{"id":21500,"date":"2012-09-17T12:00:11","date_gmt":"2012-09-17T11:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=21500"},"modified":"2012-09-12T22:23:46","modified_gmt":"2012-09-12T21:23:46","slug":"the-democrats-jerusalem-arithmetic-when-israel-is-concerned-half-two-thirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2012\/09\/the-democrats-jerusalem-arithmetic-when-israel-is-concerned-half-two-thirds\/","title":{"rendered":"The Democrats\u2019 Jerusalem Arithmetic: When Israel Is Concerned, Half = Two-Thirds"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re Tired of Pretend Democracy<\/em><\/p>\n

Not often is a political fix so public.<\/p>\n

The Democratic committee that develops the party\u2019s campaign platform recently failed to include the apparently obligatory \u201cJerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel\u201d pronouncement.<\/p>\n

This statement, which is largely untrue and has a number of problems, had been part of previous platforms. Its omission caused an immense brouhaha, and party bigwigs decided that the ongoing Democratic National Convention needed to reinsert it.<\/p>\n

The means was to be an amendment introduced on the convention floor, which required a two-thirds affirmative vote by delegates.<\/p>\n

The bizarre sequence of events that followed was and remains in public view, thanks to C-span and YouTube videos<\/a>. These clips are hilarious to view \u2013 if one likes tragicomedy.<\/p>\n

The videos begin with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the handpicked chairman of the convention, standing at the podium.<\/p>\n

Villaraigosa calls on the Chair of the Platform Drafting Committee, former Ohio governor Ted Strickland. Strickland moves that the rules be suspended to permit an amendment to the platform.<\/p>\n

This passes quickly, as many people clearly have no idea what\u2019s going on. Strickland then introduces the required amendment, and it is immediately seconded.<\/p>\n

Villaraigosa then says, in the normal Roberts Rules of Order rite: \u201cIs there any further discussion. Hearing none, the matter requires a two-thirds vote in the affirmative. All those delegates in favor say \u201caye.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a large \u201caye\u201d vote.<\/p>\n

He then says, \u201cAll those delegates opposed say no.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a \u201cno\u201d vote that is at least as loud, perhaps a touch louder.<\/p>\n

Villaraigosa then says, \u201cIn the opinion of the\u2026\u201d He suddenly stops, then says, \u201cLet me do that again.\u201d
\nThings are going wrong and Villaraigosa has no idea what to do. The motion has just been defeated, since it requires a two-thirds vote and it has clearly failed to get this. Nevertheless, Villaraigosa soldiers on.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of those delegates,\u201d he begins, in the tones of a school master admonishing recalcitrant students, \u201cin favor say \u2018aye.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a large \u201caye\u201d vote.<\/p>\n

Villaraigosa then says, \u201cAll those opposed say \u2018no.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

There is an equally large \u201cno\u201d vote.<\/p>\n

Villaraigosa looks like a deer caught in the headlights. He gazes straight ahead and then from side to side, a foolish half smile fleetingly on his face. He starts to say, \u201cI, um\u2026 I guess\u2026\u201d He gives his head a slight shake and looks behind him.<\/p>\n

A woman official can be heard quietly telling him, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to let them do what they\u2019re gonna do.\u201d
\nVillaraigosa announces, \u201cI\u2019ll do that one more time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that the amendment has already twice failed the two-thirds test. According to all rules of procedure the amendment has been rejected. Nevertheless, Villaraigosa says again, \u201cAll those delegates in favor say \u2018aye.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a large \u201caye\u201d vote.<\/p>\n

Villaraigosa says: \u201cAll those delegates opposed say \u2018no.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

There is an equally large (in fact, it may be a slightly larger) \u201cno\u201d vote. The amendment has now been defeated three times. At minimum, half the delegates have rejected it.<\/p>\n

Is Villaraigosa going to repeat this vote a fourth time\u2026 possibly all night until they finally get it right?
\nNo. Perhaps someone has finally signaled to him to ignore the vote and simply read his lines. Or maybe he has figured this out for himself. By now, he has probably realized that his chances of being the next Obama have slipped through his fingers, thanks to uppity delegates who won\u2019t get with the program.<\/p>\n

He decrees: \u201cIn the opinion of the Chair, two thirds have voted in the affirmative [boos can be heard] and the platform has been amended as shown on the screen.\u201d He thanks Strickland for his service.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the boos increase in volume and begin to sweep the convention, while those in favor of the fix that just went through on national TV cheer loudly \u2013 apparently unconcerned that clear principles of fairness and proper procedure have just been flushed, in full public view, down the Democratic toilet, the alleged \u201cpeople\u2019s\u201d party.<\/p>\n

Some people might wonder why so many delegates went against their leaders\u2019 wishes, creating what Republican spinmeisters are now casting as an \u201cembarrassing\u201d spectacle, suggesting that the Democratic Party contains numerous political extremists.<\/p>\n

In point of fact, however, presidents from both parties, including George W. Bush, have sensibly opposed locating the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, which Israel fanatics have long pushed.
\nThere are a number of problems with the statement.<\/p>\n

First of all, it\u2019s inaccurate.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital and has continued its decades-long expulsion of the Christians and Muslims who inhabited it for centuries, international law decrees that much of Jerusalem is occupied Palestinian land. (And many people, with substantial justification, consider that all of it is). Virtually all countries, including the U.S., locate their embassies in Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

Even the original 1947 UN partition recommendation, which Israel claims (fraudulently) as the legal foundation for its creation as a nation-state, called for Jerusalem to be an international city.<\/p>\n

Second, it is widely understood that the wrong move concerning Jerusalem by the U.S. government would significantly reduce the chances of a peaceful settlement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, thus costing even more lives, while substantially increasing hostility toward the United States, causing considerable damage to both America\u2019s security and economy.<\/p>\n

Yet, all this seems to matter little to political operatives from both parties, who are either Israel partisans themselves or are focused on taking positions that will not alienate campaign donors.<\/p>\n

Despite this omission on Jerusalem, many observers would have expected Israel partisans to have been extremely pleased with the Democratic platform. According to one of its Israel-partisan drafters, Robert Wexler, the platform was \u201c100 percent pro-Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The platform writers, Wexler explained, simply wanted to especially focus on Israel\u2019s (alleged) security needs concerning Iran.<\/p>\n

In fact, a comparison with the Republican platform\u2019s statements on Israel by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs shows the Democratic platform to be for all intents and purposes identical. This is not surprising, given that Israelists dominate both parties.<\/p>\n

This was not, however, good enough. According to the UK Guardian, there was \u201ca mounting clamour from Jewish donors and pro-Israel groups [who] objected to the dropping of a line supporting Jerusalem as the capital of Israel from the Democratic policy platform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accordingly, those who control the Democratic Party decided that an amendment would be added with the prescribed wording. They set about getting it, by hook or by crook. It turned out to be by the latter.<\/p>\n

Is the Democratic convention debacle completely bad news?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to say.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, it\u2019s deeply unpleasant to watch manipulation unfold, and obvious lies win the day. For anyone who believes that votes should be fair and processes honest, it\u2019s disturbing to see the opposite take place in one of our country\u2019s major institutions.<\/p>\n

Considerably worse is the fact that it\u2019s this kind of political corruption that contributes to the extraordinarily small voter turnout of our citizens.<\/p>\n

A democracy requires its citizens to participate in the process. When people see there is no point, they stop. That, of course, leaves a vacuum that is eagerly filled by the ruthless and unprincipled, who caused the problem in the first place.<\/p>\n

In 1787, following the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin said that the months-long, hard-fought convention had given us \u201ca republic, if you can keep it.\u201d Villaraigosa and those who tell him what to do \u2013 and the rest who go along \u2013 are grinding this under foot.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not all bad news.<\/p>\n

The reality is that at least half the delegates at this extremely mainstream convention \u2013 full of party loyalists who usually toe the party line \u2013 did not go along with the Israel Lobby agenda.<\/p>\n

And while videos of the event focused almost entirely on close-ups of dissenters of Arab ethnicity, suggesting that this was an ethnic position, the vast majority of those opposed to the amendment had no such ethnic connection and were from all over the United States.<\/p>\n

While the media, both liberal and conservative, consistently give us Israel-centric coverage, and while party bosses make it clear that favoring Israel uber alles is the way to get ahead, at least half the delegates rebelled.<\/p>\n

Of course, this was a small, ultimately unsuccessful uprising. Nevertheless, I think it is an indication that the tide has slowed and may start to turn.<\/p>\n

In fact, I believe an uprising in the United States may be coming.<\/p>\n

People are tired of wars and killing, and of being sold a pack of goods by both parties using lies, deception, and manipulation.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re tired of power brokers running roughshod over what we want.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re tired of \u201calternative\u201d institutions such as MoveOn that enable the charade, and of candidate puppets of \u201cchange\u201d who continue cruel policies while spouting high-minded words that they hope will hide their unconscionable actions.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re tired of scripted conventions, of bullying special interests, of lying politicians, of manipulative media, and of partisan politics that set us against one another, in which both sides push falsehoods about the other, and about themselves.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re tired of pretend democracy.<\/p>\n

More and more of us are demanding real change, not computer generated simulations. Instead of responding by refusing to vote, and thus forfeiting this life-and-death game, many of us are going to cast votes that will displease those used to running things.<\/p>\n

And if in this election we choose to \u201cthrow our votes away,\u201d as party cheerleaders scornfully call it, on candidates who would end our serial, suicidal wars and stop the killing of children \u2013 thus saving the lives of our own as well \u2013 then I feel we will have a shot at a future election in which we aren\u2019t once again expected to choose between a proven war criminal and a competitor who might, astonishingly enough, be even worse.<\/p>\n

Instead of throwing our votes away, I believe we will have started the process of throwing the bums out \u2013 this time for real. And of keeping our republic, or our democracy, whichever you choose to call it.<\/p>\n

________________________<\/p>\n

Alison Weir<\/em> is the President of the Council for the National Interest (CNI) and Executive Director of If Americans Knew.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 ifamericansknew.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re Tired of Pretend Democracy – Not often is a political fix so public. The Democratic committee that develops the party\u2019s campaign platform recently failed to include the apparently obligatory \u201cJerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel\u201d pronouncement. In fact, I believe an uprising in the United States may be coming. People are tired of wars and killing, and of being sold a pack of goods by both parties using lies, deception, and manipulation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anglo-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21500\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}