Haim Saban OWNS the DNC

After watching Power Rangers this weekend (I’d give it 7/10), I noticed a familiar name associated with the franchise, “Haim Saban.” Hmm, where have I heard that name before? A quick Google search told me that Haim Saban is an entertainment mogul (#asexpected), but he is also perhaps the largest donor to the Democratic Party. Saban’s main goal in “democratic” politics is pushing a pro-Israel agenda, and while I certainly have no qualms with the Israeli people, I’m not sure the foreign policy actions of Israel are always in sympathy with that of a progressive agenda. However, The United States’ approach to its relationship with Israel has been rather cozy for the past few decades, and their abstaining from a UN Security Council vote on December 23 2016 that condemned Israeli settlement construction was a bit shocking…or was it?

A brief Wiki search (I know, I know, but I’m an English professor, so you know I know how to “vet” sources :D ) tells me that Israel “has the 15th largest military expenditure in the world” and “ranks 8th globally for arms exported.” It is well known (or should be) that the US supports (and has supported for decades) military aid to Israel. Wow, my tax dollars going to aid the 15th largest military budget in the world you say? Well, how much are we talking? Apparently, we are talking about some $3.8 billion per year. To put this in perspective, Israel’s yearly military budget is $16.1 billion. The US is covering just shy of 25% of the Israeli military budget every year; this is US “social” funding for the military of Israel, a country that ranks 144/163 on the “Global Peace Index.” Does anyone sense a problem here?

So how does the DNC tie into all of this? Well, I had the revelation over the weekend, but it looks like Glenn Greenwald covered most of it here, so I’ll simply summarize the story because I think it deserves a lot more attention. For those of us who think the DNC is completely bought by corporate donors, this should help you to understand that it DEFINITELY is. Timeline:

· Keith Ellison announces candidacy for DNC Chair on November 14, 2016.

· Keith Ellison is endorsed by both the incoming (Chuck Schumer) and outgoing (Harry Reid) Democratic minority leader, along with Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth warren, and a score of others.

· On December 2nd 2016, Haim Saban said of Keith, “he is clearly an anti-Semite and anti-Israel individual […] Keith Ellison would be a disaster for the relationship between the Jewish community and the Democratic Party.” (Note: Saban has also criticized Bernie Sanders for being “anit-Israel.”)

· On December 15th 2016, Tom Perez announced his candidacy for DNC Chair.

· On February 25th 2017, the DNC voted against an amendment to ban lobbyist donations. (Hmm…)

· On February 25th 2017, Tom Perez won the DNC Chairmanship.

So what does any of this matter? Well, I believe that it is clear (and please read Glenn’s article for a more detailed examination) that the DNC was in favor of electing a “grassroots” candidate like Ellison so they could get back to “winning.” Perhaps they wouldn’t represent our values in the end, but they were ready to put on a show for us. Endorsements from both minority leaders are pretty big, and you have to imagine had they had any idea the Obama/Clinton wing would throw a dog into the race down the road, they would have withheld an endorsement altogether until the proper time. Feel free to disagree though.

So where did things change? Remember that “smear campaign” against Ellison during his candidacy? Guess who started that? Only weeks later, one of the Democratic Party’s largest donors (Haim Saban) would publicly rebuke Ellison, even labelling him an “anti-Semite.” Now maybe Saban truly feels that way, but I can’t help shaking the feeling that Ellison is facing an anti-Muslim attack from Saban himself given that Ellison is Sunni Muslim, a religion which just happens to be a majority of the Palestinian population. While it is quite disingenuous and perhaps cavalier to label Saban an “anti-Muslim,” I think it is fair to paint with the same vitriolic brush that Saban himself used against Ellison.

In any case, shortly after Saban made these comments, I think the establishment wing 180’ed on Ellison and threw Tom Perez into the ring because they needed to have a “palatable” option for one of their largest donors. Even the ADL stoked the anti-Semitic flames surrounding Ellison (an organization that Noam Chomsky once criticized for having lost entirely its focus on civil rights issues in order to become solely an advocate for Israeli policy; [and] casts all left-wing opposition to Israeli interests as antisemitism). Saban certainly wasn’t going to let a Muslim run the party. Does that sound too awful to be true? Well this is the same Haim Saban who threatened Nancy Pelosi to stay out of the 2008 presidential race (thank God) and told her that donors would cut funding to the DCCC (and by default, her future campaigns) if she didn’t follow orders. Why couldn’t Saban have said the same thing to the DNC this time around? Get rid of Ellison, or you won’t get my money.

This would also explain Perez’s late entry and Obama’s grooming of him (well after Saban’s comments were made). The Democratic Party felt that they couldn’t lose such a massive donor if they elected Keith Ellison, so they had to throw him under the bus. For the record, Saban has a friendly track record with the Clintons, having spent several nights in the Bill Clinton White House, and heavily funded both Hillary’s 2008 and 2016 presidential campaigns. In a sense, Haim Saban (quite literally) bought the DNC Chair he wanted.

So just remember kids, those of you who are disenfranchised with the Democratic Party because you feel that it bows to donor and corporate pressure are 100% correct in your assessment. The DNC, and even Barack Obama himself, sold you out to an anti-Muslim, pro-Israel, pro-war, anti-Bernie donor because they couldn’t turn down that sweet-sweet donor cash.

Oligarchy at its finest. #seriouslytho