion to Israel, including a $200M increase in 2019, for the next 10 years for a total of $40 Billion. What do you do? You bash the President in choir with CNN.
• President Trump defunds Israel-denying UNRWA. You continue to bash the President.
• President Trump defunds murderous Mahmoud Abbas to the tune of $250 Million per year. You continue to bash the President.
• You watch Trump’s appointee Nikki Haley staunchly defend Israel at the UN, time and time again. Speaking against UN’s anti-Israel biases & infinite resolutions of condemnation, like no one has ever before, Trump’s envoy to the UN stuns the world with her courage. Yet you continue to bash the President.
• President Trump stands alone against feckless Europe in ending the disastrous Obama era of Nuclear Appeasement with Iran, undoing the damage done by the your favorite ex-President. Ignoring this courageous unpopular move and Iran’s devotion to the annihilation of the Jewish people as its number one cause, you continue to bash the President.
• In every State of the Union and UN address, you hear President Trump exalt Israel, condemn the Holocaust, and explicitdly exclaim the non-negotiated American support for Israel under his administration. Backed not by his words, but by his deeds! ….You? You continue to bash the President.
Holocaust Survivors and American religious Jewry unreservedly embrace the President with warm support and voter presence. Speaking at Trump’s commemorations of Jewish events & important dates, celebrating Hannukah with singing and candle lighting by Trump grandchildren and children, in full view to the world from the White House. First occurrences ever in history! And you? You continue to bash the President.
• You know of Trump Family long-standing personal financial support for Israel, Fred Trump’s designation of NY buildings for subsidization of Post-Holocaust Jews, complete with a funded synagogue inside. But you continue to bash the President.
• In August of 2015, Donald Trump's own private jet carried a critically ill 3-year-old Jewish boy from California to New York for medical treatment, when commercial airline refused to fly him. You? You continue to bash the President.
• You’ve even watched the First Daughter, The First observantly Jewish Daughter of the Oval Office (another first in history!) pray at Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall, along with her father, the grandfather of this, de facto, First Jewish Family that every Friday night observes Shabbat. Amazingly, you continue to bash the President to the sound of the CNN drum.
• You, the liberal Jews of America, continue to bash the man who has never once said, let alone done, anything remotely anti-Semitic. You go as far as partaking in discussions and events that compare Trump to Hitler and the KKK. You sign petitions and you echo the cherry-picked sound-bytes of MSNBC’s three-year smear campaign.How you vote and what you do:• You vote for the party of Louis Farrakhan, who only months ago called you “termites”!
• You vote for the party whose elected politicians announce that you have duel loyalty, the oldest most vilifying anti-Semitic charge of genocidal racism
• You vote for the party that can’t remove a repeatedly outspoken rabid anti-Semite from membership in the Foreign Affairs Committee, which sets policy with Israel and its friendly neighbors.
• You vote for the party that dilutes and shoves its unhinged pre-Holocaust brand of anti-Semitism under the table, unable to pass a simple resolution against their hate of YOU.
• While chanting anti-Trump slogans, you march with anti-Israel activitist Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory, women who rub shoulders with Farakkhan & Al Sharpton, men who proclaim your children to be “Satanic Jews”.
• You vote for the party of Bernie Sanders, the man who defends Omar’s anti-Semitism and Palestinian militancy against Israel’s citizens. The same Socialist Sanders who once falsely accused Israel of a 10,000 dead-Palestinians genocide. The same Sanders who thinks your children “standing in queues for food is a good idea”.
• Astonishingly, you lend your vote to the party of BDS advocacy against Israel..!
• You stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who praises Jeremy Corbyn, accuses Israel of occupation, and now stands in official support of Congresswoman Omar.
• You even vote for the party whose elected officials tell you (the Jews) that you and your ilk have “hypnotized the world”...!
• You vote with the party whose elected official may be in violation of a federal statute for fundraising for two Muslim Brotherhood charities and its affiliates. Same officials who participate as keynote speakers at events for the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated groups IRUSA and CAIR.
• You vote for the party whose loyal College Campus Academia ubiquitously advances anti-Israel positions & Israel Apartheid weeks, and writes endless editorial pages against Israel’s “aggression”. The piously liberal Academia that prevents Israeli speakers from speaking on campuses. The Academia that poisonously convinced your children that bashing Israel does not amount to anti-Semitism.
• You vote for the party that morally equates Israel to terror groups and Islamic countries of horrendous human rights abuses.
• You vote for the party whose right arm, the media, exalts the Palestinian cause vis-à-vis Hamas terror on Israeli borders and streets.
• You vote “democrat” alongside anti-Israel groups like Jewish Voices for Peace, J-Street and George Soros.
• You vote for the party, whose members tried to shamelessly tie the Pittsburgh murders to President Trump and even tried to prevent him from visiting the aftermath.
• You voted for Hillary Clinton, Democratic Presidential for 2016, who by her own admission, was mentored by KKK member Senator Byrd. Photographed and videoed kissing the man while he was alive and proudly eulogizing him at his funeral.
• You vote for the party that gave us the KKK, David Duke and white supremacy. All the while, relentlessly brainwashing the public to tie this Democrat evil to the Republicans.
• You vote for the party that continues to ridicule and defame President Trump in order to keep the hate in you alive.
• You vote for the party that unanimously voted against Lincoln’s abolishment of slavery, championed by the Republicans.
• You vote for the party that stood against the 1964 Act for Civil Rights aimed to benefit American blacks.
• You vote against the party (GOP) who elected first ever African American Senators.
• You vote against the Republican Party that just championed and passed the anti-BDS measure with notable Democrats in dissent
So it isn’t the disenfranchised, marginalized-by-all 10,000 white supremacists (your party’s own embryo) you should be worried about. It’s the sweeping reach of the politically “correct” anti-Semitic Democratic Party into our collective psyche, our culture, our schools, our social norms, and our public opinion you should be disturbed about. Millions of malleable minds ingesting normalized anti-Semitism is a far greater threat to your children’s future than a one-time march of a unanimously hated group of thugs.Going back to its Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow days, the beloved Democrat Party of your ancestors has always been a hotbed of antisemitism — a party that has, for decades, tolerated and feted Louis Farrakhan while embracing Rev. Al Sharpton. A Party that is now in the firm grip of Congresswomen Tlaib, Omar and AOC. A party that is breaking free from the hiding of its genetic antisemitism.
Your Party has failed you. It failed everyone it pretends to champion with its empty but loud rhetoric: the middle class, the minorities and the poor. It has conditioned you to see yourself not as proud Jews, but as underdogs only, indoctrinated to believe in the Democratic Party’s deliverance, irrespective of its dismal track record. Like you, this is the brainwash much of Soviet Jewish citizenry under the Proletariat of the old Soviet Union bought into, only a few decades earlier.
"Divisive” is not the work of the most Jewish President U.S. of A. has ever elected, but the push of Democratic Party’s agenda that thrives on three wings of hate: “Blame it on the Evangelicals”, “Blame it on the Russians” and “Blame it on Trump”. The party which now officially and proudly adds the 4th wing of hate to their platform, the one that you can’t run from or double-talk against; “Blame it on the Jews”.
Your visceral hate has been meticulously cultivated by the daily brainwash of the Democratic Party’s liberal media. In 2016, the Democratic Party received a total donation of $1,020,816, given by 1,160 employees of the three major broadcast television networks (NBC, CBS, ABC), while the Republican Party received only $142,863 via 193 donations from employees of these same organizations. And that's before we mention CNN and its boss who is toying with the idea of running for Democratic leadership. Are we tying the dots yet?
You stand with the party that has exhumed every hatred & division across racial & identity lines known to man. All to secure your loyalty and obedience as the perpetual underdog.
Today, in March 2019, you stand with the party that’s incapable of taking the smallest symbolic stand against anti-Semitism, let alone eradicate it from its ranks.
You stand with the party that stands against you.
You stand with the party that continues to elect Islamic and anti-Semitic politicians who propagate anti-Semitism proudly, even though your voter ballots are too few to matter to them in any election.
Yet, you stand against the party who takes up your cause and shows unequivocal support for Israel, and whose President wakes up to daily abuse for his pro-Israel, pro-Jewish stance, all despite your hate of him and your utterly insignificant voter power.
You’ve been duped. But believing a lie is easier than admitting you’ve been lied to. There’s no longer any ambiguity or defensibility of the Democratic Party and we all know it. They have sold you out, because your numbers are insignificant in the voting booth. And because another minority they can’t upset provides them with a much bigger voting block. You have a choice to continue on this path of self-desecration, dragging the rest of us to 1930s Germany with you, or you can walk away now, before the next election.
Your other option, to comfortably retreat right back into the lazy boy of your trembling Jewish knees and once again vote Democrat in 2020, still remains. Telling yourself the same old lie “Everyone is anti-Semitic. Why change?”
Just remember this; When you’re no longer at the dinner table, you’re on the menu. And you’re certainly no longer at the dinner table with the Democratic Party, Islam is.
What legacy are you leaving your grandchildren? The legacy of the new but all-too-familiar German Jews with heads in the sand? Or the legacy of the 21st Century American Maccabees? Your clock is running out.
As the majority block of the collective American Jewish vote, you have the power to determine how history and all our children judge us Make the right choice
1a)Democratic presidential candidates cancel their attendance at AIPAC
By ALON EINHORN
Some of the Democratic candidates for the US presidential elections said on Thursday they would not attend the annual AIPAC conference in Washington DC next week.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, former House of Representatives member Beto O'Rourke and Senator Kamala Harris of California, all of whom announced they would run for the Democratic primaries next year, decided not to attend the conference. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who considers running for president as an independent candidate, will also avoid attending the conference.
The absence of these Democratic candidates comes as the organization MoveOn called on the Democratic presidential candidates not to attend this year's conference, claiming that AIPAC worked to derail the nuclear agreement with Iran, on which former President Barack Obama worked hard, and on the grounds that the lobby uses "anti-Muslim and anti-Arab rhetoric." According to MoveOn, by boycotting the conference, Democratic candidates will be able to show that they are truly progressive.
On the other hand, the fact that the Democratic candidates will not attend the conference gives US President Donald Trump an opportunity to emphasize his ties with the Israeli government.
On Thursday, Trump announced in a historic step that the time has come for the US to recognize Israel's sovereignty on the Golan Heights.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, former House of Representatives member Beto O'Rourke and Senator Kamala Harris of California, all of whom announced they would run for the Democratic primaries next year, decided not to attend the conference. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who considers running for president as an independent candidate, will also avoid attending the conference.
The absence of these Democratic candidates comes as the organization MoveOn called on the Democratic presidential candidates not to attend this year's conference, claiming that AIPAC worked to derail the nuclear agreement with Iran, on which former President Barack Obama worked hard, and on the grounds that the lobby uses "anti-Muslim and anti-Arab rhetoric." According to MoveOn, by boycotting the conference, Democratic candidates will be able to show that they are truly progressive.
On the other hand, the fact that the Democratic candidates will not attend the conference gives US President Donald Trump an opportunity to emphasize his ties with the Israeli government.
On Thursday, Trump announced in a historic step that the time has come for the US to recognize Israel's sovereignty on the Golan Heights.
AIPAC has refused to comment on the absence of the presidential candidates, but noted that some of the Democratic candidates in the current primaries have already attended the conference, including Harris, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Senator Amy Klobuchar.
Josh Orton, a senior adviser to Bernie Sanders, confirmed that Sanders would be absent from the conference, and said that Sanders, a Jew who had harshly criticized Israeli policy in the past, "is very concerned about the stage that AIPAC gives to leaders who have expressed extreme positions and who oppose the two-state solution."
The Democratic Party's disagreements over the US-Israel relations were evident last month when New Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who is the first Muslim Congresswoman in US history, claimed that AIPAC lobbyists pay Congress members to support Israel. Her words drew harsh criticism from both parties, and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also scolded her for the antisemitic statements. Omar eventually apologized.
Omar's remarks since her swearing in to Congress in January underscore the deepening crack in the Democratic Party between its old establishment members, who are closer to the Center camp, and the radical Left camp that is growing stronger within the party. Three of the top stars of this growing camp are Omar, Rashida Tlaib, who is the first Palestinian Congress member in history, and New York parliamentarian Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
US President Donald Trump accused the Democratic Party two weeks ago of becoming an anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli party.
1b) Jewish Dem asked Reps. Omar and Tlaib to affirm Israel's right to exist. Here's their stunning response.
By Chris Enloe
The Democratic Party is facing an impasse: How do they manage anti-Semitism from freshman lawmakers, most notably, Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), without alienating their progressive colleagues from the caucus?
The solution, so far, has been to hold several private, closed-door meetings, which lawmakers believe foster safe environments to be frank with one another.
After Omar's latest round of anti-Semitism, in which she questioned the loyalty of pro-Israel lawmakers, a group of Jewish and Muslim Democrats met together on March 5 for what was supposed to be a "moment meant to be about listening and learning,"according to The Washington Post.
Instead, the meeting devolved into "anti-Semitic jokes and unapologetic members of Congress," the Washington Free Beacon reported.
What happened at the meeting?
According to the Post, which first reported the gathering, Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) organized the "formal event" with the hope that lawmakers within his party could both share differing perspectives and address rampant anti-Semitism that has come to define the Democratic Party this year.
To comfort Omar and Tlaib, Levin invited Bend the Arc — a deeply progressive and anti-Israeli activist organization with ties to George Soros — to moderate the discussion. He also invited Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Omar and Tlaib's closest allies in Congress.
The lawmakers discussed their family lives in an attempt to humanize everyone for nearly two hours before Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) addressed the elephant in the room. He characterized Omar's controversial comments the as "tips of the arrow" of American anti-Semitism.
Lawmakers who spoke to the Post privately said Phillips then urged Omar to apologize and "publicly affirm Israel's right to exist and protect itself." The request "stunned the three Muslim Democrats in the room," the Post reported. Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) was the third Muslim at the gathering.
According to the Post, Omar did not respond to Phillips' request. Instead, the conversation shifted to Palestine as Tlaib broke out in tears when describing the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on her family, like her grandmother who lives in the West Bank. Others saw racism in Phillips' suggestion.
The Post reported:
Others in the room saw racial undertones in Phillips's comments, offended that a white businessman representing an affluent suburban community was suggesting a black refugee such as Omar incited fear.
Tlaib's reaction reportedly stunned Phillips, who later embraced the freshman lawmaker and expressed interest in meeting her grandmother.
"It wasn't planned, and it wasn't what we expected. But I think it was cathartic. It certainly was for me," Phillips told the Post.
Anything else?
The Free Beacon reported that a representative for Bend the Arc engaged in anti-Semitism jokes at the gathering, lamenting "about Jews and money." Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) rebuked the jokester and questioned why it was allowed at the sensitive gathering.
"It's not okay. These [sorts of jokes] are off-limits. It's confusing for someone like me who is trying to learn," she later told the Post about the incident.
However, the Post has since removed this detail from its story. The editor's note at the bottom of the article does not explain the edit, nor does it mention why the detail was removed from the story altogether.
1c) Why Do Americans Care About Israel?
To understand, look to Aipac’s Policy Conference.
By Lou Weiss
-Semites on the hard right and the hard left love to decry the power of the “Jewish lobby.” In one sense they’re right. Israel does exert a profound pull on the American soul. The two nations share deep commonalities, interests and profound respect. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac, gains its strength not only from Jewish support, but also from the scores of millions of gentile Americans who cherish these bonds.
Aipac’s tent is big—some 18,000 people will show up to this weekend’s Policy Conference—and it supports the U.S.-Israel relationship no matter who’s in power in either country. I’ve attended the annual gathering for more than 25 years. One finds conservatives and liberals and a sense of relief that, for a few days, the elephants lie down with the donkeys. The solidarity reminds me of Pittsburgh Steelers home games, only with less religious fervor.
You’ve heard of two Jews, three opinions? Do the math for 18,000. The conference’s first two days feature political, cultural, military and media mavens from all sides of every issue. Yet together the group forges a rough consensus on the policies that strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Why do these Americans—many of whom aren’t Jews but black ministers, Hispanic businessmen, student leaders and Midwestern firemen—care so much about the well-being of a country the size of New Jersey, half a world away?
It’s not about “the Benjamins.” Last year Aipac spent $3.5 million on lobbying. International Paper spent $3.8 million. Nor is Aipac about secret loyalty to Israel, lawmakers betraying oaths, or any other twist on ancient libels. Aipac is driven by the Smiths, the Joneses and the Sanchezes, Americans who intuitively grasp the importance of support for the Jewish state.
Some admire Israel as a plucky democracy standing up for deeply American values of liberty and pluralism. For others it’s Israel’s progressive treatment of women and gays. Some see Israel on the front lines of the war on terror and want to help it fight back. Others admire Israel because the Hebrew Bible states that those who bless Abraham and his great nation will themselves be blessed. Is it purely a coincidence that America, the most successful country in history, treats its Jews better than any other nation ever has?
Aipac knows the best time to meet your congressman was 15 years ago, so the third day of every conference ends on Capitol Hill. In celebration of the First Amendment, ideas explored the previous two days are distilled into legislation and letters that attendees take to their representatives to discuss and ask for support. The activists will thank lawmakers for supporting Israel with military aid, and express concern about Iran, an Islamic state that daily threatens to annihilate the only Jewish one.
Yesterday was the holiday of Purim. It celebrates how the Jews, with the wisdom of Mordechai and the bravery of Queen Esther, dodged an ancient Persian genocide. Following the heroes of old, Aipac encourages Americans of all stripes to stand strong together with Israel against Iranian threats and prevent another modern holocaust.
Mr. Weiss is a Pittsburgh carpet salesman.
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2)
What FBI’s Counsel Told Congress
Baker’s testimony shows Comey wasn’t being fully candid about the dossier.
By Kimberley Strassel
One problem with the Trump-Russia investigation is that the facts continue to be released in dribs and drabs. The unreleased House transcript of the testimony of James Baker, former general counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is Exhibit A for why it is so crucial for Americans to get full documentation, and soon.
Bits of the Baker transcript have leaked, including a few explosive lines about the FBI’s musings over removing President Trump via the 25th Amendment. But it’s his Oct. 3 and Oct. 18 interviews as a whole, which I have obtained, that make for revealing reading. Former Director James Comey worked hard in his own interview to play dumb regarding what the FBI knew about the political hit men who fed the bureau information about the Trump campaign. Mr. Baker was far more candid.
Mr. Comey and others at the FBI like to tell a tale in which the FBI obtained its dossier of Trump allegations via controlled interactions with one “reliable” source—dossier author Christopher Steele. Mr. Baker makes clear the FBI knew that Glenn Simpson, head of the opposition-research firm Fusion GPS, was papering Washington with his scandalous material—which the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign paid him to have Mr. Steele gather.
“My understanding at the time was that Simpson was going around Washington giving this out to a lot of different people and trying to elevate its profile,” Mr. Baker testified. More important, the FBI understood it was the target of this pressure campaign. Mr. Baker acknowledges there were “various copies of the dossier floating around Washington,” and that they were all being funneled to the FBI.
Mr. Baker explains that top FBI leadership was told Justice Department attorney Bruce Ohr “had some type of relationship” with Mr. Steele and “that somehow through that mechanism . . . information was flowing to the FBI.” He says that his “longtime friend,” the liberal Mother Jones reporter David Corn, also fed the FBI the dossier. “I know that David was anxious to get this into the hands of FBI. And being the person at the FBI that he knew the best, he wanted to give it to me.” Mr. Baker admits that he “assumed” Mr. Corn got it from “Simpson or somebody acting on Simpson’s behalf.” He further admits a lawyer with ties to the DNC, Michael Sussmann, also passed along to Mr. Baker documents with Trump-Russia accusations.
The former general counsel even tacitly acknowledges that the dossier crowd knew exactly what it was doing in choosing its funnels. Evidence doesn’t normally flow to the bureau through Justice Department lawyers or FBI general counsels. But Mr. Baker says that because of Mr. Ohr’s “pre-existing relationship” with Mr. Steele, the FBI allowed Justice to play backchannel. And as part of questioning as to why other outsiders chose to come to him of all people, Mr. Baker admits that, well, anything coming from the general counsel’s office would be taken seriously.
Mr. Comey and other FBI defenders also like to say the FBI had no reason to doubt Mr. Steele’s reliability or motives, or to think the FBI might be subject to political manipulation. Mr. Comey declared in his own House testimony that “I don’t even remember hearing the name Fusion GPS” and that it “didn’t matter” who funded the work. But Mr. Baker’s testimony makes clear the FBI was highly aware of Mr. Simpson and his reputation, and of the risk all this would blow up. The general counsel explained that the FBI’s application to eavesdrop on Carter Page through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was one of the few he ever personally reviewed. Why? Because it was “sensitive” and “controversial” and targeted a person with “connections to a candidate for the office of President of the United States.”
That, Mr. Baker said, was also why in its FISA application “we were obligated to talk about Simpson and what the hell we knew about him”—namely to “alert the [FISA] court to the fact that there were a range of issues with respect to the providence [sic] of this information and the relationship that we had with respect to Mr. Simpson and his credibility.” Mr. Baker nonetheless fails to explain how that “range of issues” was communicated via the obscure footnote the FBI ultimately included in its application, which vouched for Mr. Steele and made only vague reference to an “identified U.S. Person” who might (or might not) have political motives.
As to Mr. Sussmann and his documents, Mr. Baker similarly says he “was concerned about the nature of this material from the first instance.” He knew Mr. Sussmann was involved with the DNC and had also given his documents to the New York Times. Yet the FBI appears to have generally closed its eyes and ears to just how thoroughly it was being played.
The Baker interview is itself peppered with references to other documents—emails, FBI interviews, the file used to support the FISA application. It’s past time Americans got the full story.
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