IL-Gov. 2018 Megathread

[MAINEiac4434]

Biss just comes off as indecisive here. This has cost him.

[Meatball Ron]

Funny how liberals always chide leftists and progressives for their "purity politics" and supposed racism/sexism, yet are overjoyed when a gay Latino alderman gets kicked off the ticket for governor because of his stance on Israel/Palestine, something that the LG doesn't address.

[RINO Tom]

Bliss drops Ramirez-Rosa from his ticket

God dammit.

I am convinced that Illinois wi never have even a halfway decent governor.

It does, the voters will just be dumb enough to vote him out and start over.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Bliss drops Ramirez-Rosa from his ticket

God dammit.

I am convinced that Illinois wi never have even a halfway decent governor.

It does, the voter will just be dumb enough to vote him out and start over.

That's a funny way to spell Madigan.

[SATW]

Funny how liberals always chide leftists and progressives for their "purity politics" and supposed racism/sexism, yet are overjoyed when a gay Latino alderman gets kicked off the ticket for governor because of his stance on Israel/Palestine, something that the LG doesn't address.

Give it a rest, please. Ramirez-Rosa was not kicked off for being Latino nor for being gay. Your hatred of Israel is so intense that you are willing to twist reality to a point where it is no longer recognize.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Funny how liberals always chide leftists and progressives for their "purity politics" and supposed racism/sexism, yet are overjoyed when a gay Latino alderman gets kicked off the ticket for governor because of his stance on Israel/Palestine, something that the LG doesn't address.

Liberal and progressive are two buzzwords describing the same thing, you diplodocus.  

More importantly, being a gay Latino isn't some sort of magical get-out-of-jail free card for championing an anti-Semitic hate group.  And the fact that you guys keep conveniently choosing to ignore the real issue here suggests that (at best) the two of you have no problem with anti-Semitic dog whistles.  At the very least, Alpha likely holds some fairly anti-Semitic views based on his posts in this thread.  

Not gonna lie, many Jewish Democrats initially dropped the ball by waiting so long to start calling this sort of stuff what it is: blatant anti-Semitism.  The anti-Semitic Right has long been a serious problem in the U.S., but it's getting to be a real problem on the left too.  Fortunately, folks finally seem to be working on nipping this thing in the bud and the anti-Semitic Left doesn't do too well when someone shines a light on it.  That Dan Biss was forced to pull a McGovern in such a short amount of time despite trying to run as the "radical left-wing" candidate is a really good sign.  

[Kamala]

Funny how liberals always chide leftists and progressives for their "purity politics" and supposed racism/sexism, yet are overjoyed when a gay Latino alderman gets kicked off the ticket for governor because of his stance on Israel/Palestine, something that the LG doesn't address.

Pritzkerbros are deeply racist and homophobic. This should be well-known by now.

I don't think those even exist.

[SATW]

Where BDS goes over the line is the idea that Israel should *uniquely* be punished, at a national level, for its "sins." Artists are pressured into not performing there. Academics are dissuaded from lecturing there. Universities are pressured into divesting from Israeli holdings (inspired by the SA apartheid campaigns of the 1980s). What's curious is that Israel is the ONLY country on earth BDS holds to this standard, and not a peep out of them about actual genocides, like Darfur or the Rohingya in Burma or the violent massacres of LGBT in Chechnya. Just Israel, for... building apartments in disputed territory?

That's not to say Israel should steam ahead with the settlement program. They shouldn't, in my view. But it's not hard to wonder if there's something, ahem, fundamental about Israel that makes it singled out by BDS when parties that are considerably worse get a shrug

Seems that the distinction is simply that Israel is more likely to be affected by a boycott than any of those others. Radiohead isn't doing concerts in Grozny, there aren't that many academics traveling to Darfur for conferences, and there aren't a ton of university investment funds that have invested in Burmese companies.

It is a blatant falsehood to compare Israel to any of those places. In fact, it is disgraceful to compare any democracy to f*king Darfur.


The demonzing of Israel by the far-left continues to prove that is unhinged. Israel's policies on most issues are very similar to those of the United States and the United Kingdom.

But, you don't care about the U.S. or U.K. - or at least not enough to try and boycott them or demonize them.

[SATW]

Funny how liberals always chide leftists and progressives for their "purity politics" and supposed racism/sexism, yet are overjoyed when a gay Latino alderman gets kicked off the ticket for governor because of his stance on Israel/Palestine, something that the LG doesn't address.

Liberal and progressive are two buzzwords describing the same thing, you diplodocus.  

More importantly, being a gay Latino isn't some sort of magical get-out-of-jail free card for championing an anti-Semitic hate group.  And the fact that you guys keep conveniently choosing to ignore the real issue here suggests that (at best) the two of you have no problem with anti-Semitic dog whistles.  At the very least, Alpha likely holds some fairly anti-Semitic views based on his posts in this thread.  

Not gonna lie, many Jewish Democrats initially dropped the ball by waiting so long to start calling this sort of stuff what it is: blatant anti-Semitism.  The anti-Semitic Right has long been a serious problem in the U.S., but it's getting to be a real problem on the left too.  Fortunately, folks finally seem to be working on nipping this thing in the bud and the anti-Semitic Left doesn't do too well when someone shines a light on it.  That Dan Biss was forced to pull a McGovern in such a short amount of time despite trying to run as the "radical left-wing" candidate is a really good sign.  

Great post. I'll also admit Jewish Republicans have been slow on pushing back against the alt-right and I regret that we had not done so sooner and with more gravitas.

[Kamala]

Also, I think that calling Israel an "apartheid state" is rather disingenuous. Israeli Arabs have equal rights and protections as Israeli Jews, and from what I remember most polling has them wanting to remain in Israel rather than joining a hypothetical Palestinian state.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Also, I think that calling Israel an "apartheid state" is rather disingenuous. Israeli Arabs have equal rights and protections as Israeli Jews, and from what I remember most polling has them wanting to remain in Israel rather than joining a hypothetical Palestinian state.

Not only that, most speak Hebrew and self-identify as Israelis.  The Arab world (including the Palestinians) literally want nothing to do with Israeli Arabs since they consider them to be Jews and Hamas is almost as happy to try to kill them as it is to kill Israeli Jews.

[SATW]

Also, I think that calling Israel an "apartheid state" is rather disingenuous. Israeli Arabs have equal rights and protections as Israeli Jews, and from what I remember most polling has them wanting to remain in Israel rather than joining a hypothetical Palestinian state.

Yep. There are even NGOs in Israel that promote Israeli-Arab causes. Israel's 3rd largest party bloc is the Arab Joint List (13 seats), which is also anti-zionist.

An "apartheid" state would not even let minorities serve in parliament, yet alone let a party bloc of minorities against the country's existence have a free and open voice.

It is a disgrace to the victims of actual apartheid in South Africa to call liberal democracies "apartheid."

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Funny how liberals always chide leftists and progressives for their "purity politics" and supposed racism/sexism, yet are overjoyed when a gay Latino alderman gets kicked off the ticket for governor because of his stance on Israel/Palestine, something that the LG doesn't address.

Liberal and progressive are two buzzwords describing the same thing, you diplodocus.  

No they're not...?

As far as 95% or so of Americans are concerned, yes they are.

[_]

Bliss drops Ramirez-Rosa from his ticket

God dammit.

I am convinced that Illinois wi never have even a halfway decent governor.

It does, the voters will just be dumb smart enough to vote him out and start over for a second term and get rid of Madigan.

[KingSweden]

Also, I think that calling Israel an "apartheid state" is rather disingenuous. Israeli Arabs have equal rights and protections as Israeli Jews, and from what I remember most polling has them wanting to remain in Israel rather than joining a hypothetical Palestinian state.

It's absurd. So is "cultural genocide" and the other nonsensical phrases thrown around. It diminishes the horrors of real genocides and what black South Africans were subjected to under apartheid, and it destroys the credibility of people who genuinely do want to find a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian/Israeli standoff

[publicunofficial]

More like Daniel Piss am I right?


Seriously though, extremely disappointing and spineless move from Bliss. I hope his campaign crashes in flames and only serves to elevate Rosa's profile.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Also, I think that calling Israel an "apartheid state" is rather disingenuous. Israeli Arabs have equal rights and protections as Israeli Jews, and from what I remember most polling has them wanting to remain in Israel rather than joining a hypothetical Palestinian state.

In fact, when disgusting organizations such as BDS punish all Israeli citizens, they punish Arabs, too. Even just boycotting products made in the settlements is a move that hurts a big amount of Palestinians who work in factories in the West Bank where both Jews and Arabs work.
The BDS, with its collective punishment and flaming hate for Israel, doesn't promote a peaceful resolution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. All it promotes, in the end, is throwing the Jews into the water.
That is why I'm glad Biss threw Rosa from his ticket- he comes off as undecisive, yes, but it shows that the opposition to the BDS in America is still strong.

[TheSaint250]

It disgusts how everyone from BDS to the UN consider Israel an apartheid state. It is nothing close to one.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Fun fact: Turns out Ramirez-Rosa told Biss' campaign that he'd always opposed BDS shortly before his selection.

[Donerail]

Fun fact: Turns out Ramirez-Rosa told Biss' campaign that he'd always opposed BDS shortly before his selection.

Rosa has opposed and continues to oppose BDS at a state and municipal level (voted against a resolution on the city council). He believes there is room for a nuanced debate nationally, Biss does not. Only the former issue came up, for obvious reasons, in the selection process for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.


In other news, Biss is announcing State Rep. Litesa Wallace (D-Rockford) as his new Lt. Gov. candidate today. Rep. Brad Schneider, who de-endorsed Biss over the Rosa pick, has declined to re-endorse.

[KingSweden]

It disgusts how everyone from BDS to the UN consider Israel an apartheid state. It is nothing close to one.

And diminishes the utter horror of South Africa's apartheid regime

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Fun fact: Turns out Ramirez-Rosa told Biss' campaign that he'd always opposed BDS shortly before his selection.

Rosa has opposed and continues to oppose BDS at a state and municipal level (voted against a resolution on the city council). He believes there is room for a nuanced debate nationally, Biss does not. Only the former issue came up, for obvious reasons, in the selection process for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.


In other news, Biss is announcing State Rep. Litesa Wallace (D-Rockford) as his new Lt. Gov. candidate today. Rep. Brad Schneider, who de-endorsed Biss over the Rosa pick, has declined to re-endorse.

There's room for nuanced national debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  There is not any such room for "nuanced" debate over supporting anti-Semitic hate groups like BDS nor should there be.  They must be condemned in the strongest possible terms for the same reasons that it's vital for politicians to unambiguously condemn white supremacists.    

[Donerail]

There's room for nuanced national debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  There is not any such room for "nuanced" debate over supporting anti-Semitic hate groups like BDS nor should there be.  They must be condemned in the strongest possible terms for the same reasons that it's vital for politicians to unambiguously condemn white supremacists.   

actually, BDS is good, so. But we're off-topic in the Illinois thread.

[publicunofficial]

And again, everyone should be worried when Israel becomes the one topic you're not allowed to go against the status quo on.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

And again, everyone should be worried when Israel becomes the one topic you're not allowed to go against the status quo on.

The fact that you see no difference between criticizing someone for being anti-Israel and criticizing someone for being anti-Semitic is quite telling.