Global

Josh Shapiro Would Be a Dangerous Choice for Harris Running Mate

Kamala Harris has gained strong support as the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate. Putting Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on the ticket would likely fracture that support.

 The most divisive issue among Democrats is the U.S.-enabled Israeli war against the civilian population of Gaza. To unify the party and defeat Trump’s MAGA forces, Harris needs to distance herself in a meaningful way from Joe Biden’s Gaza policy. If she does so, she can win back the votes and energy of young activists, progressives, racial justice organizers, Arab Americans and Muslims – many of whom devoted weeks or months of their lives in 2020 to defeating Trump on behalf of the Biden-Harris ticket.

 But a Harris-Shapiro ticket would jeopardize all that.

How Grassroots Organizing & Election Protection Will Define Saving Our Democracy

The hoopla surrounding Kamela Harris needs a cold dose of grassroots/election protection reality.  Amidst a prevailing aura of certain victory, Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election by 3 million votes.  But we still wound up with Donald Trump in the White House.

If that history repeats itself, we will never, as Trump promises, “need to vote again.”

So whatever her policy shortcomings---and there are many---Kamala Harris cannot win a 2024 election that is not conducted primarily with hand-marked and digitally scanned paper ballots…many millions of which must be sent out and back by a United States Postal Service that desperately needs a new boss.    

A Trump defeat also can’t happen without a massive grassroots campaign whose progressive donations will fund tens of thousands of dedicated organizers working at the local level, with community democracy centers and door-to-door relational campaigning.  To win, this kind of campaigning must divert much of the money the Democrats would otherwise squander on media buys.  

Israel’s Rule of Law

Does anyone in Israel in a position of power truly understand what the expressions “human rights” and “rule of law” really mean? Developments over the past ten months in Gaza would suggest “No,” that Israel’s government, its legal system, and its constitution exist solely to empower the state to do whatever it wishes, which in the current version includes the genocidal elimination of the Palestinian people and the theft of their land and property to be incorporated into a Greater Israel that plausibly will include the already annexed Syrian Golan Heights as well as all of historic Palestine running from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

But even given the fundamental dishonesty over the Jewish state and what it represents, there is something truly frightening about some recent developments which suggest that the long running United States government pander to Israel and its presumed interests have poisoned the chalice, making Americans absolutely complicit in the Israeli war crimes and other assorted crimes against humanity. And the level of control over Washington by Israel virtually guarantees that it will only get worse.

A Moment of Pride at the 2024 Paris Olympics

"We bow with respect and appreciation to the Tajik champion Nurali Emomali for refusing to shake hands with an 'Israeli' player whose hands may be stained with the blood of innocent victims in Gaza." It was a moment of pride at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Some media outlets and social networking sites reported the Emomali withdrawal and defended the Israeli champion of Soviet origin, Baruch Shmulov. The Tajik player won and then he shouted happily "Allahu Akbar" and refused to shake the hand of the Israeli player. Emomali refused to do so because he knows that the opposing player is a representative of the state of genocide, racism and apartheid and represents the international war criminals of "Israel".  The Tajik player's behavior angered "Israel's" friends who demanded that Murali Emomali be punished for his behavior. The issue of the Tajik champion is still causing controversy between supporters and opponents of his noble and courageous action in support of the Palestinian victims who were not respected by the International Olympic Committee which in turn refused to punish and boycott "Israel" as it did with the Russian Federation.

When ‘Prophets’ Become Memes: Rise and Fall of Benjamin Netanyahu

Great orators in history would not have been recognized as such if their words carried no value. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is neither a great orator, nor did his speech before a joint Congressional session on July 24 have actual worth. It was an expression of his desperation, if not defeat, on all fronts. 

 This is not new. For years, Netanyahu has served the role of a social media meme. During his United Nations General Assembly speech in September 2012, the Israeli leader displayed a bomb diagram to fan the flames for another Middle East war. 

The Smearing of Cori Bush for Being Truthful About the Gaza War

Soon after the Gaza war began 10 months ago, a prominent newspaper columnist denounced Congresswoman Cori Bush under a headline declaring that “anti-Israel comments make her unfit for reelection.” The piece appeared in the newspaper with the second-largest readership in Missouri, the Kansas City Star. Multimillion-dollar attacks on Bush followed.

 Bush’s opponent, county prosecutor Wesley Bell, “is now the number-one recipient of AIPAC cash this election cycle,” according to Justice Democrats. “Almost two-thirds of all his donations came from the anti-Palestinian, far-right megadonor-funded lobby group.” The Intercept reports that “AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, has gone on to spend a total of $7 million so far to oust Bush” in the Aug. 6 Democratic primary in her St. Louis area district.

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