Vote Torres out and any and all unAmericans that are complicit in genocide, take money from foreign lobbying, and choose their foreign country over our own.
What would they be without all that money? Not much, I imagine. It's immoral to practice quid pro quo in politics. The people get lost in the shuffle of money. In fact, we're spoon-fed, get complacent, and end up choosing the candidate who "looks good." The fact that a foreign entity can bribe and manipulate is criminal. When will the U.S. wake up from this "Israel knows best" trance?
Just to address what a piece of shit Zorossian is, I'm a Jew who lives in NYC. I work at the Jewish Braille Institute. I live near a vibrant Arab community (some of my earliest memories are eating Hummus from Sahadi's). In no way have I *ever* felt unsafe. Zorossian is not only extreme, he's also delusional.
Torres is the poster child for the current Democratic Party. Add Fetterman and Kelly. Standing and cheering Netanyahu. There are many others. The Republicans 100% gone. The Democrats trying to catch up. Hey AIPAC, over here.
These people in politics who take money, no matter from where are despicable. The U.S. government is a business and up for sale to the highest bidder. Some democracy they're always crowing about. Please, give me a break, nobody buys that any more.
And now Torres joined the harrassment campaign and efforts to deplatform Hasan Piker. He basically defamed him and says Piker is a "rape denier" who justified the alleged rapes on October 7 and said they don't matter.
Torres is the representative of one of the poorest districts in the US and almost never talks about elevating the lives of those in his district. And when talks about anything Israel related (which he does a lot) he talks like Kahanist. I recently read a piece written by D. Sheer about the amount of Kahanist staffers in DC, especially in the democratic Party and I was shocked how many there are! It's quite scary actually.
But this is a great piece, again great work by Prem Thakker. Politicians like Torres need to be exposed and their voters have to know who their representatives are and what they stand for. So this is an important piece and great journalism. One can only hope as many as possible in his district will read this or learn about Torres!
Surely most of us are old enough to remember "a rising self-styled progressive star in the Democratic Party," which turned out to be Kyrsten Sinema. And the supposedly-progressive Democrat which turned out to be hyper-genocidal John Fetterman.
The people have to find a way to enforce anti-corruption laws.
Because liars lie & prostiticians prostitute themselves.
Thank you, Zeteo, and Jacqueline Sweet, for providing us with such well-documented journalism. Especially on important stories that the main-stream media would never DISCLOSE, let alone investigate & compile.
The Districts of Latinx Congresspersons Ritchie Torres and Adriano Espaillat happen to span two districts that are in districts with either large Jewish residents or with influential educational institutions in New York City.
They also represent neighborhood in districts whose residents have institutional landlords run by conservative Jewish business owners.
Riverdale in the Bronx has one of the largest concentrations of Jewish people in New York City. It is Ritchie Torres's district.
Adriano Espaillat Congressional district in includes not only Columbia University--a campus largely the catalyst for U.S. students who formed solidarity encampments that called for divestment of US corporations doing business in Israel and the Occupied Territories--but it also includes one of the largest and most influential religious Jewish institutions of higher learning in the United States, Yeshiva University.
I happen to live in Washington Heights in that area's Little Dominican Republic neighborhood. I am African American (and not Hispanic) but most folks in the neighborhood--since they are Dominican and share an island named Hispaniola with Haiti--would, based on skin tone alone be presumed to be Black. You might not presume them Latinx folk if your predilection and bias is to presume most Latinx folk look and present as White/Olive-skinned descendants of Spain.
Both Adriano Espaillat and Richie Torres were elected largely to represent the interests of Latinx Dominican and Puerto Rican communities with Afro-Caribbean heritage but the institutions in those areas with power are not Dominican or Puerto Rican even though many of their residents are.
In addition to representing African-descendant communities of Hispanic Descent, they also represent many African Americans in those districts.
In essence, even though predominantly they came to power due to the support of local residents who are Afro-Caribbean descendant with Hispanic/Latinx heritage and African Americans the institutions that hold the most power in their districts are unapologetically pro-Israel with large influence by conservative American Jewish folk.
Earlier this month red paint was splashed on and in front of the headquarters of Adriano Espaillat.
His local constituents tend to want him to do something other than kowtow to Israeli interests.
The people who voted for him who happen to be Latinx and/or African-descendant in districts where Black Dominicans and Black Non-Hispanic folk are dismissed because the business and institutions which Black folk control have little capital compared to those pro-Israeli institutions comprised heavily of Jewish influences due to New York City having the largest concentration of Jewish people outside of Israel.
Adriano Espaillat and Ritchie Torres have forsaken those who got them elected and are playing a long-term game of rising within the Democratic Party but not upsetting pro-Israeli interest and institutions in New York City that hold power and whose leaders continue to not be empathetic or even entertain that Israeli policies target Palestinians with genocidal intent.
The solution is for Black and Latinx residents to call out these politicians and to run candidates that stand on principles that put--first and foremost--human rights, civil rights, FOR ALL PEOPLE INCLUDING PALESTINIANS AND LEBANESE WHO COMPRISE A SIGNIFICANT PLURALITY OF ARAB VOTERS IN NYC.
Torres and Espaillat need to sh*t or get off the pot in terms of standing on the right side of history and they need to support out-loud in public the need to address war crimes that haunt those innocents killed the Israeli-Palestinian war.
Good luck with that, honestly.
It's not going to be easy.
Even in progressive New York City the relative power of Black and Latinx institutions pale in comparison to those institutions in New York City willing to turn a blind eye to an out-of-control Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeil Prime Minister who is allied with settlor racist politicians hellbent on moving through citizens, targeting them, and, for all intents and purposes, eradicating them without concern to Geneva Conventions -- conventions that the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled must be followed in time of war
At the very least, we must demand an approach to armed conflict/war that does not eradicate large swaths of citizens in order to pursue military targets.
Those with power in New York City who are African-descendant and Afro-Caribbean descendant--both those with and without additional Hispanic heritage--are beholden to a Democratic Party that will never ever not be pro-Israeli.
That's the truth of the matter.
If Zeteo wants to call this out, do so, but be clear that the institutions Ritchie Torres and Adriano Espaillat fear are not just those beholden to rightists in U.S. politics but those also middle-of-the-road institutions with billion dollar endowments to which Democrats are beholden.
No matter the political party, in a largely two-party system, only a few politicians are unafraid to hold Israel to account.
These "interests" include not only rightist and supremacist extremists who claim Judaism.
They are huge universities, business people, including landlords, who are stalwart supporters of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party -- yes they play both sides of the fecne.
So, yes, call out supremacist-leaning folks who claim Judaism.
But realize the real problem in Torres' district and Espaillat's district are those institutions without which New York City Democrats largely are not elected.
This problem is bigger and deeper than the most banal and cabal driven rightist folks within Judaic institutions -- be those institutions academic, capitalist, political, or some hybrid thereof.
Torres and Espaillat are Black and Afro-Caribbean and of Hispanic/Latin X heritage, but they know where their bread is buttered, so to speak.
It's not by those who vote them in. It's by those who keep them in.
You know, it is time to sit back and examine what is happening in the US. This is the product of $, money in the political system. The unending negotiation and play for the money it takes to run any election is corrupting everything. Torres may be a weak man but courting the big bucks leads a weak man or woman to compromise core beliefs and rationalize the most core beliefs and principles.
So money is a major corruptor , but the fault also rests with the people, “We the People” who are largely ignorant of the world around us. Hell, half the American population doesn’t even know who is their Vice President. They laude a Donald Trump but have no idea who was the Hitler Trump seems to admire, let alone the history of the Third Reich. Neither do they know about the modern day despots like Viktor Orban, what country he leads or where to find it on a map.
So, this is the sorry situation any politician faces. No matter how righteous their intent they still have to play a numbers game with any policy to establish a position that will garner the most votes because they can do nothing if they cannot be elected.
Torres? He’s obviously in a class of his own, but ignorance and money are dangerously corrupting.
I remember when Torres was first running for a council seat in the 15th Congressional District in The Bronx. Such a genuine and caring young man back in 2013, I believe. Fast forward to 2022, when Gov. Hochul signed into law the redistricting of the 15th CD to include Riverdale (Alarge Jewish community.)It seems Congressman Torres has forgotten where he came from, and the community that voted and believed he would represent them. Now the seduction of power and money seems to have pulled him over to represent the more "affluent" section of this district. Another government official who has willingly moved over to the dark side. SMH
Some people favour status and money. Such weak people. Hence the big corruption and dark money with some congress people like Torres. No shame. Traitors to their country. Weak!
In the spirit of the two jonhs[english old comedy duo] "i can see Torres making a tremendous difference in Michigan" [sarcastic sigh] yeah what brain of britain decided to send this bozo to Michigan to campaign for harris? geniues move [sarcastic sigh again]
“My campaign has thousands of donors. I do not have nor is it reasonable to expect me to have Godlike knowledge of everything that every donor has ever said or done at every point in his life"
Now he is just insulting our intelligence. This wasn't some nobody who kicked over $20 but one of the major donors of your campaign.
I dont understand how Torossian, Sinensky, etc can seriously say that Biden has "abandoned Isreal" and "is no friend of Isreal"?? How can they say that with a straight face? Biden et al have pretty much rolled over and given anything Isreal wants haven't they?
Vote Torres out and any and all unAmericans that are complicit in genocide, take money from foreign lobbying, and choose their foreign country over our own.
Hear, hear!
Brilliant bit of investigative work. Thank you.
What would they be without all that money? Not much, I imagine. It's immoral to practice quid pro quo in politics. The people get lost in the shuffle of money. In fact, we're spoon-fed, get complacent, and end up choosing the candidate who "looks good." The fact that a foreign entity can bribe and manipulate is criminal. When will the U.S. wake up from this "Israel knows best" trance?
Just to address what a piece of shit Zorossian is, I'm a Jew who lives in NYC. I work at the Jewish Braille Institute. I live near a vibrant Arab community (some of my earliest memories are eating Hummus from Sahadi's). In no way have I *ever* felt unsafe. Zorossian is not only extreme, he's also delusional.
Torres is the poster child for the current Democratic Party. Add Fetterman and Kelly. Standing and cheering Netanyahu. There are many others. The Republicans 100% gone. The Democrats trying to catch up. Hey AIPAC, over here.
These people in politics who take money, no matter from where are despicable. The U.S. government is a business and up for sale to the highest bidder. Some democracy they're always crowing about. Please, give me a break, nobody buys that any more.
And now Torres joined the harrassment campaign and efforts to deplatform Hasan Piker. He basically defamed him and says Piker is a "rape denier" who justified the alleged rapes on October 7 and said they don't matter.
Torres is the representative of one of the poorest districts in the US and almost never talks about elevating the lives of those in his district. And when talks about anything Israel related (which he does a lot) he talks like Kahanist. I recently read a piece written by D. Sheer about the amount of Kahanist staffers in DC, especially in the democratic Party and I was shocked how many there are! It's quite scary actually.
But this is a great piece, again great work by Prem Thakker. Politicians like Torres need to be exposed and their voters have to know who their representatives are and what they stand for. So this is an important piece and great journalism. One can only hope as many as possible in his district will read this or learn about Torres!
Surely most of us are old enough to remember "a rising self-styled progressive star in the Democratic Party," which turned out to be Kyrsten Sinema. And the supposedly-progressive Democrat which turned out to be hyper-genocidal John Fetterman.
The people have to find a way to enforce anti-corruption laws.
Because liars lie & prostiticians prostitute themselves.
Thank you, Zeteo, and Jacqueline Sweet, for providing us with such well-documented journalism. Especially on important stories that the main-stream media would never DISCLOSE, let alone investigate & compile.
The Districts of Latinx Congresspersons Ritchie Torres and Adriano Espaillat happen to span two districts that are in districts with either large Jewish residents or with influential educational institutions in New York City.
They also represent neighborhood in districts whose residents have institutional landlords run by conservative Jewish business owners.
Riverdale in the Bronx has one of the largest concentrations of Jewish people in New York City. It is Ritchie Torres's district.
Adriano Espaillat Congressional district in includes not only Columbia University--a campus largely the catalyst for U.S. students who formed solidarity encampments that called for divestment of US corporations doing business in Israel and the Occupied Territories--but it also includes one of the largest and most influential religious Jewish institutions of higher learning in the United States, Yeshiva University.
I happen to live in Washington Heights in that area's Little Dominican Republic neighborhood. I am African American (and not Hispanic) but most folks in the neighborhood--since they are Dominican and share an island named Hispaniola with Haiti--would, based on skin tone alone be presumed to be Black. You might not presume them Latinx folk if your predilection and bias is to presume most Latinx folk look and present as White/Olive-skinned descendants of Spain.
Both Adriano Espaillat and Richie Torres were elected largely to represent the interests of Latinx Dominican and Puerto Rican communities with Afro-Caribbean heritage but the institutions in those areas with power are not Dominican or Puerto Rican even though many of their residents are.
In addition to representing African-descendant communities of Hispanic Descent, they also represent many African Americans in those districts.
In essence, even though predominantly they came to power due to the support of local residents who are Afro-Caribbean descendant with Hispanic/Latinx heritage and African Americans the institutions that hold the most power in their districts are unapologetically pro-Israel with large influence by conservative American Jewish folk.
Earlier this month red paint was splashed on and in front of the headquarters of Adriano Espaillat.
His local constituents tend to want him to do something other than kowtow to Israeli interests.
The people who voted for him who happen to be Latinx and/or African-descendant in districts where Black Dominicans and Black Non-Hispanic folk are dismissed because the business and institutions which Black folk control have little capital compared to those pro-Israeli institutions comprised heavily of Jewish influences due to New York City having the largest concentration of Jewish people outside of Israel.
Adriano Espaillat and Ritchie Torres have forsaken those who got them elected and are playing a long-term game of rising within the Democratic Party but not upsetting pro-Israeli interest and institutions in New York City that hold power and whose leaders continue to not be empathetic or even entertain that Israeli policies target Palestinians with genocidal intent.
The solution is for Black and Latinx residents to call out these politicians and to run candidates that stand on principles that put--first and foremost--human rights, civil rights, FOR ALL PEOPLE INCLUDING PALESTINIANS AND LEBANESE WHO COMPRISE A SIGNIFICANT PLURALITY OF ARAB VOTERS IN NYC.
Torres and Espaillat need to sh*t or get off the pot in terms of standing on the right side of history and they need to support out-loud in public the need to address war crimes that haunt those innocents killed the Israeli-Palestinian war.
Good luck with that, honestly.
It's not going to be easy.
Even in progressive New York City the relative power of Black and Latinx institutions pale in comparison to those institutions in New York City willing to turn a blind eye to an out-of-control Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeil Prime Minister who is allied with settlor racist politicians hellbent on moving through citizens, targeting them, and, for all intents and purposes, eradicating them without concern to Geneva Conventions -- conventions that the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled must be followed in time of war
At the very least, we must demand an approach to armed conflict/war that does not eradicate large swaths of citizens in order to pursue military targets.
Those with power in New York City who are African-descendant and Afro-Caribbean descendant--both those with and without additional Hispanic heritage--are beholden to a Democratic Party that will never ever not be pro-Israeli.
That's the truth of the matter.
If Zeteo wants to call this out, do so, but be clear that the institutions Ritchie Torres and Adriano Espaillat fear are not just those beholden to rightists in U.S. politics but those also middle-of-the-road institutions with billion dollar endowments to which Democrats are beholden.
No matter the political party, in a largely two-party system, only a few politicians are unafraid to hold Israel to account.
These "interests" include not only rightist and supremacist extremists who claim Judaism.
They are huge universities, business people, including landlords, who are stalwart supporters of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party -- yes they play both sides of the fecne.
So, yes, call out supremacist-leaning folks who claim Judaism.
But realize the real problem in Torres' district and Espaillat's district are those institutions without which New York City Democrats largely are not elected.
This problem is bigger and deeper than the most banal and cabal driven rightist folks within Judaic institutions -- be those institutions academic, capitalist, political, or some hybrid thereof.
Torres and Espaillat are Black and Afro-Caribbean and of Hispanic/Latin X heritage, but they know where their bread is buttered, so to speak.
It's not by those who vote them in. It's by those who keep them in.
That's the cold, hard, truth of the matter.
You know, it is time to sit back and examine what is happening in the US. This is the product of $, money in the political system. The unending negotiation and play for the money it takes to run any election is corrupting everything. Torres may be a weak man but courting the big bucks leads a weak man or woman to compromise core beliefs and rationalize the most core beliefs and principles.
So money is a major corruptor , but the fault also rests with the people, “We the People” who are largely ignorant of the world around us. Hell, half the American population doesn’t even know who is their Vice President. They laude a Donald Trump but have no idea who was the Hitler Trump seems to admire, let alone the history of the Third Reich. Neither do they know about the modern day despots like Viktor Orban, what country he leads or where to find it on a map.
So, this is the sorry situation any politician faces. No matter how righteous their intent they still have to play a numbers game with any policy to establish a position that will garner the most votes because they can do nothing if they cannot be elected.
Torres? He’s obviously in a class of his own, but ignorance and money are dangerously corrupting.
Democracy only works if you have an informed plebiscite. We don't, so you end up with wankers like Trump, Biden, Johnson, Starmer etc.
This was an eye opener! Thanks for the report.
I remember when Torres was first running for a council seat in the 15th Congressional District in The Bronx. Such a genuine and caring young man back in 2013, I believe. Fast forward to 2022, when Gov. Hochul signed into law the redistricting of the 15th CD to include Riverdale (Alarge Jewish community.)It seems Congressman Torres has forgotten where he came from, and the community that voted and believed he would represent them. Now the seduction of power and money seems to have pulled him over to represent the more "affluent" section of this district. Another government official who has willingly moved over to the dark side. SMH
Some people favour status and money. Such weak people. Hence the big corruption and dark money with some congress people like Torres. No shame. Traitors to their country. Weak!
In the spirit of the two jonhs[english old comedy duo] "i can see Torres making a tremendous difference in Michigan" [sarcastic sigh] yeah what brain of britain decided to send this bozo to Michigan to campaign for harris? geniues move [sarcastic sigh again]
LMBO.
America is self-destructing from the inside. Israel has eroded the US using it's leaders. Americans need to vote wisely from now on.
“My campaign has thousands of donors. I do not have nor is it reasonable to expect me to have Godlike knowledge of everything that every donor has ever said or done at every point in his life"
Now he is just insulting our intelligence. This wasn't some nobody who kicked over $20 but one of the major donors of your campaign.
I dont understand how Torossian, Sinensky, etc can seriously say that Biden has "abandoned Isreal" and "is no friend of Isreal"?? How can they say that with a straight face? Biden et al have pretty much rolled over and given anything Isreal wants haven't they?