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NY Congressman Eliot Engel
Sometimes listening to the morning news on television is a bit like entering into an alternate universe. Last Wednesday, the day after primary elections in New York State, CBS News reported that New York Congressman Eliot Engel was "facing a challenge" from Democratic Party challenger Jamaal Bowman. NBC News reported that Engel was "trailing." The reality, according to the
New York Times tally of the results that morning was that
Bowman had beaten Engel by a margin to 60.9% versus 35.6% with more than 82% of votes counted. Even though it posted the numbers, the
Times felt compelled to describe the apparently impending lopsided loss as if it were something less than that, as a "stiff challenge" for Engel.
The media deference to Engel derives from the fact that he is a protected species, possibly the leading Israel-firster in Congress. In 2003,
Engel supported the invasion of Iraq and in the following year he organized a group of fellow congressmen to demand cuts in the U.S. contribution to the United Nations office that assists Palestinian refugees. He attended the infamous Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu address to Congress in 2015 that many other Democratic lawmakers boycotted due to the insult to President Obama and afterwards called Netanyahu's speech "compelling."
Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Andrew Cuomo and Nancy Pelosi all had endorsed Engel, who has been in Congress for going on 32 years and currently heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Clinton explained that Engel "...is deeply committed to working with our allies to maintain American leadership on the global stage." She was, of course, referring to Israel.
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