How That "One Issue" Affects Everything

A Nail in the Coffin of American Politics

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This week, my 16-year-old son asked me if I would really stop voting for Democrats “over this one issue.”

And I explained to him that, in many cases, yes. Yes, I would.

I remember in 2016 when I found out a relative voted for Trump “because of Israel” and I was a raging bitch about it. “If you don’t like it, move to Israel!”

Little did I know.

Israel is not just a foreign policy issue. In fact, the safety and well-being of the Israeli people is really just the tip of the iceberg. For those of us who actually get it, we realize it’s how it affects America — and what it says at a much deeper level.

First and foremost, I think we should all be able to see pretty plainly that this is an antisemitism issue. And it has become patently unsafe to be visibly Jewish in Canada, Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, France, Spain, the entirety of the Arab world, and pretty much everywhere else where there are more people than penguins. America is on a fast track to being unsustainable for Jews — and the upcoming primary elections are already screaming alarm bells.

But it is also a national security issue, a public safety issue, and an issue of honesty, truth, and moral clarity. The kind of inexplicable toeing of the party line that will actually cause a presidential candidate — who not long ago said Iran was the greatest threat to America — to insinuate that Iran poses no threat to America and Trump’s attack was “random.”

Then there’s the fact that zooming out on the progressive movement uncovered so many other truths about their extremism that I was too myopic to notice. We can probably all agree that ICE behaves egregiously and needs serious reform. But entirely “abolish” Immigration and Customs Enforcement and replace it with what? They have no idea. “Defund the police” to the detriment of which communities? All cops are not “bastards.” All landlords are not “evil.” An all-or-nothing mentality that harms the most vulnerable among us — not helps.

But if you are perceived as coming together for some kind of moderate, normal compromise that prioritizes both sides of any debate, you’re an “establishment shill.”

So it is more than just concern for a nation 5,000 miles away. It is a concern for America.

Meanwhile, millions of people are walking blindly into the midterm primaries and ignoring what is right in front of their faces.

Jewish communities are not effectively organizing. And, frankly, we aren’t even big enough to make a dent if we were. Everyone’s favorite boogeyman, AIPAC, who I have no love lost for , appears not to have actually spent a dime nor played a card in some of the races I am most closely watching. However, millions of anti-Israel DARK MONEY PAC FUNDS have been spent with impunity.

The next few weeks are really the last hurrah. I suspect the far left winners will triumph in most of these key primaries, due to a combination of ignorance, antisemitism, the complicit clickbait media (“Breaking from CNN: Mallory McMorrow tweeted about the Midwest weather!), and the willful cowardice of many in power who choose to “stay out of it” or ruin it with their own vote-splitting narcissist candidates. The right-wing Supreme Court’s new racist stripping of the Voting Rights Act gives full impunity to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to axe out four pro-Israel Democrats in order to score more points for his team.

And now, for the first time in my life — with neo-Nazi adjacent grifter Graham Platner forcing Janet Mills out of the primary — I can say with some confidence that if I lived in Maine, I would cast a vote for Susan Collins.

Everyone can be horrified by that statement as much as they like, without understanding the danger of the lies they have been spoonfed and the ramifications it will have, going far beyond the Jewish community. I will not support the only Trump opposition party taking cues to sacrifice its Jews and walk off a cliff.

I have spent the past three years operating like Chicken Little, desperately trying to shake millions of people who are playing a part in this. The voters, the organizations, the cowardly people in power, the narcissistic party leaders and candidates who run with no chance and split votes, my own former friends who double down with full confidence that they are on “the right side of history.”

Nothing is a bridge too far.

Not posting that Bondi was a Zionist false flag (Rabb)

Not Nazi tattoos and affiliations, rape apologism, racism, and ableism (Platner)

Not money from pro-Hamas (not pro Palestine, PRO HAMAS) protest leaders (El-Sayed)

Not lying about the fact that Hamas provably operates under civilian structures (Hamawy)

Ask me how it feels having a big ass tattoo inspired by the woman who endorsed the guy with the Nazi tattoo? No, seriously, ASK ME IF I WANT TO PEEL OFF MY SKIN?

I was among the first people to get this stupid fucking tattoo. Please clap.

Since Biden stepped down, it has been a true fight for the soul of America - and no one is winning.

The Democratic party is rife with extremism and antisemitism — and not just at the top. It’s county committee people and school board members and university regents. And the increasingly anti-Israel-and anti-everything-else Republicans don’t exactly have our best interests in mind either.

Most Jews have tried fighting for America these past three years, and we are losing. So where else can we go?

Even if it was *easy* to just pack up and move to Israel, many of the Israelis I speak with aren’t exactly thrilled with their situation either. Sure, it sounds like a beautiful paradise to be among my own people without this existential fear. But, in addition to constant missiles and rockets, Israel has a lot of its own problems. Most people are unhappy with the right-wing government, the cost of living, and the way their tax money is being sent to the growing Haredi community that often does not work or serve in the military.

And, so, in many of my group chats, we talk about, “where else?” Someone offers Japan. A debate about Portugal. These are our daily discussions, while you dismiss us as histrionic and paranoid. And these discussions are not among some doomsday hysterics. It’s among ordinary dentists and lawyers and teachers and mothers and students. It’s among your neighbors.

Most Jews will no longer be part of the Democratic party. We will not be a part of any party. And we will, it’s increasingly likely, not be part of America.

At least I can say I left it all on the field.

*It’s not too late. Donate, volunteer, phone bank, and canvass for the better candidates in your neck of the woods. Don’t know who they are? Ask in the comment section.*