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PaperclipPerfector  6d ago (text post)   23033 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 26, 2026

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With three days until Election Day, is there still enough time for the Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Michigan?

Cenk Uygur's Rebellion PAC dropped a controversial new ad supporting the Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El Sayed featuring a grocery store conversation about Israel. Some are calling it the most antisemitic ad of all time:

"You're going to have to put those eggs back."

"They don't like eggs anymore?"

"No, they like eggs. But we have to set that $7 aside for killing Palestinians."

"What? I mean, don't we give Israel $4 billion a year anyways?"

"Yeah. And now we're giving them another $26 billion. Do you know how much that is per American taxpayer? It's like $161 per person."

"Apparently, it's costing us a lot of money to drop bombs on Gaza. It's terrible."

Now, I don't think this is a very good ad. It's poorly acted and a bit too on-the-nose, but accusing the political opposition of wasting money on unpopular special interests while regular citizens deal with rising prices is probably the most common political maneuver in modern American politics. Apparently, this ad is at the center of a possible last-minute fracture of the Michigan Democratic coalition.

Haley Stevens, El Sayed's defeated challenger in the dem primary, released an incredibly passive aggressive statement preemptively thanking El Sayed for his "Expected Condemnation of Antisemitic Campaign Advertisement". Amusingly, long-time TYT host Ceng Uygur has been demoted to "Hasan Piker's Uncle". In case you didn't catch the subtext, this is a threat to pull her support (as explained by Haley Stevens's fiance on TMZ for some reason?). Abdul appears to have no intention of disavowing the ad.

This doesn't seem to have affected El Sayed's chances in the prediction markets. He is now up to an 80% chance to win, but I guess we'll see what happens at the black church on Sunday.

The ad is pretty good. I don’t think normal people want to pay $2,000 per household to improve the lives of Jews 6,700 miles away, just twenty years after we spent $3,000,000,000,000 and 4,400 lives doing the same in Iraq. (Well, rather, half the cause of the Iraq war was Jewish lobbying, so $1.5 trillion and 2,200 American lives is the the tab owed by Jewish lobbyists). Haley Stevens’ husband is Jewish and she herself is considering converting to Judaism, and it seems that they’ve chosen to align their loyalty to the Jewish Nation and not America. This isn’t exactly unexpected.

I could literally say the same thing about thousands of things the U.S. government does. It spends massive sums of money. And the candidate whose ad this supports wants to spend an inordinate amount more via M4A. Yes, he obviously wants to cut Israeli aide (while probably increasing aide to Muslim countries) but on net will spend way more.

So it isn’t actually an argument about austerity or even foreign aide—it’s just hating on Israel. That is, it’s an isolated demand for rigor.

So it isn’t actually an argument about austerity or even foreign aide—it’s just hating on Israel. That is, it’s an isolated demand for rigor.

Yeah, when Trump made his ad attacking Kamala Harris for supporting government funded sex-change operations, no reasonable person tried to claim that it was mainly about budgeting and economic issues. It was obviously an attack on her support for gender ideology.

I realize that partisan hacks on the Republican side of things argued that the ad was really about "priorities," but come on.

Of course it was an attack on her support of gender ideology. Her views were insane and should be criticized. And she lost in part for having insane views.

Of course it was an attack on her support of gender ideology. Her views were insane and should be criticized. And she lost in part for having insane views.

Of course I agree with this 100%. My only point is that there were one or more Republican partisans who (presumably for strategic partisan reasons) went on the news and implied that the ad was really about budgetary priorities. Similar to the way in which one or more posters here are apparently trying to imply that the campaign ad here is really about budgetary priorities and isn't just "hating on Israel" as you put it.

Medicare at least helps Americans. America fighting Israel’s war only helps Israel afford their own universal healthcare plan. We are effectively spending our own taxes and dying so that Israelis 6,700 miles away enjoy free healthcare. It would be inappropriate for Americans not to hate this arrangement. This is essentially what the emotion of hatred is for, the neutralization of worthless costs to us:

hatred produces behaviors functionally designed to neutralize targets costly to the hater

I mean, it is instrumentally useful to hate either Israel or our arrangement with Israel so that we can stop (transitively) funding their healthcare system and instead fund our own healthcare system, if that’s what voters want us to do. (I don’t really know how I feel about healthcare spending personally, though).

Medicare at least helps Americans.

This is absolutely not a free claim. Every other leftist advancement into healthcare to "help" Americans has made the industry worse. I'd rather not spend money on Israel, but that's functionally benign compared to anything a figure like El Sayed would do with the money.

We spend tons of our money on tons of stupid things that benefits others. If the goal was to end foreign aide, I’m behind it. But it never is—it’s always just “end giving money to Israel” because people hate Jews.

Based on the official government numbers at ForeignAssistance.gov, about half (more under Trump I, less under Biden) of the total US aid spend (excluding extraordinary support to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion) was either aid to Israel or aid to Egypt and Jordan which is basically Danegeld paid on behalf of Israel. I don't know how this changes as a result of Trump's cuts to USAID, but I suspect the proportion is even higher now.

Except wartime Ukraine, Israel is by far the largest single recipient of US aid, despite its small population and first-world standard of living.

So "stop funding Israel" and "end foreign aid" are kind of the same cause, just spun to appeal to different audiences.

Except wartime Ukraine, Israel is by far the largest single recipient of US aid, despite its small population and first-world standard of living.

Does this count for inflation? I have a hard time believing Israel or Ukraine got anything close to what the Soviets got in WWII. Ford was the most common make of truck in the USSR until like the 1970s just from the lend-lease.

Misleading post. First, you except Ukraine treating that as extraordinary). But there is always something extraordinary. Before Ukraine there was Afghanistan and Iraq.

Second, aid to Egypt and Jordan might benefit the Israel but please bifurcate.

Third, the very same people demand more aid for Ukraine and were convulsing over shutting down USAID.

So no, their claim wasn’t about shutting aid down generally—just specifically.

Based on the official government numbers at ForeignAssistance.gov, about half (more under Trump I, less under Biden) of the total US aid spend (excluding extraordinary support to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion) was either aid to Israel or aid to Egypt and Jordan which is basically Danegeld paid on behalf of Israel. I don't know how this changes as a result of Trump's cuts to USAID, but I suspect the proportion is even higher now.

Except wartime Ukraine, Israel is by far the largest single recipient of US aid, despite its small population and first-world standard of living.

So "stop funding Israel" and "end foreign aid" are kind of the same cause, just spun to appeal to different audiences.

Well here's a thought experiment:

Suppose that the US stopped military funding to Israel but instead put a military presence there as there is with South Korea; Bahrain; Germany; Saudi Arabia; the UK; and so on. Would people who object to US spending on Israel withdraw their objections? I strongly doubt it, which suggests "The US spends a large percentage of military aid on Israel" isn't the real objection.

If someone was giving my money freely away to Jews, yeah; I’d hate them too. I don’t think they’ve figured out that part yet.

Money is being freely given to tons of people. But seemingly only hatred is directed towards Jews.

If the goal was to end foreign aide, I’m behind it. But it never is

Tom Massie supported ending all foreign aid and they spent ~30 million on having him replaced and removed.

Regardless, even if they don't, who cares? Why do supporters of this parasitic nation always engage in petty whataboutism instead of saying "Well, I'd rather we end all foreign aid but we can start with Israel"?

This is why nothing can get cut. You have to start with something, and what that is reveals the ugliness of your true priorities. So whatever cooperation you'd need to get the ball rolling is poisoned from the jump.

Foreign aid: Oh, so you hate Jews

Social security: Oh, so you hate grandma

....

Tom Massie supported ending all foreign aid and they spent ~30 million on having him replaced and removed.

Tom also turned into a Epstein clown. Generational downfall, from one of my favorite congressmen into a retarded meme. Ron Paul to MTG pipeline was certainly one of the choices of all time.

Regardless, even if they don't, who cares? Why do supporters of this parasitic nation always engage in petty whataboutism instead of saying "Well, I'd rather we end all foreign aid but we can start with Israel"?

Can we get a plan for that that doesn't involve electing malevolent leftist-Islamists who hate me, my country, and my children?

Well, do you want the Epstein clown or the guy who hates you, your country and your children.

Easy choice as far as I can tell.

Conveniently, those were different elections so I could root for them both to lose. In a head-to-head, I'd have easily picked Massie over El Sayed.

Why do supporters of this [] nation always engage in petty whataboutism instead of saying "Well, I'd rather we end all foreign aid but we can start with Israel"?

I think the answer is that these efforts are motivated primarily by Jew-hatred rather than the desire to save money.

In any event, one can flip the question around: If you just want to save money, and you aren't motivated by Jew-hatred, why not demonstrate your good faith by campaigning to end US spending on a few other things? I mean, certainly people have good reason to suspect your motivations.

"suspect your motivations"

This is how you ended up with woke mindreading and prior to that, runaway prog accusations of "dog-whistling"

"suspect your motivations"

This is how you ended up with woke mindreading and prior to that, runaway prog accusations of "dog-whistling"

I'm not sure what you mean by "woke mindreading," but in any event, when someone proposes a change to public policy, it's entirely reasonable (in my opinion) to consider the motivations behind the proposal. And if it seems that the proposal is not being made in good faith, to take that into account in deciding whether to support or oppose that proposal.

Do you disagree?

I support Massie aims and find AIPACs attacks against Masse disingenuous since Massie’s support was to cut spending on pretty much everything.

But most people who complain about Israeli funding are at the same time demanding more and more funding for Ukraine. It doesn’t make you think “maybe it really isn’t about aid?”

The ad explicitly claims that Americans cannot afford groceries because the money is being set aside to kill Palestinians, not Iranians, so I question the relevance of the war in Iran.

There is a direct line between supporting Israelis killing Palestinians and Americans killing Iranians on Israel's behalf. It never stops with giving the mouse a cookie.

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