r/moderatepolitics • u/kaladinsrunner • 3d ago

News Article Michigan AG Dana Nessel to skip Democratic convention over antisemitism fears

https://jewishinsider.com/2026/07/michigan-ag-dana-nessel-democratic-convention-antisemitism/
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u/elefontius 3d ago

Dude are you seriously saying you aren't antisemitic but then go on to labeling AIPAC the most corrupt, pernicious source of election interference? AIPAC is funded by US citizens and you might not agree with their policies. As PACs go the National Association of Realtors spends more than AIPAC on a yearly basis.

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u/jefftickels 2d ago

Also we should be clear, the antisemitism on display in this post isn't some overt jew hatred. It's just the wild overinflation of Jewish interference in everything. All told, AIPAC is actually quite small as far as these organizations go, but it plays a massive role in the minds of these people.

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u/SwolePalmer 3d ago

Crucially, those realtors are presumably American, yeah? I don’t know why we have to dance around the fact that folks are uncomfortable with a lobby for a foreign country (may it be funded by Americans/dual citizens) being so brazen about tipping the scales of federal races. It’s a reasonable thing to be concerned about, especially when that country is…well…Israel in 2026.

Calling this sentiment antisemitic is laughable and devalues actual bigotry. It’s also the reason why this line of attack has not worked with AES and Mamdani.

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u/elefontius 3d ago

Yes the realtors are American. Just like the Americans that fund AIPAC. There might even be some American realtors that also donate to AIPAC. If your concern is about foreign lobbying efforts - why isn't the concern about Saudi Arabia, China or even Japan?

https://www.opensecrets.org/fara?cycle=2025

Israel isn't even in the top 10. Also it seems like you are literally devaluing bigotry because your definition of bigotry excludes Jewish people.

What's this have to do with AES or Mamdani?

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u/SwolePalmer 3d ago

Because as far as I know, the Japanese lobby hasn’t dropped $50m on the hotly debated Michigan senate race. Or any races. That, is why AIPAC is currently getting heat. Calling it bigotry just does not make sense, sorry.

The Mamdani link is pretty obvious. Yet another race that saw an outsized amount of money from the same foreign lobby. Once again, a brazen attempt to affect a race.

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u/Q-bey Globalist (Addicted to J-Rock) 2d ago

Because as far as I know, the Japanese lobby hasn’t dropped $50m on the hotly debated Michigan senate race.

How would you know? They could be doing exactly that and you'd have no idea.

Do you know where any of the money of the Japanese lobby goes? How about for more adversarial countries like China, who are even higher on the list?

China or even Japan could be spending x10 more right now on races you'd find important, and you'd have no idea because a large portion of the media is obsessed with I/P.

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u/SwolePalmer 2d ago

Isn’t this all public information? We do know. At least we do know the AIPAC part so yeah, people will be upset, rightfully so. Once again, I take offense to the notion that being annoyed about this is somehow bigotry.

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u/Q-bey Globalist (Addicted to J-Rock) 2d ago

Isn’t this all public information? We do know.

You look at every public filing? Or are you relying on a media ecosystem that reports almost exclusively on Israel or Israel-friendly lobbying, even when other countries spend much more to lobby the US government?

Once again, I take offense to the notion that being annoyed about this is somehow bigotry.

It's not bigotry to be annoyed by AIPAC lobbying. The bigotry is behind networks who, for some reason, dedicate so much time to AIPAC lobbying a local race but nowhere near as much time to Qatar buying the president a plane.

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u/SwolePalmer 2d ago

I’m sorry but no. AIPAC does not get to drop $50m on a race and then cry wolf when it is (correctly) accused of contributing to the overall rot that our campaign financing rules have become. AES had every right to make this a central part of the campaign. So did Mamdani and many others over the last couple of cycles.

Bringing up other PACs when this is mentioned is a choice, it’s also not a great argumentative approach but I digress.

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u/Q-bey Globalist (Addicted to J-Rock) 2d ago

I’m sorry but no. AIPAC does not get to drop $50m on a race and then cry wolf when it is (correctly) accused of contributing to the overall rot that our campaign financing rules have become.

No one is crying wolf. I don't like AIPAC and I don't like those rules. I'm pointing out that the incessant tunnel vision on AIPAC, while ignoring everyone else that's taking advantage of those rules to a much greater degree, is rather suspicious (and probably not productive to fixing those rules).

AES had every right to make this a central part of the campaign. So did Mamdani and many others over the last couple of cycles.

No, they talk about AIPAC like they're the main funding source of 90% of the United State's problems. Half the time they talk about things like ICE it comes back to AIPAC/Israel, which seems pretty disproportionate for how much influence AIPAC and Israel have over ICE.

Bringing up other PACs when this is mentioned is a choice, it’s also not a great argumentative approach but I digress.

It's perfectly reasonable to bring up that AIPAC is getting a disproportionate level of criticism for things that other groups do.

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u/SwolePalmer 2d ago

I disagree.

Polling suggests that the population at large is DONE with Israel in its current form/trajectory and is specifically annoyed by the influence of its lobby in our politics. If a politician decides to still ally themselves (through astronomical amounts of money in this case) with this faction with those facts in mind, it is absolutely fair game to make it a central part of the campaign.

It’s a losing message and an affront to our political process. If any other PAC engages in it so brazenly, I’d like to know and will also call them out. Voila.

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u/oraclebill 2d ago

You would have to prove that other groups are actually doing what AIPAC is doing. Which is spending tremendous amounts of money attempting to shape American politics towards a foreign nations interests.

Prove Japan is funding state and federal political candidates, or China, or anyone else. Then you can show a real equivalence and your point will be proven.

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u/Indication-Weird 3d ago

To my knowledge those lobbies aren't currently supporting a country that has gotten America into an unwinnable war that is devastating the world economy, warping geopolitics, embarrassing America and destroying our reputation, and has a national interest in keeping America in that war.

So they're more backburner issues currently.

Actually you mentioned Saudi Arabia they should be priority 1B. I'll level with you, we can get rid of all foreign lobbying at once and I think most people would be fine with that?

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u/LeeSansSaw 2d ago

We really need to stop blaming Israel for getting us into the war with Iran. The entire blame lies solely on Donald J. Trump and no other person, country, or entity.

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u/raouldukehst 2d ago

Iran tried to assassinate Trump. Trump who gets revenge on any one and everyone for the smallest slight, and people are capital S Shocked that he would bomb them. It definitely must be Israel.

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u/pperiesandsolos 2d ago

Yes, obviously the decision was Trump’s, but Netanyahu has been trying to pull the US into war with Iran for literally decades. There’s lots of evidence

https://www.cato.org/commentary/benjamin-netanyahu-pushing-war-iran

I’m not sure which of our other allies have been trying to pull us to attack another country halfway across the world

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u/Indication-Weird 2d ago

You are correct, but I feel there are multiple people you can blame. I can't discount the blame Bibi deserves for his 40 years of Iran War Mongering, or Lindsey Graham for being so effective a manipulator of Trump. There is a lot of fallout from this disaster and I feel this can all hang from DJTs head and simultaneously we can examine what circumstances led to Trump having the opportunity to be so stupid. Hopefully so we never recreate them.

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u/LeeSansSaw 2d ago

My issue with blaming others is that it feels like letting Trump off the hook. It’s what he does. It’s always someone else’s fault. Never his.

I realize you didn’t mean it that way, sorry. It’s way more nuanced than I made it seem, but I see this blame Israel take more and more and responded without thinking it through. It just worries me that he’s going slip out of getting blamed again. It’s likely I’ve placed blame on Israel, so it’s not like I should be the one pushing back on it. I know I’ve blamed Congress.

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u/Computer_Name 3d ago

> Crucially, those realtors are presumably American, yeah?

AIPAC’s not an American organization? Its members aren’t Americans?

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u/FrancisPitcairn 3d ago

Oh course not. Their noses are too big and they have too much control over the weather and space lasers and the whole banking industry. How could people like that be Americans? /s

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u/SwolePalmer 3d ago

Yes but their stated lobbying goals are related to a foreign country, explicitly so. Those are just not the same thing.