Tuesday, March 22, 2016

The speech Bernie Sanders did NOT give at AIPAC

Bernie Sanders spoke about Israel and the Middle East in a speech at West High School in Salt Lake City, Utah on March 21, 2016 — the same day that the lobbying group AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee) rejected him.

Here are his full remarks posted at his website — and here is part of that speech posted at YouTube. Fox 13 Salt Lake City also ran a short story, noting that being Jewish, no one knows the issues of Israel better than Bernie Sanders.

But not one cable news station (MSNBC, CNN or Fox News) was In Utah to carry this speech, but almost all of Donald Trump's campaign rallies are carried LIVE from beginning to end. That's what you call the corporate media keeping the population "dumbed down" folks! (Not to mention, imposing the continued media blackout on Bernie Sanders, because they want Hillary Clinton to be our next president).

Later that day, Bernie Sanders appeared on CNN's "Final Five Presidential Candidates" with Anderson Cooper (in the video embedded below). Bernie Sanders had said that that was the speech that he would have given at AIPAC, had they allowed him to speak.

Note that Anderson Cooper begins by asking Bernie about his absence from AIPAC, when it was already explained earlier that is was simply a scheduling problem on Bernie's part, not a rejection of AIPAC (although, it most likely was). But it is true that Bernie had been very busy campaigning for President, because Hillary currently leads him with more delegates. But for some reason, Anderson felt compelled to ask Bernie about this again, just to be sure that we all knew the differences between Hillary "the NeoCon" Clinton and "the anti-war" Bernie Sanders.

Later that day, Bernie also appeared on "All in with Chris Hayes" on MSNBC, to further explain his differences between himself, Hillary "Hawk" Clinton, the Republicans, and Netanyahu (the Prime Minister of Israel) — who Bernie had called a right-wing politician.

Here are all the speeches at AIPAC that the cable news stations had aired LIVE in their entirety on March 21st, and what the major media outlets were reporting on. 

Below is how Bernie Sanders' absence from AIPAC was reported in the media . . .

  • The Intercept: AIPAC rejected Bernie Sanders offer to speak via video, as Romney and Gingrich did in 2012.
  • The Observer: Many of the grassroots progressives powering Bernie Sanders’ campaign against Hillary Clinton see Israel as an imperialistic hegemon waging asymmetrical warfare against the Palestinians; the Democratic Party that views Israel as the shining beacon of democracy in the Middle East has little in common with Bernie's most ardent fans.
  • The Jerusalem Post (JTA): AIPAC has allowed presidential candidates to deliver speeches remotely in past elections. In 2012, Mitt Romney, then a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, addressed the AIPAC conference via satellite. AIPAC did not immediately respond to a JTA inquiry as to whether the organization had changed its practice on candidates addressing the conference remotely.
  • The Washington Post: Vice President Biden said he was “pessimistic” about Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, acknowledging insufficient political will on both sides and calling on Netanyahu to stop continued expansion in occupied territories.

Below is how some in the media  reported on the performances of speakers at AIPAC. For her part, Hillary sounded like a true Republican . . .

  • The Daily Beast: Hillary Clinton Brings Down The House At AIPAC -- She took virtually every position that AIPAC expects from its political allies with one exception: She did not call for the U.S. embassy to move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as Trump and other Republicans have done. But she did take a step that in the current context of U.S. Israeli relations was unexpected when she pledged, “One of the first things I’ll do in office is invite the Israeli Prime Minister to visit the White House.” The crowd erupted in the most thunderous applause of the morning.
  • TIME: Donald Trump’s AIPAC Speech Gets Subdued Response -- He delivered a carefully prepared speech off a teleprompter, breaking with a past promise to never use the devices. After opening with a pledge not to “pander” to the crowd, Trump did just that, dramatically altering his tone and policy toward Israel from what he has been espousing on the campaign trail.
  • Slate: Hillary Clinton’s AIPAC Speech Was a Symphony of Craven, Delusional Pandering -- Clinton had an opportunity to show some political courage. She decided to alienate the left instead.
  • Washington Post: Hillary Clinton and Vice President Biden at AIPAC
  • Common Dreams: Critics Aghast at 'Disgusting Speech' Clinton Just Gave to AIPAC: Democratic presidential candidate speech praises "everything that is bad about Israeli policy and U.S. imperialism".

BONUS VIDEO!!! A MUST WATCH SEGMENT OF THE YOUNG TURKS! (Bernie Sanders is giving the establishment Democrats a big headache!)

3 comments:

  1. This article explains why Bernie Sanders' approach to the Middle East is better than Hillary Clinton's, and how she helped create ISIS.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UPDATE:

    Hillary and Trump give virtually identical speeches at AIPAC, get standing ovations. Reading the speeches side by side, I am struck by the similarities. Some of the loudest applause was reserved for comments demonizing Palestinians.

    In stark contrast, Bernie Sanders’ speech and it’s delivery (away from the conference and in a measured cadence) were radically different in both tone and substance.

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/03/22/1504728/-Hillary-and-Trump-give-virtually-identical-speeches-at-AIPAC-get-standing-ovations

    ReplyDelete
  3. Can We Persuade Bernie Sanders to Make Aliyah?

    http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.717260

    ReplyDelete