These are the times when being an "honest" politician means publicly standing by your bigotry, hate and ugliness, with either a smear or a smile. In this way Trump and Mamdani are one and the same. They know that now is the moment others will fall into line and give up their better values to follow their "honesty" or at least excuse it. Sad that in Brad's case its for a "job", and no different from so many others who latch onto the limelight while others do the real work. I am from NY and been following this. Thank you for the stark outline of the environment here and doing what you can to promote a much better option. I sincerely hope Goldman wins.
Thank you, Andy, for recognizing Mamdani’s Svengali-like attributes.
Like his wife “is a private person” with no role in policy. Nonsense. She may have no role in policy (?), but she shares her thoughts as well as his bed. He has no problem with her not addressing the ‘rape hoax’ and other pro-Hamas messages from adult years while she apologized for the intense racism of her teen tweets.
I have also had it with Platner’s ad nauseum AIPAC mentions. I’m no fan of AIPAC, but it is the most transparent of lobbies. What you see is what you get. And they are way down the list (36 or 37) as to amounts spent by lobbies on campaigns. Platner has (under some Jewish pressure) named other lobbies also, like ‘Big Pharma’ and ‘Big Oil.’ Sorry, these are vague and abstract, not naming anyone specifically. ONLY Israel gets called out for the ‘I’ in AIPAC. Meanwhile oil countries like Qatar have for decades ‘invested’ in (infiltrated) every major academic, media and cultural institution to demonize, ostracize and erase Israel. Qatar has funded numerous Mideast Studies departments that erase Israel from maps in the classroom. Some of these funded bigotries percolate up into campaigns whether candidates know it or not. I have written Platner’s campaign every time I read AIPAC and no other lobby specifically named. To think this ad nauseum labeling has
no effect on Jew hatred is naive at best, malevolent at worst. I may be getting through a little, as the last campaign email I received didn’t mention AIPAC for once. I don’t expect that discretion to continue. What would be a brave move for Platner and Lander would be to call loudly for a GLOBAL Iran-Israel peace movement. If the whole world could erupt on October 8 in a pro-Hamas anti-Israel hate fest, why not a global pro-peace love fest. Of course October 8 and the now years long barbarian-excusing movement was long planned and deeply funded. Thousands of expensive cloth banners? Hundreds of thousands of keffiahs OVERNIGHT everywhere?!?! Even Amazon doesn’t work that fast. We may not have the deep pockets and long planning that October 8 required (in addition to over 40 years of anti-Israel academia), but enough true progressives shouting for such a global peace movement is not entirely fantasy. The call must come from outside Iran as any peaceniks (and there are millions wanting peace with Israel) will be charged as traitors and shot down. Mass executions are still taking place and Trump’s ‘agreement’ apparently says nothing about that. Meanwhile Israelis are entirely free to shout and demonstrate and rally for such a movement. Did you notice how few so-called progressives had anything to say about 30,000 to 40,000 Iranians being mass murdered in two days, not two years? Only Zelensky spoke of it at Davos, as it was the largest mass killing in two days since the Babi Yar massacre of Ukrainian Jews. It’s already a forgotten deal and the NYT and other MSM seem not at all interested in pursuing that awful horror. Iranians in diaspora are hardly heard from. Come on Brad. Come on Graham. Get on board the Peace Train. Iran-Israel PEACE.
This was really good. I wish Lander focused on their substantive policy differences, such as Goldman’s opposition to the Block the Bombs act, which is a legitimate and important distinction between the candidates.
But Lander is catering to some very dark forces when every other word out of his mouth is “AIPAC,” and he absolutely knows what he’s doing. It’s just really gross.
What a horrendous hit piece on a deeply principled and very Jewish to his core, political candidate. Brad Lander is far from the monster that you portray. His assertions about Israel’s conduct in Gaza are factually and legally correct and accepted by the vast majority of human rights and international law experts and advocates around the world. At a time when we desperately need real moral leadership from the American Jewish community in the face of Israel’s atrocities, it is not anti-Semitic to criticize candidates who take AIPAC money.
Thanks for writing, Iain. You might have a point about Brad had he been running with his current principles and coalition partners his whole career — but he has not, with the exception being his fealty to the toxic Linda Sarsour. This new Brad is for his own expediency, which doesn’t make him a “monster” (your word) just lacking integrity.
Integrity means engaging in the work of pragmatic solutions to complex circumstances, rather than the constant cry to pull funds for the Israeli military to boost political capital. You write as if Israel exists only to kill civilians and not to protect its own from continued real live threats of real annihilation. Do you think Israel, with its Jews, Arabs, Christians, multiple ethnicities, LGBTQ population and other identities would even exist any more without the expensive Iron Dome, paid for first by the Obama Administration? All while Hezbollah and Hamas murder their own for any ounce of deviation from their norm. I cant stand the present govt here or Israel. But is Israel is MUCH more than its government .
These are the times when being an "honest" politician means publicly standing by your bigotry, hate and ugliness, with either a smear or a smile. In this way Trump and Mamdani are one and the same. They know that now is the moment others will fall into line and give up their better values to follow their "honesty" or at least excuse it. Sad that in Brad's case its for a "job", and no different from so many others who latch onto the limelight while others do the real work. I am from NY and been following this. Thank you for the stark outline of the environment here and doing what you can to promote a much better option. I sincerely hope Goldman wins.
Thank you Amy. Well said.
Really nice piece on a deeply shameful and despicable person.
Bravo, maestro! You are a gem.
Thank you, Andy, for recognizing Mamdani’s Svengali-like attributes.
Like his wife “is a private person” with no role in policy. Nonsense. She may have no role in policy (?), but she shares her thoughts as well as his bed. He has no problem with her not addressing the ‘rape hoax’ and other pro-Hamas messages from adult years while she apologized for the intense racism of her teen tweets.
I have also had it with Platner’s ad nauseum AIPAC mentions. I’m no fan of AIPAC, but it is the most transparent of lobbies. What you see is what you get. And they are way down the list (36 or 37) as to amounts spent by lobbies on campaigns. Platner has (under some Jewish pressure) named other lobbies also, like ‘Big Pharma’ and ‘Big Oil.’ Sorry, these are vague and abstract, not naming anyone specifically. ONLY Israel gets called out for the ‘I’ in AIPAC. Meanwhile oil countries like Qatar have for decades ‘invested’ in (infiltrated) every major academic, media and cultural institution to demonize, ostracize and erase Israel. Qatar has funded numerous Mideast Studies departments that erase Israel from maps in the classroom. Some of these funded bigotries percolate up into campaigns whether candidates know it or not. I have written Platner’s campaign every time I read AIPAC and no other lobby specifically named. To think this ad nauseum labeling has
no effect on Jew hatred is naive at best, malevolent at worst. I may be getting through a little, as the last campaign email I received didn’t mention AIPAC for once. I don’t expect that discretion to continue. What would be a brave move for Platner and Lander would be to call loudly for a GLOBAL Iran-Israel peace movement. If the whole world could erupt on October 8 in a pro-Hamas anti-Israel hate fest, why not a global pro-peace love fest. Of course October 8 and the now years long barbarian-excusing movement was long planned and deeply funded. Thousands of expensive cloth banners? Hundreds of thousands of keffiahs OVERNIGHT everywhere?!?! Even Amazon doesn’t work that fast. We may not have the deep pockets and long planning that October 8 required (in addition to over 40 years of anti-Israel academia), but enough true progressives shouting for such a global peace movement is not entirely fantasy. The call must come from outside Iran as any peaceniks (and there are millions wanting peace with Israel) will be charged as traitors and shot down. Mass executions are still taking place and Trump’s ‘agreement’ apparently says nothing about that. Meanwhile Israelis are entirely free to shout and demonstrate and rally for such a movement. Did you notice how few so-called progressives had anything to say about 30,000 to 40,000 Iranians being mass murdered in two days, not two years? Only Zelensky spoke of it at Davos, as it was the largest mass killing in two days since the Babi Yar massacre of Ukrainian Jews. It’s already a forgotten deal and the NYT and other MSM seem not at all interested in pursuing that awful horror. Iranians in diaspora are hardly heard from. Come on Brad. Come on Graham. Get on board the Peace Train. Iran-Israel PEACE.
shalom / salaam
p.s. Mamdani marched in the Pakistani independence parade. That nation was responsible for the mass murder of over 300,000 Bangladeshis. Just sayin’.
Isn't it rather startling to watch hypocrisy become a rewrite to history right before our eyes?
This was really good. I wish Lander focused on their substantive policy differences, such as Goldman’s opposition to the Block the Bombs act, which is a legitimate and important distinction between the candidates.
But Lander is catering to some very dark forces when every other word out of his mouth is “AIPAC,” and he absolutely knows what he’s doing. It’s just really gross.
It's so gross.
What a horrendous hit piece on a deeply principled and very Jewish to his core, political candidate. Brad Lander is far from the monster that you portray. His assertions about Israel’s conduct in Gaza are factually and legally correct and accepted by the vast majority of human rights and international law experts and advocates around the world. At a time when we desperately need real moral leadership from the American Jewish community in the face of Israel’s atrocities, it is not anti-Semitic to criticize candidates who take AIPAC money.
Thanks for writing, Iain. You might have a point about Brad had he been running with his current principles and coalition partners his whole career — but he has not, with the exception being his fealty to the toxic Linda Sarsour. This new Brad is for his own expediency, which doesn’t make him a “monster” (your word) just lacking integrity.
"Lacking integrity" is supporting arms sales to a government that has repeatedly and systematically committed atrocities against civilians.
Integrity means engaging in the work of pragmatic solutions to complex circumstances, rather than the constant cry to pull funds for the Israeli military to boost political capital. You write as if Israel exists only to kill civilians and not to protect its own from continued real live threats of real annihilation. Do you think Israel, with its Jews, Arabs, Christians, multiple ethnicities, LGBTQ population and other identities would even exist any more without the expensive Iron Dome, paid for first by the Obama Administration? All while Hezbollah and Hamas murder their own for any ounce of deviation from their norm. I cant stand the present govt here or Israel. But is Israel is MUCH more than its government .
It is incendiary when it’s the only lobby named that’s specifically tied to only one tiny Hebrew state. Over and over and over again.