Karen Bass Matters - Stop the DSA
I WON’T BE SILENT - Full disclosure: I can’t vote for mayor of Los Angeles because I live in Beverly Hills. But I am asking my Los Angeles friends and community to vote for Karen Bass.
Yes, I was rooting for Spencer Pratt during the runoff and hoped for an out-of-the-box, random, anything-but-the-status-quo choice to take over for Ms. Bass. But alas, stranger than fiction, somehow the Democrats stuffed an unusual amount of Nithya Raman votes down Angelenos’ throats—or up something else—whatever.
The night of the runoff, I did a post pointing out how Raman was sobbing at her barely-filled, makeshift headquarters—a random bar in Silver Lake—weeping about her defeat. So, she lost until she didn’t? Hmmmm. Is that what really happened? We will never know.
Karen has a long record of public service. She began as a community organizer in South Los Angeles, founded the Community Coalition to confront the crack epidemic, AIDS, and violence. (Community...community...communism...but I digress.)
She went on to serve in the California Legislature and Congress before becoming mayor. Karen’s connection to Los Angeles is rooted in decades of work, not a campaign-season appeal. She was also a supporter of Israel leading up to her mayoralty.
Nithya, on the other hand is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America. Her automatic membership matters because her positions on Israel matter. At a recent Jewish community forum, she said Israel’s war in Gaza is a genocide and described the BDS Movement as a legitimate form of protest.
[SIDEBAR] A genocide is not where the population increases over the 3 years of a war, which is the case with Gaza. (See above stats from Gaza Ministry of “Health”)
At least Bass says she does not believe Israel is committing genocide and doesn’t support BDS. Those are meaningful differences for many Jews, namely me. I have been a one-issue voter for years, even before the October 7 war.
So, does the choice come down to “vote for the devil you know”? Or can we all agree this is not a perfect scenario? No election ever is. Not anymore, anyway.
At best, Bass is not supported by the Democratic Socialists of America. I have no intention of listing all the different ways Bass has screwed up. I’m trying to make the case to vote for her. Give me a break. And her.
Here’s a critical Raman factoid: She was on the City Council longer than Karen has been mayor and has little to show for it. In fact, she has no real accomplishments, has missed nearly 3000 votes since 2020, AND is a champagne socialist. The same ilk who voted Mamdani into office in New York City.
And New York must be a cautionary tale for L.A. Eric Adams was forced out of the race in part because Jewish voters mostly backed Andrew Cuomo. Fools. I was howling from the rooftops to my New York friends to support Adams. The moment required Jews to back him, no matter what, not because he is Black, but because he was a known positive commodity for Jews and Israel. There was NO WAY Cuomo was going to beat Mamdani.
The Black and Jewish partnership has fractured in recent years, and this was a missed opportunity. An olive branch might have helped, especially amid the pro-Palestine hysteria. Alas, no one listens to little old me.
It’s people like Brad Lander, white left-wing women in Brooklyn, and assorted Upper West Side bleeding-heart liberals who have already felt the sting of the DSA’s antisemitic or anti-Zionist angst that continues to spill into the streets, along with Jewish blood.
THIS MUST NOT HAPPEN HERE IN LOVELY LOS ANGELES!!!!
Yes, Karen has earned scrutiny, especially from my friends who have lost their homes in the Palisades fire. NOTE: Some of them are also supporting Karen’s reelection because DSA is the first nail in the coffin of democracy.
As I said, I can’t cast a vote for Karen, but she is simply the better choice. The recent loss in New York to the manipulative DSA candidate has come back to haunt me. So, I’m asking nicely rather than howling at y’all, please don’t let Raman noodle her way into the mayorship. Stop the DSA.
(ABE GURKO is a writer and author of Won’t Be Silent—Don’t Stop ’til It Matters, and a producer of the documentary. LOUDER: The Soundtrack of Change. He is an opinionator and host of the podcast Won’t Be Silent, engaging in conversations from the edge of democracy. Abe is a contributor to CityWatchLA.com)
