“Federal Election Commission records show Stein paid $100,000 in July to a consulting outfit that has worked with Republican campaigns, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential bid. The firm, Accelevate, is operated by Trent Pool. The Intercept reported that he appeared to be part of the mob that breached the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6., 2021. The Journal hasn’t independently verified the reporting.”

  • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    That’s not my argument.

    Then what is? It’s fine to buy candidates as long as your PAC has the fig leaf of US funding when it operates on behalf of a foreign government? Because that’s what happened. Israel didn’t like the incumbents. AIPAC spent loads of money on their challengers.

    Back in 2022, we were told that when the party propped up the anti-choice, pro-nra, anti-labor Henry Cuellar against his progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros, it absolutely wasn’t because he was a centrist and she a progressive. It was that the party protects its incumbents in order to maintain the incumbency advantage and the proven track record for winning.

    But we just saw the party do absolutely fucking nothing at all to protect the progressive incumbents Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush, while their opponents took boatloads of cash from AIPAC to sink them.

    As far as I’m concerned, the party supports Netanyahu’s ongoing genocide, and in exchange AIPAC spends heaps of money in opposition to progressive incumbents that party leadership refuses to protect.

    • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      I understand what you’re trying to say, but you’ve mixed in 3 different topics into a blender to build up a narrative. This is literally a gish gallop and it’s intentional.

      The only thing I pushed back was that AIPAC was taking money directly from Israel and circumventing FARA, which is a common conspiratorial talking point.

      Now in addition to addressing FARA, you want to talk about

      • incumbent advantage and popularity of these candidates

      • dems support for genocide,

      • the influence of lobbying in elections.

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        The only thing I pushed back was that AIPAC was taking money directly from Israel and circumventing FARA, which is a common conspiratorial talking point.

        Ok, let’s both take a step back here, I ask that you humor me for a moment. Could you please quote where I said that Israel directly funded AIPAC in contravention of FARA? I don’t recall making such an assertion, but you seem to be arguing as though I did.

        Accusing me of being a conspiracy theorist for noticing that AIPAC spent loads of money to essentially buy candidates is low. Calling it a gish gallop when I expanded on it is lower still.