Mr. Ernesto also addresses this bit of what passes for conventional wisdom:
"There's a huge misconception that Democrats are better for Palestinians (and other Arabs and/or Muslims) than the Republicans. But that's not supported by the facts. Indeed, the Obama administration has been the best friend Israel has had in years. And Obama has dropped bombs on 6 Muslim countries during his presidency - George W. Bush dropped bombs in 4 Muslim countries - so how are Democrats better for the Muslim world?"
Democrats aren't better for Palestinians and has been so far proven during the Obama era they aren't better for civil liberties, economic equality, holding the criminals in Wall Street gambling casinos accountable for their fraud, privacy rights or the protection of freedom of the press and the rights of whistleblowers. An old acquaintance friend of mine who was an avowed Marxist once told me that "both parties are killers, the Democrats are only better at pretending not to be" which given the overwhelming evidence is hard to argue with.
"There is only one solution to ending Israeli aggression - stop US support of their violence. The only way this could happen is if people who vote for Democrats tell their representatives to stop supporting Israel or never get their vote again" said Marianne Huber of St. Pete for Peace. Ms. Toth adds that:
"US politicians are Israel's b*tch. Many US politicians know the only way to get elected or re-elected is with money from the pro-Israel lobby. Once in power, those same politicians enthusiastically support the state of Israel's atrocities. In fact, just 12 hours after Obama's victory in the Democratic Presidential primaries, his very first stop was at AIPAC where he put on an Israel/US lapel pin, and told the crowd that he "understood the Zionist idea." The only way to counter this is for so-called liberals to tell their Democratic elected officials to shape up or never get their vote again. If groups like CAIR and news outlets like Democracy Now! pushed this idea, we'd see a change."
In the humble opinion of this blogger it would be a damned good start. The Israel Lobby is relentless, well-funded and impeccably organized but is largely allowed to get away with their bullying, boycotting and extortion tactics only because there is so little grass-roots opposition to act as a counter to them.
Members of Congress (both parties) enjoy thumping their chests about American exceptionalism and the moral high ground but there is nothing that is either exceptional nor moral about their support of the ongoing slaughter in Gaza. It is craven and cowardly and serves as yet another shining example of our broken political system. A system in which members of Congress routinely sell-out the long term interests of all of their own constituents as well as traditional American values in order to cater to the whims of moneyed special interest groups such as AIPAC.
In addition to their gaming the system in order to stay in office in the hope of one day landing one of the lucrative lobbying or consulting positions -thanks to Washington's revolving door - this most lamentable Congress plays right into the hands of those who resort to terrorism. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ongoing killing spree, conducted with the full support of your representatives in Congress, the Obama administration and aspiring Republican presidential candidates only serves as a recruiting campaign for those who seek to avenge Israel's criminal actions upon the country that sends them the military equipment that is then used on innocent women and children.
Osama bin Laden himself once stated that U.S. support of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the ongoing persecution of the Palestinians was a driving factor in attacking America on September 11, 2001. The mounting death toll in Gaza - in addition to being a crime against humanity - will only serve as an inspiration for another attack in the homeland. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is on record as predicting another terrorist attack "more deadly" than 9/11 will occur "this decade" and if it does, our elected representatives, particularly in the U.S. Congress will have blood on their hands. It is apparent that they don't care about dead Palestinian children and they will be the first to cry in outrage on the next day that the chickens come home to roost all thanks to their own enabling of Israeli war crimes and the inevitable blowback.
Continuing to unconditionally support Israeli human rights abuses, war crimes and the looming Apartheid style of government, oncedemographics make Jews a minority in their own exclusionary "Jewish state" is a recipe for disaster and more violence against Americans. Thanks to the abrogation of their First Amendment responsibility of a free press, the corporate media is depriving Americans of the necessary information to make informed choices that their elected representatives are bound to carry out. This is the way that things are supposed to work in a real democracy, unfortunately due to the one sided coverage of Israel they are deprived of this despite its grave importance. You can find much more balanced reporting in the Israeli media - for example Haaretz - than you will ever find in the U.S. which provides an endless series of national platforms for Netanyahu and his fellow war criminals to sell their genocidal policies in America to the people who will ultimately be the ones who will reap the whirlwind.
St. Pete for Peace is a beacon of hope that with enough involvement and dedication at the grass-roots level that one day "hope and change" may be more than just a cynical campaign slogan.
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