Mendacity and Cowardice

So Phillip Weiss of Mondoweiss describes a Center of American Progress Report on the “Sheldon Adelson primary” a few months ago. The Sheldon Adelson primary was a Las Vegas spectacle at which Republican candidates kissed the ring of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.

If you read CAP’s report from start to finish without the benefit of any other information, you’d have no idea that the cause Adelson exalts far above all others is his right-wing support of Israel. You see, the CAP report never mentions Israel. Really. It doesn’t.

If you relied on the report, you’d be fairly certain that Adelson cared more about abortion rights restrictions and climate change denial than he does about Israel. Adelson actually is pro-choice and has no stance on climate change.

So, what gives? It’s not hard to figure out. Weiss explains:

Mendacity and cowardice. And there’s a reason for the omissions: because Democrats need to raise pro-Israel money, too, and their party organs can’t be seen as criticizing Israel. That’s why CAP censored Ali Gharib and Eli Clifton a couple years ago when they dared to call out AIPAC, the Israel lobby group, on Iran.

And let’s be clear: this is the pressure that Hillary Clinton is under; and that Chris Matthews, to his credit, has been bucking.

There you have it: Mendacity and cowardice, both on full display, at one “center-left” think tank.