Who Had The Guts To Stand Up For The Goldstone Report?

Recently Blue America sent out its first-ever letter to the whole donor list. The purpose was to ask everyone to vote on a short list of incumbents and help us pick one as the 2010 cycle's first endorsee. Predictably, the member who got the most votes was Alan Grayson (D-FL). Dozens of people wrote to us to tell us how much they admire Grayson for his hard-hittng and outspoken way of dealing with bad faith Republican obstructionists. Many also mentioned that he is the only incumbent on our list representing a Republican-leaning district. (Few people realize that Donna Edwards is also in some political jeopardy, though certainly not from a Republican challenge; reactionary forces within the Democratic Party-- rumored to be encouraged, if not organized, by Rahm Emanuel-- are challenging her in a primary battle. You can donate to her re-election efforts, if you're so inclined, here.)

Aside from telling us how much they appreciate Grayson, another theme in e-mails and responses I've been getting is from people asking about the Goldstone Report. I don't think either Ken or I has even mentioned it at DWT and one letter struck me as particularly... straight to the point:

I like it that you always present litmus test congressional votes so we can watch how our representatives vote on important issues rarely covered in the mainstream media. But why did you ignore the vote last month on the Goldstone Report?

H.Res. 867 was introduced by an anti-Cuba fanatic with a huge Jewish constituency, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. She had 202 co-sponsors for a cowardly bill to condemn the "Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (Goldstone Report) to be biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy." It passed overwhelmingly-- 344-36 (with 22 voting "present").

The only members of Congress to oppose the outrageously biased resolution were 33 Democrats and 3 Republicans:

Brian Baird (D-WA)
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Lord Boustany (R-LA)
Lois Capps (D-CA)
Andre Carson (D-IN)
Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
Lacy Clay (D-MO)
Geoff Davis (R-KY)
John Dingell (D-MI)
Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
Donna Edwards (D-MD)
Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Bob Filner (D-CA)
Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)
Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)
Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI)
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Stephen Lynch (D-MA)
Betty McCollum (D-MN)
Jim McDermott (D-WA)
Jim McGovern (D-MA)
George Miller (D-CA)
Jim Moran (D-VA)
John Olver (D-MA)
Ed Pastor (D-AZ)
Ron Paul (R-TX)
David Price (D-NC)
Nick Rahall (D-WV)
Vic Snyder (D-AR)
Pete Stark (D-CA)
Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Mel Watt (D-NC)
Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)

Although Ron Paul issued neither a statement nor a press release on why he voted no, his unofficial mouthpiece, the Daily Paul didn't get into The Protocols of the (Learned) Elders of Zion territory many of his supporters frequent. In fact, they start out with a lengthy self-examination by the Jerusalem Post and point out that "a person would never read such as this in the New York Times or Washington Post or hear it from any US news source. Unlike Israeli newspapers, the US media is a complete mouthpiece for the Israel Lobby. Never a critical word is heard.

This will be even more the case now that the Israel Lobby, after years of effort, has succeeded in repealing the First Amendment by having the Hate Crime Bill attached to the recently passed military appropriations bill. This is the way the syllogism works: It is anti-Semitic to criticize Israel. anti-Semitism is a hate crime. Therefore, to criticize Israel is a hate crime." Democrats had a more rational reason for opposing Ros-Lehtinen's AIPAC-y resolution.