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In an op-ed for The Washington Post this Monday, Jennifer Rubin highlighted President Trumps recent speech before the far-rightIsraeli American Council, where he unwittingly belted out various antisemitic tropes before the largely Jewish audience.

You have people Jewish people and they are great people and they dont love Israel enough, Trump said a comment that Rubin says uses American Jews as whipping boys for insufficient loyalty to him and his policies.

Rubin then cited another quote from Trumps speech:

Youre not going to vote for the wealth tax. Lets take 100 percent of your wealth away. No, no. Even if you dont like me and some of you dont; some of you, I dont like at all, actually and youre going to be my biggest supporters because youll be out of business in about 15 minutes, Trump said, which, according to Rubin, is an age-old antisemitic trope that claims all Jews are rich and only care about money.

According to Rubin, Trumps rhetoric when it comes to US Jews and Israel achieves two aims: to cater to the ears of evangelical Christians and to send a dog whistle to the alt-right who see in Trump confirmation of their negative stereotypes about Jews.

Despite being admonished by various Jewish leaders, Trump will not stop, Rubin writes.

He continues to single out Jewish lawmakers (e.g., House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) is shifty) and his Republican Party routinely invokes Jewish billionaire George Soros as a maniacal force behind progressive Democrats, writes Rubin, adding that Trumps antisemitism is just another reflection of todays Republican Party.

a cesspool of right-wing nationalist rhetoric, anti-Semitic tropes that find favor in certain circles (since America is a white, Christian nation in their eyes, Jews are outsiders), as well as anti-immigrant screeds and conspiracy theories.

Read her full piece over at The Washington Post.

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Raw Story is independent. You wont find mainstream media bias here. Unhinged from billionaires and corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.

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then let us make a small request. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism and were investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnstons DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. Weve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. Weve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.

Raw Story is independent. You wont find mainstream media bias here. Unhinged from corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.

We need your support to keep producing quality journalism and deepen our investigative reporting. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.

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Trump has turned Jews into his whipping boys and proven the GOP is now a cesspool: conservative columnist - Raw Story

Russian disinformation actors active in the 2016 campaign, including both the Internet Research Agency (IRA) in St. Petersburg and Military Intelligence in Moscow (GRU), indeed boosted the Ukraine-interfered narrative. But they did so rather late in the game, about half a year after it had first appeared, IRA activity released by Twitter shows. Wheres the outrage over Clinton and her campaign teams collusion with Ukraine to interfere in the US election? tweeted @USA_Gunslinger on July 13, 2017, one of the IRAs main fake-conservative accounts. None of the IRAs Facebook ads mention Ukraine. One known GRU front, CyberBerkut, attempted to promote the Ukraine-interfered narrative with a blog post in June 2017. It would appear that Russian actors did not concoct this version of the theory; they parroted the American far right.

The Ukraine-hacked narrative has a murkier origin story. In a document release last month, the FBI revealed one notable detail: During an interview with the FBI, Rick Gates, Manaforts former deputy, recalled that Konstantin Kilimnik, one of Manaforts business partners with alleged links to Russian intelligence, advanced the narrative that Ukraine had a role in the DNC hack. Gates recalled Manafort saying the hack was likely carried out by the Ukrainians, not the Russians, which parroted a narrative Kilimnik often supported, according to an FBI document, which then adds, confusingly, that Kilimnik also opined the hack could have been perpetrated by Russian operatives in Ukraine. It is unclear from Gatess recollection when exactly this statement was made, and how persistently Manafort in turn repeated it.

Peter Beinart: Trumps fantasy world got him into this

The Ukraine-hacked conspiracy theory is usually combined with a version of the CrowdStrike conspiracy theory, in which the cybersecurity firm somehow engineered the DNC leak while framing Russian intelligence. Kilimnik, notably, does not appear to have advanced this far more common version of the theory.

Of all the Ukraine conspiracy theories, the Ukraine-owned narrative received the most attention early on. It appears to have originated in the first days of January 2017, both on the far right and the far left, almost at the same timein response to a Ukraine-related Department of Homeland Security intelligence release and a Ukraine-related CrowdStrike report from late December.

In the wee hours of January 3, Washingtons Blog, a popular, now defunct alt-right site, ran a rambling, 5,600-word piece titled: Why Crowdstrikes Russian Hacking Story Fell Apart. The piece quoted a litany of rumors, and then homed in on Dmitri Alperovitch, a founder of CrowdStrike: He isnt serving US interests. Hes definitely a Ukrainian patriot. Maybe he should move to Ukraine.

That same day, The Nation published its own article focused on CrowdStrike. The magazine pointed out that Alperovitch is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and that the D.C. think tank was funded in part by the Ukrainian World Congress, and the Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk, thus insinuating that CrowdStrike was somehow linked to Ukrainian money and secret influence. Washingtons Blog picked up the Pinchuk allegation two days later, and Breitbart News also started looking into CrowdStrike.

See the article here:
Whos Really to Blame for the Ukraine Did It Conspiracy Theory? - The Atlantic

On my visit to Edgewood College in high school, it was amazing to walk past the offices inPredolinand see the resources that Edgewood has to offer to make students feel included. It was one of the main reasons I chose Edgewood over other colleges in the state. Working for the equality of all people is one of my core values and a value that I thought Edgewood believed in as well. Restricting health services information for students to accommodate the agenda of a transphobic, homophobic, alt-right hate group does not reflect this value and makes me embarrassed to call myself an Edgewood student.

Anonymous

Edgewood removing planned parenthood from the student resource page on the website at the push of a right-wing,anti trans, homophobic petition further illustrates not only the ignorance surrounding planned parenthoods services, but also confirms the fear of Edgewoods LGBT community. It is a loud, blaring sign from our interim president that we are not valued members of this community, and that we arent wanted.

Charlotte Williams, junior

For me this is not a call for open discourse, but rather a declaration of disappointment as analumnito be affiliated with this institution. While I attended Edgewood from 2012 to 2017, I was never a fan of the administrations decisions, but my positive experiences are with the faculty. To those who helped me grow through my education, my heart goes out to you as you never forced perspectives on me which allowed me to grow in my own way. Apparently, the current administration does not share this methodology.

Edgewood touts Partnership, Community, Truth, Justice, Compassion.Partnershipwith the select and neglecting those who live differently?Communitywith those who seek to target and ostracize others?Truthin that the college has become a circus run by clowns? Justicefor those we only approve of, but good luck if you dont fit the bill?Compassionwhere we see fit, not for all?

I decided to invest some of my word count on the broader scope of PPs services to contrast against the stark motivation behind the change at Edgewood.Below is taken from Wikipedia:

According to PPFA, in 2014 the organization provided 3.6 million contraceptive services, 4.5 million sexually transmitted infection services, about 1 million cancer related services, over 1 million pregnancy tests and prenatal services, over 324,000 abortion services, and over 100,000 other services, for a total of 9.5 million discrete services. PPFA is well known for providing services to minorities and the poor; according to PPFA, approximately four out of five of their clients have incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty. Services for mens health include STD testing and treatment,vasectomyprocedures, and erectile dysfunction services. Education is available regarding male birth control and lowering the risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

Jacob Waskow, alum

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Letters to the Editor - On the Edge News

Since the general election was called, the establishment media has consistently talked up the probability of a Tory win, although those following the Labour campaign closely have reason to be positive.

Behind the scenes, volunteers for the campaign group Momentum have coordinated a nationwide effort using online forums to organise phone banking parties, doorstep canvassing, and the creation of viral memes. This blend of online tactics with traditional face-to-face campaigning borrows from the experience of the 2016 US Presidential campaign, which is widely believed to have been swung in Trumps favour by a loosely organised rabble of alt-right meme makers. Although this is only half the story, as the grassroots Bernie Sanders campaign engendered a new positivity on the left, despite failing to win the democratic nomination.

The success of Sanders campaign in shifting the US political landscape led Momentum to seek advice from Becky Bond and Zack Malitz two of its principal organisers in late 2016. Since then, Momentum has been honing a campaign method known as distributed organising, which involves a dispersed network of campaigners trained remotely via conference calls, videos, and Instant Messaging chats. This mobilisation of dedicated volunteers gives Labour an advantage over the Conservative Party, whose superior funding leads them to hire cold professionals. As one Momentum forum visitor who wishes to be known simply as Kristin said, the campaign has been about:

Skilled, intelligent people pulling together whenever they get a spare moment, doing for free what the Conservatives spend a fortune on, and getting tangible results.

The difference can be seen in the real-life stories told on camera by Labour supporters and uploaded onto social media accounts as part of the #videosbythemany campaign, which was launched by Ken Loach in a conference call on 6 November. The director and vocal Labour supporter said:

The Tories represent a class of people that most of us have no contact with Labours strength is the experience and voices and integrity of people we know.

In addition to effectively democratising the party political broadcast through the #videosbythemany initiative, Momentums #videoclipping team has diligently screenshotted and recorded news and debate footage throughout the campaign period, amassing thousands of videos ready to be captioned and uploaded to social media as potential viral memes.

Such efforts may make this the first UK general election to be influenced by a centrally coordinated, volunteer-run, meme campaign. Although its the use of the internet to organise real-world interaction through doorstep canvassing that may prove vital in causing an electoral upset. In the last two weeks of the campaign, Momentum launched My Plan to Win via a conference call to Momentum volunteers. The call introduced a web app that allows volunteers to organise their campaign days into Big, Medium and Small actions. The initiative encourages campaigners to, for example, canvas in a marginal, make and share a selfie video, and post on social media explaining why they are voting Labour.

In this way, volunteers are encouraged to treat meme campaigning as something that goes hand in hand with real world interaction. This may go some way to dispelling the popular notion of the political meme maker as a cynical and hermetic being, dedicated to upsetting the political status quo from the safety of their bedroom. The meme has come of political age in the UK as an asset to Labours army of town centre and doorstep canvassers. This 12 December, the left will show that not only can it meme effectively, it can win!

Featured image via Facebook Momentum

Mike Watson (PhD from Goldsmiths College) is a theorist, critic and curator who is principally focused on the relationship between culture, new media and politics. He recently published his second book with ZerO Books, Can the Left Learn to Meme?: Adorno, Video Gaming and Stranger Things.

View original post here:
Momentums meme campaign can win. Heres why. - The Canary

Politics is about coalitions, said the Democratic Alliances (DA) Geordin Hill-Lewis in a Daily Maverick opinion piece.

Its therefore odd that he then goes on to blame only former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba, and not anyone else connected to the DA, for the partys loss of the City of Johannesburg to the ANC last week.

This is strange since this defeat entailed the party failing to convince their coalition parties to vote with them. They were abandoned by their entire coalition, except for its two most right-wing members Freedom Front Plus and ACDP.

It seems obvious that the party has offended many, including three of its own members, who appear to have voted for the ANCs corruption-accused Geoff Makhubo, with its swing to the right-wing, which has involved the return of Zille, the overt meddling of think tank the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), and the adoption of a report which called for the partys first black leader Mmusi Maimane to consider stepping down.

But Hill-Lewis is committed to showcasing the official opposition doing what it does best these days blaming anything and everything other than themselves, and distorting reality.

READ MORE: Mashaba resigns as Johannesburg mayor following Zilles return

Hill-Lewis and I do agree on two things. He says he could never abide Mashabas views of foreign immigrants. Me neither. The former mayors apparent xenophobia which the DA did nothing to discourage, because after all, populist politics gets the votes was indeed obvious and noxious.

Hill-Lewis adds that Mashaba got far too close to the looting EFF. Having read amaBhungane reports suggesting that the City of Johannesburg under Mashaba gave AfriRent a massive tender, and the proceeds somehow ended up in what appears to be a slush fund for Julius Malema, Id agree there too.

This column does not seek to show support for Mashaba, only to argue that its absurd that he is being entirely blamed by Hill-Lewis for the partys ill fortunes since he left.

The fact remains that without Mashaba, the party lost the support of the EFF, and without the EFF, they no longer had the majority they needed in the Joburg Council.

The DA, therefore, either wanted to give Johannesburg up due to a refusal to keep working with the EFF their reaction appears to show that they in fact hoped to keep power or are simply guilty of bad political manoeuvring, regardless of whether you think the corruption-accused Geoff Makhubo or Mashaba would make a better Joburg mayor (personally I think theyre both terrible options).

Hill-Lewis argues that Mashabas decision to leave was entirely his own.

The facts are that he was not forced out, there was no imminent move against him, and the report of the DAs internal election review did not recommend that we voluntarily leave government, he writes.

Mashabas reckless resignation, as Hill-Lewis calls it, may have been of his own accord, but those who believe he was forced out or at least pushed into leaving have certainly been informed by actual evidence.

It has been widely reported that many within the DA voiced opposition to his close relationship with the EFF. And Mashaba despite being further to the right of Zille when it comes to economic policy was understandably unable to get behind the political implications of her return to the party, considering her views on topics like colonialism and black privilege, her expressing the view that all race-based politics must be abandoned, and her cosying-up to SA right-wing media figures like cartoonist Jerm, podcast The Renegade Report, and YouTuber Conscious Caracal.

The DAs internal election review did not recommend that we voluntarily leave government, Hill-Lewis writes.

But it did state that forming governments with the EFFs support in Johannesburg and Tshwane was a mistake.

It said that the partys close relationship with the EFF was harmful to its brand and stopped it from being able to govern according to its policies.

Where the DA can dominate coalitions and protect its identity and brand while doing so, it should not hesitate to enter cooperative government. If it cannot do that, it should avoid such governments, it continued.

If thats not a call to voluntarily leave government I have no idea what is.

The report did say that the party should not make a final decision on whether to exit government in Johannesburg or Tshwane without a proper study of voters views and a careful consideration of the consequences.

READ MORE: Angry Herman Mashaba tells the DA: See, I was right

But Mashaba, who made it clear he was not comfortable with IRRs involvement in the partys politics, or with Helen Zilles return, didnt wait for careful consideration. And why should he have?

Those in the DA espousing the kind of so-called classical liberalism popular with the global alt-right appear unable to accept that they have moved to the right, or to acknowledge that their ideas are considered toxic to the majority of South Africans.

Hill-Lewis was once both Helen Zille and Mmusi Mamaines chief of staff. But its Zille he seems to identify more with, and his closeness to the woman who now holds the powerful position of DA federal council chairperson led several analysts and journalists to tip him to replace Paul Boughey, who resigned as the partys CEO in October [the party has not yet replaced him].

Everything he writes about the party should, therefore, be seen through the lens of someone heavily invested in the DAs jump to the right a direction denied by many of those within the party who champion it.

As long as the DA continues to moves rightwards a development which clearly makes many uncomfortable it will continue to lose support.

The partys recent refusal to take the advice of analysts or the media, however, means theyre unlikely to learn this lesson, as long as there are still outside factors to blame.

The Citizen digital news editor Daniel Friedman. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark.

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Blame Mashaba: The DAs stunning refusal to take responsibility - Citizen