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What I’ve Been Up To Lately
- Remember kids, Twitter Torah experiment at 2:30PM EST: Collaborative discussion on Parshat Balak. Get in on it at #balak. 23 hrs ago
- RT @spagnoloacht Video of my Creative Commons Salon presentation on the Jewish Digital Narratives platform http://blip.tv/file/2305108/ 1 day ago
- Yes Men pull out of Jerusalem Film Fest http://su.pr/1uJUsU 1 day ago
- More updates...
Kucinich-AIPAC rumor a hoax
Over the past few days I’ve been seeing an increasing number of posts circulating throughout the Lefty blogosphere (seemingly originating from North Jersey Impeach Group) alleging that, before the Nevada primary, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich was approached by Nancy Pelosi and an official from the pro-Israel lobbyist group AIPAC whom purportedly told Kucinich that if he would abandon his impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney that his reelection to Congress would be guaranteed.
I asked my co-worker Ben, at JTA, to look into the matter and he received a quick response from Kucinich’s office saying that the story is wholly without merit. In other words, it never happened.
I find it deeply troubling that the American Left has come to such a place of distrust towards the Israel lobby that a baseless slander like this could so quickly and easily gain traction.
There are many legitimate reasons to be annoyed with Israel and its supporters here in the US. But to go so far as to invent reasons; to trump up charges of “dual loyalty;” to falsify the extent of power which the Israel lobby possesses; and to suggest that AIPAC — an organization dominated by Democrats — is seeking to protect Bush from criminal prosecution (particularly when Bush is now persona non grata in the Zionist community for, as they see it, foisting yet another doomed land-for-peace initiative on the Israelis)… At the very least, it bespeaks a suspicion of Jewish power that is fast becoming the status quo in the progressive community.
I used to be a proud Left-winger. Yet with each passing day, I desire less and less to be counted among the Left.
This is just another straw in the cumulative pile atop the camel’s back.
“I used to be a proud Left-winger. Yet with each passing day, I desire less and less to be counted among the Left.”
I call b.s. on this sentiment. Friends on the left buying into dubious propositions about the Israel lobby or the power of Jews in America? Print out April Rosenblum’s pamphlet for them. Or send them to any of numerous critiques of Walt-Mearsheimer by progressive thinkers. Or just have them read Eric Alterman’s blog or new book. But burning bridges with the left only leads in one direction … and do you really want to follow the neoconservatives?
Dan:
Let me tell you something. You, Orthodox Anarchist, and Jewschool are some of the reasons why I’m not a raging right wing Zionist right now. That and the numerous courses and books I read while at UM . . . well . . . in any event it was you and the things you wrote and the principles that you communicated that allowed me to not fall into the ultra-Zionist trap.
I have you to thank for that. And that’s a good thing. Who cares what some on the left think? Being on the left is a matter of principle, not contingent on what others think or do.
There are some things that some on the left do and say which I disagree with heavily. But, I remember what I believe in and that helps me say that some people are full of crap and you shouldn’t care what they think.
Anyway, don’t quit the blog nor your ideals. Some of us like reading about them. It gives us a dose of sanity in an ever-crazy world.
seth & jared:
just because i don’t want to be counted among the left, that doesn’t mean that i wish to be counted among the right either.
see: post-left anarchy
I’m just sayin’ . . .
word. thanks for the pointer to post-left anarchy, which I hadn’t heard of. I particularly enjoyed Crimethinc’s “Your Politics Are Boring As Fuck” essay and recommend it.
(Incidentally Crimethinc has some nice posters: check ‘em out)
“i’m not left-wing or right-wing, i’m the middle finger”
-sage francis
funny, i made this in 2005
[...] that note, I’m still somewhat concerned by last week’s Kucinich affair. Before the rumor started circulating that Kucinich threw AIPAC out of his office, his [...]