RIP. He was always good for something in a part.

I wouldn't bet against it. If you're willing to lie to get elected, why not get it on with some beautiful women?

How Donald Trump Exposed AIPAC

When the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) announced that Donald Trump would be speaking at its annual policy conference this year, there was a loud cry of outrage. Even some supporters of AIPAC said it was inappropriate to host a man who had fomented violence and racism. More liberal Jewish organizations protested, and some objectors said they would organize a quiet walkout when Trump took the stage.

But when Trump did speak earlier this week, there was no protest, and the respectful applause gradually rose to roaring cheers instead. By the end of his speech, Trump had clearly won the AIPAC crowd over.

AIPAC itself recognized that the imagery here was disastrous. It was especially perturbed that Trump had gotten a huge ovation for saying that President Barack Obama “may be the worst thing to ever happen to Israel, believe me, believe me.” So much so, in fact, that the group made a statement rebuking Trump and its own audience for egging him on.

But while the boorish Trump was obviously offensive, the substance of his remarks was not terribly different from what the other candidates at the convention had to say. Only he and Hillary Clinton even mentioned the notion of brokering a deal between Israel and the Palestinians. All the candidates at the gathering placed the blame for the ongoing conflict squarely on the Palestinians, with only Clinton even mentioning settlement expansion.

This kind of rhetoric was to be expected at AIPAC, but it was even more extreme than it has been in the past. And the audience, by and large, ate it up with a very big spoon.

AIPAC may have finally demonstrated for all to see that it has completely lost touch with the mainstream Jewish community. Poll after poll has shown that the clear majority of American Jews do not stand with AIPAC’s hawkish positions. They want to see settlement expansion stopped and a two-state solution attained.

Those views actually were reflected by one presidential candidate. He is at once the only Jewish candidate, the only one to have ever lived for a time in Israel, and the only one not to speak at AIPAC. He is, of course, Bernie Sanders.

Sanders had written a speech for a potential appearance at AIPAC, and when the group refused to let him address the crowd via video link (which it had permitted Mitt Romney to do from the campaign trail in 2012, as well as Benjamin Netanyahu at the latest conference), he asked AIPAC to distribute the text of the speech he ultimately delivered in Utah, while the Republican candidates were on the AIPAC stage.

It was an unfortunate missed opportunity for Sanders to make a big splash with a powerful foreign policy statement. With the controversy swirling around Trump, his words could have made their own headlines, rather than being largely ignored by the media.

Sanders was clear about his deep connection and concern for Israel, and was just as firm that he would, if elected, continue to ensure Israel’s security. But he also insisted that Israel could not be secure without a peace agreement, and, most pointedly, that “peace also means security for every Palestinian. It means achieving self-determination, civil rights, and economic wellbeing for the Palestinian people.”

That would have brought boos from the AIPAC crowd, and what a spectacle that would have been. The first Jewish candidate to ever make a serious run at a party nomination—who has lived in Israel and whose voting record on the issue has been described as “a critical but supportive posture on Israel”—booed by a crowd that cheered Donald Trump.

https://newrepublic.com/article/131994/ … osed-aipac

Would be cool if you made it. Good luck.