As I wrote a few days ago, the Republican/neocon pro-Israel advocacy groups are sprouting like mushrooms after a spring rain. Not to be outdone, Bill Kristol (responsible for many of the mushrooms either directly or indirectly) has joined with Liz Cheney’s Keep America Safe to start a Stand With Israel petition on her site.
Before I quote the ad copy take a look at this boilerplate organization info at the bottom of her website’s main page:
Keep America Safe is a newly formed, non-profit, non-partisan organization described in Section 501(c)(4) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Donations to Keep America Safe are not tax-deductible as charitable contributions for US federal income tax purposes.
There are no donation limits or restrictions for contributions to Keep America Safe.
Now tell me how Kristol-Cheney can publish this with a straight face and claim it’s not hard-line pro-Republican advocacy:
Since taking office, Barack Obama and officials in his administration have repeatedly rebuked, condemned, and pressured an Israeli government that is standing strong and defiant in the face of continual threats from terrorist groups and the regimes that sponsor them. The administration has repeatedly sought to engage Israel’s authoritarian enemies while demanding ever more concessions from the democratically elected government in Jerusalem. In just the last month this administration has twice stood by as international organizations have targeted Israel for condemnation. In May the Obama administration consented to a Final Document from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference that singled out Israel as a threat to the current non-proliferation regime while making no mention of the grave threat posed by Iran’s illegal pursuit of nuclear weapons. And in June the administration refused to block a presidential statement from the United Nations Security Council as Israel was besieged by an international lynch mob for exercising its legitimate right of self-defense.
Neither Kristol nor Cheney are stupid so they must realize that they have no hope of eating into the massive American Jewish alleigance to the Democratic Party. No American Jew who supports the Party will be convinced by any of this narischkeit to switch parties. But what such a campaign does do is identify for these Republican partisans American Jewish donors who already support their cause but who aren’t on their lists or whose pockets haven’t yet been picked. There are, of course many wealthy Likudist Jews who are ripe pickings for the likes of Kristol and Cheney. And to fuel their media campaign they’ll need millions from such donors. This petition is one of the ways they can troll for such individuals, getting them to self-identify.
Regarding my last post about the new Emergency Committee for Israel, begun with the help of former Bush political operative and great granddaughter of Herbert Hoover, Margaret Hoover, Eli Clifton notes that ECI’s office is identical with those of Randy Scheunemann, who was John McCain’s senior foreign policy advisor. Commentary’s Michael Goldfarb (where Noah Pollak also contributes–keepin’ it all in the family) is an advisor to ECI and works for Scheunemann’s consulting firm. Goldfarb told Justin Elliott that ECI will be opening an independent office next week (can’t wait) but that “given the urgency of our cause” in pointing out Joe Sestak’s anti-Israel perfidy, they thought a new office could wait. Gee, for a second reading about the “urgency of their cause” it might make you believe they actually had something important to say.
Another note about all these pro-Israel fungi growing in the Republican forest: let’s remind the growers that many mushrooms are toxic if ingested.
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RE: Liz Cheney’s Keep America Safe
MY CONCERN: Speaking of the “C##tessas Cheney” where in the world is the former ‘Second Lady’, Lynne Cheney? I’m beginning to think “Pricky Dick” has locked her in one of his underground bunkers (and not to ‘Keep Lynne Safe’).
fyi,
most pro israel people are not happy with the neocons attempting to turn israel into a wedge issue
aipac has always lobbied both parties as does j street
these people want to use israel to attack dems and only dems
so those who are pro israel find their methodology very dangerous
Yr sweeping generalizations are, as usual wrong. The wealthiest Jewish leaders generally support the neocons & campaigns like this. That’s the target audience for these campaigns & ads.
Aipac hates the Dems but keeps the distaste in check for the sake of being able to say it’s non partisan, which it isn’t. Aipac’s politics are decidedly Republican. You forget that Hillary Clinton was booed at the last national conference. Aipac specifically campaigned against Obama in the last election though it did so under the radar. Almost all its major leaders despised Obama.
[comment deleted for violation of comment rules–READ THE RULES before you publish another comment]
im not sure where you get the idea that aipac hates the dems, as much of their membership is from that side of the aisle
and where are you getting that the wealthiest jews support the neocons and/or republicans?
wealthy observant jews do, because over the years they have found themselves more on the republican side of issues.
and you do know that aipac cheered obama at his last speech before them….i dont know where you got the idea that they campaigned against him…where is the proof
btw, there was only one dem that aipac actively campaigned against during the last primary…that was marcy winograd…and for pretty good reasons
Aipac helped circulate some very nasty stuff about Obama before he became the Democratic nominee. After that, they were more respectful. But all the major Jewish groups including Aipac were extremely uncomfortable w. Obama’s candidacy.
Aipac is a Likudist neocon organization. There are some, but very few Democrats who fit these categories. Democratic politicians are tolerated by Aipac, but barely so. There are MANY more Republicans than Democrats in Aipac.
That’s bull. I supported Marcy Winograd. They opposed her because she ran against their greatest ass kisser in Congress, Jane Harman. She’s the pol who considered colluding with an Israel agent of influence to help Steve Rosen during his spy trial.
Don’t get me started about either Marcy Winograd or Jane Harman. I’ve already written about both & don’t care to get into another knock down drag out debate about this.
I agree entirely. I am staunchly pro-Israel, but I have nothing in common with people like Liz Cheney, a person of very low integrity.
RE: “Bill Kristol has joined with Liz Cheney’s Keep America Safe to start a Stand With Israel petition on her site.” – R.S.
SEE: Report Exposes Irregularities of Obscure State Department-Funded Organization | Government Accountability Project, 07/08/10
Details Questionable Roles of Liz Cheney, Shaha Riza, and Others in Multi-Million Dollar Program
(excerpt) WASHINGTON – July 8 – A report released by the Government Accountability Project (GAP), based on documents obtained through nearly three years’ of U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, exposes the highly irregular manner in which the Foundation for the Future (FFF) – an obscure project funded by the U.S. Department of State – was established and operated by Bush administration officials and appointees.
Specifically, the report details how high-level State Department officials misled Congress as they sought millions in public money for the Foundation, which was a haven for people with political connections. The report also shows that FFF was a pet project of Elizabeth Cheney, former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Cheney worked to set up the Foundation with Shaha Riza, Paul Wolfowitz’s companion whose seconding to the State Department (and then to the FFF) was directly responsible for the 2007 World Bank scandal that resulted in Wolfowitz’s departure from the Bank.
“Liz Cheney had the preposterous idea that the Foundation for the Future would bring peace and democracy to the Middle East,” said GAP International Program Officer Shelley Walden, author of the report. “This overlong project wasted millions of taxpayer dollars.”
The report, which is based on 267 documents released by the Department of State over a period of 33 months, can be found here*.
Background
The Foundation for the Future first became an issue of public interest inquiry in 2007, when GAP published the payroll records of Riza, girlfriend of then-World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz. The records showed…
ENTIRE G.A.P. PRESS RELEASE – http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/07/08-0
* G.A.P. REPORT (PDF, 42 pages) – http://www.whistleblower.org/storage/documents/FoundationfortheFuture.pdf
Richard,
It’s not entirely clear from you post what exactly you think is wrong in: “Join Bill Kristol and Liz Cheney, Stand With Israel!”:
1. Kristol-Cheney themselves, regardless of who they stand with?
2. Israel itself, regardless of who stands with her?
3. The fact that anyone, whomsoever, would be willing to stand with Israel at all?
4. The fact that Kristol-Cheney would be allowed to stand for anything at all, regardless of what?
5. All of the above?
Please clarify…
You’ll have to work that out yrself. The post speaks for itself.
“…no hope of eating into the massive Jewish allegiance to the Democratic party”
A hundred years ago virtually all white southerners voted Democrat.
A hundred years ago virtually all blacks who could vote voted Republican.
In his 1936 sweep FDR lost only VT and ME because those 2 states were so Republican.
When Barry Goldwater became US Senator from AZ in the ’50’s he became its first GOP Senator-ever.
In the novel ‘Advise and Consent’ Allen Drury had the Senate’s most left-wing Senator coming form WY. In 1960 that made sense.
Changing allegiances in US politics is the norm.
Jews originally voted REpublican because Republicans were the party of Lincoln. But that changed with Roosevelt & ever since Jews have been solidly Democratic with absolutely no signs of slippage. So dream on if you imagine a REpublican revolution retaking the Jewish vote. And do tell yr friends Shelly Adelson & others to waste lots of their ill-gotten personal gains on this project. I’d rather them do this than spend the money in ways that might actually help bring their noxious ideas to fruition.
And I thought you read Haaretz
One slippage coming right up.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/elections/sarah-silverman-was-wrong-older-jews-more-likely-to-vote-obama-1.256470
That’s how it works. The older generation keeps voting the way they always do. But then the younger generation starts trending away.