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June 30, 2024
Key Takeaways:
- It's been 268 days since October 7, 2023, when, on Simchat Torah, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel and murdered 1,200 people (including 44 Americans). More Jews were murdered on that day than on any day since the Holocaust. Hamas wounded 3,300 and took 240 hostage during a day of brutal savagery and unspeakable, undeniable sexual violence; 120 hostages, 43 confirmed dead (but certainly more), some raped and possibly pregnant, remain captive in Gaza today.
- The 120 remaining hostages comprise five religions and 25 nationalities, including eight Americans, five probably alive: Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Keith Siegal, Omer Neutra, Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Itay Chen, Judi Weinstein Haggai, and Gad Haggai.
- At Thursday's debate, Trump lied for 90 minutes (typical) and Biden had one bad night (atypical) out of 3-1/2 years of exceptional achievements. It makes for good theater and gives pundits something to write about but let's keep this in perspective: it won't change any minds, Biden won't step down, he shouldn't step down, and nothing happened on Thursday that changed Biden's record, Trump's record, or the fact that Biden is the clear choice on all of our values and issues.
- The Antisemitism Awareness Act is misguided, dangerous legislation. The Senate should focus on passing the Countering Antisemitism Act, which will meaningfully fight antisemitism rather than contribute to the problem.
- Remember Jamaal Bowman? Doesn't that seem like forever ago? AIPAC did not buy the election. Bowman would have lost had they not spent a dime. The bottom line is that the Democratic Party is overwhelmingly pro-Israel with Bowman in office and it will remain overwhelmingly pro-Israel with George Latimer in office.
Read to the end for corrections, what you may have missed last week, fun stuff, and upcoming events.
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Hi Steve,
I was going to devote the entire newsletter to Thursday's debate until Rick Wilson summed it up in one tweet:
"Biden had a bad night.
"Also, Trump is an existential threat to democracy, the Republic, the Constitution, and our most fundamental liberties, in addition to being a fraud, a liar, a felon, a degenerate, a global embarrassment, and an ally of evil.
"Toughen up. Fight's on."
I don't know what happened with Biden. His voice was raspy and he performed poorly. It's likely he had a cold. I saw and heard him in person and up close in the Rose Garden at the White House Jewish American Heritage Month Reception last month and he was energetic and in full command. The day after the debate, in North Carolina, he looked and sounded great, although you could still detect remnants of the cold.
I wish Biden had done better but ask yourself this: Do you know anyone who supported Biden before the debate and changed their mind? Do you know anyone who supported Trump before the debate and changed their mind? Televised debates have been theater since they started and they don't sway votes despite the media attention. Most people watch to cheer their side, not to make up their minds.
Post-debate polling from CNN, Morning Consult, Hart Research, and 538 shows that while voters had strong opinions on how each candidate performed, the debate had little or no impact on voting preferences.
Biden will and should be the nominee and he will win. Get a grip.
We need to stop treating Republicans like toddlers. There is a candidate who should drop out: Donald Trump. Yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer editorial is the editorial of the year--it's all here. Read and share it now.
But we don't expect Republicans to demand that he step down. Democrats are hand-wringing about a debate performance where Biden said hardly anything wrong but wasn't dynamic while Republicans are fine with a 34-time convicted felon with the morals of an alley cat who had sex with a porn star four months after his wife gave birth and who told lies for 90 minutes with vigor.
Trump is a bigot, a misogynist, a fraud, and a bully. His racism, xenophobia, and contempt for democracy, not to mention his unhinged mind, his detachment from reality, his theft of classified documents, inciting an insurrection, refusing to accept the results of a lawful election, legal liability for sexual abuse, hostility to reproductive rights, terrible record as president, and long record of antisemitism are matters of fact.
Trump repeatedly invokes Hitler and the Nazis. Trump dined with Kanye West and white nationalist/Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. Trump said that white nationalists marching with tiki torches in Charlottesville chanting "Jews will not replace us" were "very fine people."
And some are saying Biden should step down? Why the double standard? And if we are content to treat Republicans as if they have no agency and can't help themselves when they vote for and continue to support Trump, why on earth should we vote for any Republican who supports Trump, let alone Trump himself? Would you give a toddler access to nuclear weapons? That's what you're doing if you vote for Trump.
Trump lied his way through all 90 minutes of the debate. Biden proved that he is no Barack Obama or Bill Clinton when it comes to debate style. But as Monique Pressley pointed out, "the proof of Biden’s ability to run the country is the fact that he is running it. Successfully. Not a debate performance against a pathological lying sociopath."
Jennifer Rubin wrote, "the debate format allowed Trump to present a nonstop stream of nonsense and lies. Biden was compelled to play whack-a-mole. It is humanly impossible to bat them all down in a situation such as this ... Trump can shamelessly lie when moderators don’t fact-check in real time. The format simply does not work with an inveterate liar."
Biden is guilty of being old. Trump is guilty of 34 felonies and counting. I'll take Biden, and as Rubin reminds us, "a president’s gait, verbal tics and minor recall errors have virtually nothing to do with the job of being president. The White House occupant is not a 'Jeopardy!' contestant, a stand-up comic, a talk-show host or guest; the president is the head of the executive branch and commander in chief."
Let's remember the stakes in this election. This is not "The Apprentice." This is the most consequential election in our lives. Democracy, abortion, the economy, and the future of the Supreme Court are at stake. The choice is a second Biden administration or a second Trump administration. That's it. If you don't think people will choose wisely after Thursday's debate, it's on you to make sure they do.
A Tale of Two Antisemitism Bills. The bill that will make a difference is the Countering Antisemitism Act but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) still refuses to bring it to the floor for a vote despite urging from 61 major Jewish organizations from across the spectrum.
The Antisemitism Awareness Act, with its emphasis on the IHRA definition of antisemitism, is misguided legislation that will not help solve antisemitism on campus or anywhere else. Michelle Goldberg explains why Senators need to stop the Antisemitism Awareness Act.
This thread from the Nexus Project and this article from Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) provide further reasons to oppose the Antisemitism Awareness Act. Alan Solow explains that the Antisemitism Awareness Act's "claim to helping combat the disturbing surge in anti-Jewish incidents across the United States is, upon closer examination, little more than a symbolic gesture that could actually weaken the fight against this bigotry."
The Senate should not pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act and should instead bring the Countering Antisemitism Act for a vote.
George Latimer defeated Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY). AIPAC did not buy the election. Latimer was a strong candidate and Bowman would have lost with or without its participation. Bowman was down by 17 points before AIPAC started spending and he lost by 17 points $14.5 million later.
AIPAC is good at picking candidates who are going to win and taking credit for the inevitable. Ironically, people who wouldn't believe AIPAC if it said the earth was round the sky was blue believe AIPAC when it says that its money made the difference (I had to revise that last sentence because some Trump supporters probably would dispute assertions that the earth is not flat).
Elections are not decided based on Israel. I'm pro-Israel, but if "pro-Israel is good politics" then AIPAC would have run ads against Bowman about Israel. They didn't because they are smart; they know that most voters don't vote on foreign policy issues. Of the eight or nine members of the Squad (out of 213 Democrats), Bowman has lost and Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) will lose. The rest will win.
It's as silly to say that Democrats are getting better on Israel because Bowman was, and Bush will be, rejected by Democratic voters as it was to say that Democrats were getting worse on Israel when they won. The media focuses on outliers because outliers are different and outliers are news.
But the vast majority of the 213 Democrats in Congress--including of the Progressive Caucus--are pro-Israel by any reasonable definition. When you step back and look at the forest instead of the trees, it is objectively clear that Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism (no Republican members of Congress have condemned Rep Scott Perry's (R-PA) latest antisemitic post).
Corrections. I'm entitled to my own opinions but not to my own facts, so I appreciate it when readers bring errors to my attention. No one pointed out any substantive errors in last week's newsletter. There was one typo that did not change the meaning.
In Case You Missed It:
- Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert accused Netanyahu of betraying Israel citing, among many other facts, Netanyahu's false accusations against President Biden, whose support for Israel has been unprecedented and unwavering.
- Hostage families urged American Jewish institutions to pressure Netanyahu to make a deal to secure the release of the hostages.
Tweets of the Week.
Twitter Threads of the Week:
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The Nexus Project on what the ADL and other organizations can do to effectively fight antisemitism. See also this from Nexus on when anti-Zionism is not antisemitism.
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Ben Samuels with the truth about President Biden's and Vice President Harris's condemnation of Hamas's use of sexual violence since October 7, including false allegations about a fact sheet.
Serious Video Clips of the Week.
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If you think the clips of Biden the day after the debate were cherry-picked, watch his entire speech (starting at the 26-minute mark) from the day after the debate.
Funny Video Clips of the Week.
For those new to this newsletter. This is the newsletter even Republicans have to read and the original home of the viral and beloved 2022 and 2023 Top Ten Signs You're At a Republican Seder. If someone forwarded this to you, why not subscribe and get it in your inbox every Sunday? Just click here--it's free.
I periodically update my posts on why Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism and on the IHRA definition of antisemitism. My definition of "pro-Israel" is here (it's a work in progress, as am I).
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