You're welcome to read for free, but you can chip in for the cost of the newsletter by clicking here and filling in the amount of your choice. You don't need a PayPal account; the link lets you use a credit card. If you have trouble, let me know. Or you can Venmo @Steven-Sheffey (if it asks, last four phone digits are 9479).

Friends,

President Biden met last week with Israel Prime Minister Bennett. Biden entered office with a longer and stronger record of support for Israel than any of his predecessors, which he has built upon since taking office. It's no surprise that his meeting with Bennett, the 11th Israeli prime minister Biden has met with (his first was Golda Meir) and the first meeting between a U.S. president and a new Israeli prime minister in ten years, went well.

Disagreements about how to counter Iran are possible, but both countries share the same objective: ensuring that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons. Unless Bennett makes the same mistakes Bibi made and tries to politicize any disagreements (to be fair, Bibi was aided, abetted, and encouraged by some Republicans and some ostensibly pro-Israel organizations), disagreements on Iran are unlikely to cause a rift in U.S.-Israel relations, especially as long as Biden and Bennett believe it is to their advantage to maintain a cordial tone.

However, those of us concerned about the bedrock of the relationship--shared values--should be concerned that Bennett has made clear that he does not support the creation of a Palestinian state. Rather than repeating the once-true slogan that Israel wants peace but has no partner, we must acknowledge that neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians have a partner for peace, at least not partners who are in charge. Rather than label fact-based criticism of Israel as antisemitism, we must advocate for Israel by separating Israel's legitimate security needs from legitimate criticism--there is no contradiction between supporting Israel and acknowledging the flaws of certain current government policies or that American warmth toward Israel depends in part on the policies of the Israeli government, particularly settlement expansion.

The Palestinian Authority must end its human rights abuses. The European Union called on "the Palestinian Authority to meet the standards of the International Human Rights conventions to which they have acceded, including on freedom of expression, as well as freedom of association and assembly." Amnesty International stated that "EU member states, US, and the UK must act urgently and halt security assistance/military aid for Palestinian security forces/police until accountability and respect for human rights is ensured." Reiterating its "serious concerns about Palestinian Authority restrictions on the exercise of freedom of expression by Palestinians and harassment of civil society activists and organizations" from June, the State Department said on Tuesday that "the Palestinian people deserve more freedom of expression – not less.”

The House Progressive Caucus called on the Palestinian Authority to release the "28 detained activists immediately and respect freedom of assembly." Members of Congress, including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) called on the Palestinian Authority to end human rights abuses. As a result, the Palestinian Authority now considers Tlaib "persona non grata."

Those who think Democrats in general, or progressives in particular, turn a blind eye to human rights abuses by the Palestinian Authority are either not paying attention or need to get their news somewhere else.

The real lesson of Afghanistan is that we often mistake open-ended military intervention for smart policy. Ezra Klein is right: "This is the deep lacunae in America’s foreign policy conversation: The American foreign policy establishment obsesses over the harms caused by our absence or withdrawal. But there’s no similar culpability for the harms we commit or that our presence creates."

President Biden ended an unwinnable war we entered into without clear objectives and that we should have ended years ago. No one predicted the fall of Kabul in 24 hours, but since then, Biden has evacuated over 100,000 people from Taliban-controlled territory. The loss of any lives during the evacuation is tragic, yet no one has presented courses of action more likely to succeed than those Biden has taken.

If you think that the "images we’re seeing from Kabul are shocking, heartbreaking and embarrassing," you're right, and you owe it to yourself to read Eugene Robinson if you think this war could have ended any other way.

Even more tragic than the loss of life that has already occurred would be further loss of life from staying in an unnecessary, endless war that has already cost the lives of roughly 2,500 U.S. service members, 3,900 U.S. contractors, 1,100 allied service members, and 47,000 Afghan civilians. Too bad that those now attacking Biden for not preventing a terrorist attack in the midst of a wartime evacuation lost their voices when so many more were dying for a lost cause in Afghanistan under Bush, Trump, and Obama. Biden had the courage to finally end this war. For that, we should thank him.

Meanwhile, our democracy and the fate of our planet hangs in the balance. The Senate must pass the For the People Act, which would reverse and prevent the worst Republican vote suppression efforts at the state level, and it must pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The House passed both bills, the first on March 3 and the second on Tuesday, each with zero Republican votes. If you still think this is your daddy's GOP, consider this: In 2006, the House voted 390-33 to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act. Every Democrat and 192 Republicans voted yes.

Congress has not passed legislation that goes far enough to address the climate change that threatens to destroy life as we know it on this planet. Democrats need to reform or abolish the filibuster, apply whatever pressure is needed internally to make it happen, and pass voting protection and climate change legislation before the 2022 midterms--with or without Republican votes.

Regardless of what our other priorities might be, the two questions we must ask every member of the House and Senate are what are you doing about climate change and what are you doing to protect democracy. We know that every Republican will answer these questions unsatisfactorily, which is why we must hold Democrats accountable for getting this done. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has proven that she can deliver Democratic votes in the House, but because of the filibuster, Republicans can ensure that the Senate lives up to its reputation as the place where legislation comes to die.

Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) need to channel their inner LBJ (who held both of the jobs they hold) and do whatever he would do to ensure that recalcitrant Democratic senators get with the program, including the full spending package making its way toward reconciliation. The four dumbest words in the English language when it comes to discussing spending bills are "what about the deficit?" Any member of Congress who asks this question needs to sit down with Rep. John Yarmuth (D- KY) and do some remedial reading.

Let's stop treating the Republican Party as a legitimate political party. In what bizarro universe does a party whose leader is the most ignorant, bigoted, and incompetent man ever to hold the presidency--and who leads the polling for the 2024 GOP nomination--deserve our respect? Why do the talk shows take people who aided and abetted an insurrection, or who voted against impeaching/convicting Trump, seriously about anything? We need a two-party system with competing philosophies and policy prescriptions, but that system only works if both parties are grounded in reality and respect science and democratic principles. Only today's Democratic Party meets those criteria.

Today's Republican Party is a cult whose agenda consists of little more than "cutting taxes for the wealthy and delivering deregulation to corporations." Thanks to gerrymandering and vote suppression, the GOP doesn't need a majority of the vote to win, but it needs more than the 1% who benefit most from its economic agenda. Hence the appeals to racism and xenophobia, the dangerous rhetoric about guns, abortion, masking and vaccines, and the labeling of government programs as "socialism." That's basically the Republican platform--or would be its platform if it bothered to have one.

Last week's newsletter.

ICYMI. Five false claims in seven minutes and Heather Cox Richardson, which is essential for understanding what happened in Afghanistan last week.

Tweets of the Week. Paul McCartney, Jenny Stevens, and Letters of Note.

Twitter Thread of the Week. David Roberts.

Video Clip of the Week. Charlie Watts (2006).

Upcoming Events. Politics with Dana Gordon and Steve Sheffey is back to live events. Join us outdoors in Highland Park, Illinois, on Sunday, September 12, at 3:00pm CT for a special event with Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY). Torres is progressive, pro-Israel, and a rising star in Congress. Contributions are encouraged but not required. Vaccinations are absolutely required. RSVP here if you want to attend. This event will be entirely off the record and closed to press.

I guess this is a good problem to have: This list is now so large that while many people are local, even more live outside the Chicago area and have no interest in local news. If you want to be on a list that will receive infrequent newsletters about local issues and events, reply to this email and I'll add you.

Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Why not subscribe? It's free! Just click here. 

Donations are welcome (because this costs money to send). If you'd like to chip in, click here and fill in the amount of your choice. You don't need a PayPal account; the link allows you to use a credit card. If you'd rather send a check, please reply and I'll send you mailing information (please do NOT send checks to the P.O. Box). Venmo to @Steven-Sheffey (last four 9479) is fine too.

You’re reading this. So are other influentials. If you want the right people to know about your candidate, cause, or event, reply to this email to discuss your ad.

The Fine Print: This newsletter usually runs on Sunday mornings. If you receive it as an ICYMI on Wednesday it's because you didn't open the one sent on Sunday. Unless stated otherwise, my views do not necessarily reflect the views of any candidates or organizations that I support or am associated with. I reserve the right to change my mind as I learn more. I am willing to sacrifice intellectual consistency for intellectual honesty. Smart, well-informed people may disagree with me; read opposing views and decide for yourself. A link to an article doesn't mean that I agree with everything its author has ever said or that I even agree with everything in the article; it means that the article supports or elaborates on the point I was making. I take pride in accurately reporting the facts on which I base my opinions. Tell me if you spot any inaccuracies, typos, or other mistakes so that I can correct them in the next newsletter (and give you credit if you want it). Advertisements reflect the views of the advertisers, not necessarily of me, and advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their advertisements. I read, value, and encourage replies to my newsletters, but I don't always have time to acknowledge replies or to engage in one-on-one discussion. Don't expect a reply if your message is uncivil or if it's clear from your message that you haven't read the newsletter or clicked on the relevant links. © 2021 Steve Sheffey. All rights reserved.