Uncategorized – Adam Broad

Email from David Sirota, publisher of The Lever

(I’ve been at a loss for words and what I come up with seems inadequate. I appreciate this view from David Sirota. – Adam Broad)

Let me start with an admission: I don’t personally enjoy talking about the Israel-Palestine issue, and I certainly cannot stand the culture of hot takes that surrounds the entire conflict. I don’t like it because it’s painful for me and my family, as Jews. There. I said it. Yes, me and my family are Jewish.

For those of you who have followed my work over the last 25 years, you’ll notice I almost never write or talk publicly about my religion or Israel. That’s because my Judaism is my personal internal creed, and not some part of a public brand or persona. But in light of all the bloodshed in Israel and Palestine over the last few days, I’m going to break that tradition.

If you sense that I have a lot of angst over all of this, you’re right. In a world where we are not allowed to admit our vulnerabilities, I’m being vulnerable with you by admitting that yes, this issue is deeply difficult and painful for me. So I’m asking you to actually hear what I’m saying. You don’t have to agree with all of it, but I’m asking you to really listen and accept this as someone genuinely struggling with how to process all of this.

My family has experienced its share of antisemitism, including our ancestors who fled the horrors of Eastern Europe in the early 20th century. My family has experienced it in the here and now too — as a radio host and journalist, I get periodic antisemitic hate mail and threats. When I was on radio here in Denver, every day of those five years on the air I walked by a photo of the previous host Alan Berg, who was literally gunned down by Nazis in our city.

In light of that, the images of Hamas terrorism deliberately targeted at innocent Jewish civilians evoked for me all of the horrible history of my ancestors being terrorized across generations — targeted because of their identity, culture, heritage, and religion. So the very first thing I want to say here is that Hamas’s terrorism is completely unacceptable. There should be no “but” or justifying qualification on that statement. It’s unacceptable, period, full stop.

Through much of my childhood and early adulthood, Israel was supposed to be a stronghold against that violence and for a better future. It was seen as a beacon of democracy — and specifically left-labor social democracy — in a region of autocrats and dictators. (I think people forget that Israel had labor governments for a very long time.) It also stood as the only haven on Earth from the antisemitism that has raged across this planet for a thousand years.

Unfortunately, since that time, Israel has radically changed in ways that have broken my heart and the hearts of so many Jews there and across the world.

The Israel of today is governed by a far-right regime that has decided upon militarism and occupation rather than peace and some kind of two-state solution. And that far-right vision has all too often been normalized by the American media and political establishment.

The long history of persecution against the Jewish people, plus the hostile nature of the surrounding Middle East, has been the longtime rationale for Israel being a heavily armed and fortified country that zealously defends its internal security and external borders with a powerful military. But this Israeli regime has used that military power in inhumane and indefensible ways that dishonor the Jewish-based principles it purports to stand for.

We’re now watching the U.S.-armed Israeli army go way beyond defending Israeli citizens and territory, and to now mass bombing 2 million people in Gaza, half of whom are children. This country formed in direct response to the violence of the Holocaust is now committing war crimes. That’s totally unacceptable, and nobody should be silent as that happens.

The murder of Palestinian civilians is just as unacceptable as the murder of Jewish civilians — and yet somehow, that basic statement of universal values is now considered outrageous or taboo in a political discourse that has been deliberately manipulated and polarized into yet another “you’re with us or against” us binary.

I reject that binary because it is fundamentally manipulative. Partisans on both sides want us all polarized rather than unified in defense of ALL human lives, and the right of both Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security.

At this dark moment, I have a few requests of you. I want you to listen to all of them — don’t stop listening just because you feel uncomfortable. And let me be clear: The following points are not in order of importance.

First request: Acknowledge that antisemitism is real in parts of both the right and left, and try to combat it where you can. Right-wing antisemitism is obvious — it’s white supremacy and Nazism. Antisemitism on the left is different — it can be cloaked in the language of social justice.

But try to understand that when left-affiliated groups seem to celebrate this week’s Hamas attacks or imply that all Jews support the actions of the state of Israel, that is painful and destructive. I think the modern iteration of this form of antisemitism comes from the old antisemitic idea that Jews are a powerful world-controlling cabal and thus the hatred of — and murder of — Jews is supposedly more morally justifiable in a social justice frame, especially in the context of the Israeli government’s immoral occupation.

But here’s the thing: There’s nothing righteous or “social justice”-ish about hating Jews and supporting those who murder them. That’s antisemitism.

Second request: Please acknowledge that the Israeli government is run by right-wing extremists whose occupation is inhumane. The Netanyahu government’s actions in Gaza right now might not be called “terrorism” by the media and other world leaders, but they are obviously inhumane and likely war crimes. Those who mindlessly cheer on Netanyahu are sowing the kind of xenophobia and Islamophobia that should have no place in this world. And sorry, if you’re Jewish and listening to this and ready to accuse me of somehow being disloyal or a self-hating Jew by saying these obvious truths, that Jedi mind trick doesn’t work on me. Take that nonsense somewhere else.

Third request: If you are cheering on Hamas’ murder of Jews, or cheering on the Israeli government’s murder of Palestinians, then please go to LeverNews.com right now and unsubscribe from The Lever. I don’t want you as a subscriber. I want a readership and listenership that values humanity and human life.

Fourth request: Before you tweet, post on Facebook, or do anything impulsively in this debate, take a moment and ask yourself whether you are insensitively using the massacre of innocent people on both sides just to channel your priors and play politics. Because if that’s what you are doing, that’s not helpful — it’s part of why we are in this crisis.

We have dehumanized this conflict — and so many other conflicts — into just another tribal political battle where we pretend the issues are so simple. But I’m sorry — they are not.

That gets to my final request: Stop pretending this is easy, simple, or binary. One side says this is only about terrorism and security. The other side says this is only about occupation and oppression. But the Israel-Palestine conflict involves all of those things and more — occupation, oppression, militarism, identity, culture, religion, political ideology, security, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and more.

It’s not an attempt at false equivalency. There are very real villains in this conflict, and there is no justification for the atrocities we’ve seen. What we need to internalize is that there are victims on ALL sides of this crisis. The people being killed and injured are all human beings.
David Sirota

In a society that always wants things reduced to simplicity, this IS incredibly complex. If we’re ever going to forge a real solution here, it is going to require us all to grow up, appreciate that complexity, and then behave not just like adults, but like actual human beings.

I know that’s asking for a lot — neither Hamas nor many Israeli government leaders are acting with any humanity at all. But we all have to start thinking like human beings, and take time to really try to understand what’s actually going on, and feel the pain, horror and anguish on both sides of this disaster.

That’s not the “both sides” trope we’ve all gotten used to in American politics. It’s not an attempt at false equivalency. There are very real villains in this conflict, and there is no justification for the atrocities we’ve seen.

What we need to internalize is that there are victims on ALL sides of this crisis. The people being killed and injured are all human beings. They are referred to in the media as Israelis and Palestinians, but they are all people, like you and me.

In this dark hour, we need to recommit ourselves to tuning out all the propaganda trying to further dehumanize this conflict. We need to really try to unpack the roots of what’s going on. So let’s do that.

Former Rep. Bobby Rush Endorses Paul Vallas In Chicago’s Mayor Race

“Which of the two candidates has the most significant, the most relevant experience? And which of the candidates is able to make the independent, sound judgements that are necessary to move our city forward? That candidate is Paul Vallas,” Rush said.

Former Rep. Bobby Rush Endorses Paul Vallas In Chicago’s Mayor Race

“My stance on the FOP and my stance on police in general is, is that I am not anti-police. I’m anti-bad police, and I’m pro-good police,” Rush said Tuesday.

First impressions matter: Brandon Johnson Lies His Ass Off

Left, Vallas hits Johnson with Truth: Johnson is dancing around his Defund The Police Agenda. Right, Johnson hits back with crass racial politics. A leader of one of the groups supporting Johnson calls Vallas a Nazi (and calls me a Nazi for supporting Vallas). It’s a fringe view in Chicago to conflate community policing with fascism. Paul Vallas wants to focus police funding on improved versions of serving and protecting that worked in the past.

Brandon Johnson and his campaign are just flat out lying about Paul Vallas. I’ll have more to say about it later, but you ought to look it up if you don’t believe me. Progressives and every other voter should have second thoughts about electing a Mayor whose campaign is built on lies. It’s magical thinking to believe he will stop lying about his obstacles and opponents when he takes office. He’s an opportunist taking advantage of racial politics and hostility towards cops. However much of that is justified I can promise that Brandon Johnson using cop hatred as a political football will fail public safety and easily plunge Chicago over the edge into an economic death spiral. I also wonder why a preacher’s son and someone in the teaching profession would use dishonesty and scum politics to set an example for Chicago’s youth. That’s not “more progressive” that’s disgusting and disrespectful.

Reed is a volunteer knocking doors in the cold and talking to undecided voters for Paul Vallas.

Maritza stops by to get Vallas signs for a community event.

John just happened to be one of the active volunteers I randomly met staffing this office over the weekend. He was not vetted by the campaign nor did I seek approval to post this. None of my volunteer interviews were scripted or rehearsed.

I understand that progressive-minded people are impressed by Mr. Johnson’s long list of impressive endorsements. I understand respect for teachers, unions, and organizers.

Unfortunately, aside from smear tactics, there’s another big problem with Brandon Johnson. He’s also lying about himself and where he stands. If you believe in Defunding the Police, Brandon, maybe stop lying about Paul Vallas for a minute and explain your position instead of lying about that, too.

Tell us exactly how the people of Chicago will be safer when more cops walk off the job and leave the city. Police are tired of being played for political scapegoats and working double shifts. Nothing gets fixed in this city without the police having some faith that the Mayor has their backs when they put their lives on the line for the city.

It’s true that simply putting more cops on the street isn’t the answer. If anyone bothered to sift through Paul’s wonky policy-speak website instead of enabling Brandon’s boondoggle rebrand, they might figure out Paul Vallas is the one with the everything plus the kitchen sink plans and the know-how to better reach our progressive goals without the Branding, slogans, and bullshit that made me walk away from politics to drive a bus.

Public Safety and holding the line on taxes is a winning message, but check out the Paul Vallas plan to reduce homelessness. I used to manage an emergency shelter. It would be wrong to simplify Brandon’s plan as simply stopping cops from hassling people sleeping at the airport, but not more wrong or simple than describing Paul Vallas’ community policing plan as some kind of fascism.

https://www.paulvallas2023.com/homelessness

Branding Brandon, with all the tics, tells, and body language that help professional poker players win tournaments, is creeping up on the lead. To put it nicely, voters aren’t always as observant as professional poker players. But they do see what’s on the streets and they know when politicians say, “I’ll just take another dollar” even some of the most uninformed voters know to clutch their wallet, or put it in the dog’s mouth so, hopefully, doggo runs down the street with it… away from Brandon.

Your wallet and Chicago’s revenue will be safer that way. Or maybe elect Paul Vallas who knows there is plenty of found money in eliminating waste and corruption.

If Brandon Johnson could manage reform, he wouldn’t have so many creative ways to raise taxes and his plan to add a 3.5% Chicago Income Tax on top of our State and Federal Taxes would have remained a shameful secret. Raise your hand, class, if you think the City of Chicago doesn’t have enough ways to juice people.

60% of Chicago’s revenue comes from downtown: hospitality, restaurants, conventions. Instead of adding new taxes, how about we make it safer to stand on an EL platform without getting stabbed? If the convention and hotel business go up, Chicago can collect more money on the existing taxes. Just a thought, Brandon.

There’s 1100 vacancies in the Chicago Police. Paul Vallas will restaff the force. Community policing in the neighborhoods, putting cops on the EL or on patrol in the parks won’t make him a right-wing extremist. For the Mayor of Chicago, that’s called doing your job. One guy knows how to do it. Another guy doesn’t. To get elected, the guy that doesn’t know how to do the job has to lie about the guy that does. CTA busses have a sign on top in front. The sign tells you which route you’re boarding. The sign on Brandon Johnson says Progressive. It should say More Crappy Politics. It’s not setting a good example for the kids and it’s not what Chicago needs.

Adam Broad was on the slate of delegates for Bernie Sanders 2020 in IL-10, but more importantly, has practical experience in government as Vernon Township Trustee reducing property taxes and expanding social services. He formerly organized for Students for Jesse Jackson 1988, Bobby Rush 2000, Barack Obama 2008, Tom Perriello 2008 and Nina Turner 2021. In 2004, Broad was regional field director of a non-partisan voting rights campaign that produced record turnout in under-served, under-represented districts in Duval County and raised the minimum wage in Florida. He grew up in Rogers Park has been a public chauffeur serving all communities in Chicagoland driving Taxi, Limo, Uber, and Bus since 1982. He is currently on leave of absence from First Student to elect Paul Vallas. Both his parents were born and raised in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago.

This is a personal blog to answer friends that don’t understand why I support the best qualified candidate. This is a rogue production and it is not endorsed by any campaign, candidate, or committee.

FUN FACT: I professionally researched right wing extremists and hate groups for almost five years. Trying to paint Paul Vallas as anything other than a moderate problem-solver that brings people together for practical solutions is closer to the sort of thing THEY would do than anything I’ve seen in Paul.