The New Order
May 27, 2026
A few weeks ago I had a crazy thought. But I get ahead of myself.
Thirty years ago I saw something on TV that never left me. But I get ahead of myself.
We can’t understand what’s going on in the Democratic party with respect to Jews and Israel before you get a handle on what the Democratic Party is (and the Republicans, too, but the focus here is on the Democrats). I’m going to make a structural argument about how the parties function as cultural machines.
The Democratic party is the default state of America. It’s the party of urban America, of immigrants. It’s the party that takes in immigrants and begins them on the long hard road to assimilation.
The Democratic Party has always been a strange composite. In the South it was the vehicle of the slaveholding order, but in the North it played a completely different role: the intake valve of America. In the cities and ports it became the party of newcomers, churn, ethnic politics, and abrasive cultural friction — the place where the shock of immigration was absorbed and slowly digested into the national fabric. That urban, immigrant-facing identity has been part of its story since the 19th century. This duality held until the Dixiecrats peeled off after 1965 and migrated into the Republican coalition. Whether the Republicans ever truly digested them is another question — and one I’ll get to later.
The Republicans are the party of the stable, landed core, born out of the self‑immolation of the Whigs — a party that proved unequal to the task of Union after booting the slavery question down too many corridors of compromise. They emerged in 1856 to rein in Democratic excesses and to stand for the Union — and over time became the party of people who’d been here long enough to feel ownership of the national story. They’re the ballast, the counterweight, the ones who say “enough” when the churn gets too fast. What they call “Heritage Americans” on X.1
The Democrats have always had a streak of fracture, centrifugal force, regionalism, and internal contradiction. The Republicans have always had a streak of consolidation, unionism, and “hold the center together.”
But it’s not 1856 — this is the post‑1965 America, with Jews weirdly and awkwardly absorbed into the old‑stock side because we’ve been here long enough to be familiar. And in that fracture, Jews — for the first time in Western history — end up on the “inside.”
That explains why Trump’s smartest and most ruthless consigliere on immigration is Stephen Miller.
I am not saying that most Jews agree with him. They do not. Most Jews are still staunch Democrats, but that’s because most people are a beat behind the music. Or half, or a quarter… doesn’t matter. A musician who is 1/64th behind the orchestra is out of step. The race car driver that’s a second behind the winner loses.
The Democratic party is no longer the party of Jews, Irish, Italians. It’s what Mamdani said in his victory speech: “Yemeni bodega owners, Mexican abuelas, Senegalese taxi drivers, and Uzbek nurses.”
It’s not the party where Jews comfortably rub shoulders with Catholics at the Al Smith Dinner. It’s the party where the Mayor of New York City commemorates “Nakba Day” on Israel’s independence day.
There is no point in bemoaning this. Recognize it and take action. You do not cry at an unveiling the way you cry at a funeral. You say goodbye, once, and forever.
So what did I see thirty years ago, and what did I think a few weeks ago?
I used to watch the The McLaughlin Group religiously. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that, it’s so geeky. In my defense, McLaughlin was such a part of the culture SNL spoofed it2. I used to really enjoy it — “Eleanor, you’re swellanor!”
Somewhere along the line I realized it was a waste of time, but there was a period where I watched that show every Sunday morning. One of John’s regulars was a sardonic, overweight newsman, Jack Germond (played on SNL by John Goodman).
So, on this show (the real show) the group was discussing the upcoming Democratic convention — I forget which — and that someone had tried and failed to insert a pro-Palestinian plank. Something very vanilla by today’s standards. I don’t remember what it was, exactly, but it was enough to be a matter of discussion on the show. I remember his sneering dismissal of the “nutty pro-Palestinian plank.” I remember this word distinctly, “nutty.”
I remembered that because didn’t think it was nutty. I thought it was bound to happen. Thirty years ago.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when this crazy thought came to me out of nowhere:
“The Democrats would love to build gas chambers for Jews. If they could get away with it, they would build gas chambers and feed us all into them.”
It was one of those sudden, unhinged thoughts that exists only to be dismissed immediately, which I did. I’m spelling this out because these thoughts surface under stress — a flare of panic, a grotesque exaggeration your mind throws up so you can smack it down and steady yourself. It’s the nervous system stepping in to regulate the mind.
So, there I was, sane and rational, rejecting “nutty” thoughts… and then I heard about Maureen Galindo, a candidate for Congress in the San Antonio area, who put this up on her Instagram (like many clinically insane people, she speaks in the third person):3
The posted this after she had actually won the primary — but not by enough, so a runoff was held, which she lost, 59% to 41%.
Of course, all the good leftist Democrats immediately distanced themselves from her. Of course they did. And implied she was a Republican plant4. They never said that before she said she would imprison and castrate Zionists. She was good enough for Track AIPAC and ActBlue before that.
She crossed the line with the ICE thing, and castration. But yeah, call her a Republican plant. Whatever works.
OK, she lost. But permit me this fantasy.
A smart non-insane young politician comes up with an “Israel disentanglement” plank.
I could be here all afternoon laying this out, so let’s just do bullet points. He or she could advocate:
Diplomatic and political ties
Downgrade representation. Recall the U.S. ambassador; keep relations at chargé d’affaires level.
Suspend or terminate bilateral agreements: Defense cooperation MOUs, science and tech accords, tax treaties.
Change UN posture: Stop shielding Israel with automatic vetoes; abstain or vote in favor of resolutions the U.S. has historically blocked; support recognition of Palestinian statehood
Of the three, the shift in the UN posture will hurt the most. The MOU is unimportant. The UN is important, no matter how much people scoff at it.
Once Israel is exposed to the full weight of the UN system, the consequences start to stack — legal exposure, diplomatic isolation, and economic pressure — and even Israel’s hard right will eventually acknowledge those constraints.
Military and intelligence cooperation
End offensive weapons transfers: No bombs, artillery, aircraft, or munitions usable in offensive operations; restrict exports of dual‑use tech.
Suspend joint exercises and training: No joint drills, no officer exchanges, no U.S. participation in Israeli training programs.
Curtail intelligence sharing: Limit or end real‑time intel sharing, especially on targeting; restrict joint SIGINT/tech projects.
This is where disentanglement stops being symbolic and starts biting into the security architecture.
Economic, trade, and financial links
Revoke or suspend trade preferences: End any special trade status; treat Israel as a normal third country or impose targeted restrictions.
Sanction state entities and officials: Use Magnitsky‑style tools against specific ministries, units, or leaders deemed responsible for abuses.
Limit U.S. government exposure: Prohibit federal agencies and pension funds from holding Israeli sovereign debt or investing in state‑owned enterprises.
This doesn’t criminalize private commerce, but it pulls the U.S. state out of the economic relationship and stigmatizes it.
Institutional and civil‑society cooperation
Universities and research: Bar federal funding (NIH, NSF, DoD, etc.) for projects with Israeli state institutions or military‑linked entities; end formal partnerships between U.S. public universities and Israeli universities tied to the state or military.
Police and security exchanges: Prohibit U.S. law‑enforcement agencies from participating in training or exchange programs with Israeli police, military, or intelligence services.
Municipal and state ties: Ban official sister‑city agreements, state‑level MOUs, and sub‑national cooperation with Israeli governmental bodies.
You don’t punish individuals; you sever formal cooperation between public institutions. Cutting ties between US and Israeli universities will be a catastrophe.
Multilateral and legal alignment
ICC/ICJ cooperation: Support investigations, refuse to pressure courts on Israel’s behalf, and comply with arrest warrants or judgments where U.S. law allows.
Sanctions coalitions: Work with EU and other allies to build coordinated sanctions regimes targeting Israeli state actors.
Refugee and asylum policy: Treat victims of Israeli actions as presumptively eligible for protection; expand refugee quotas tied to the conflict.
Domestic constitutional red lines and messaging
A “smart Galindo” will focus on:
No punishment for belief: No detention, no criminalization, no loss of rights for “Zionists” or anyone else based on viewpoint.
Protected advocacy: Americans remain free to support Israel, donate to pro‑Israel groups, lobby, organize, and speak.
Policy, not people: Every lever is aimed at states and institutions, not at citizens’ status or safety.
This is miles away from crazy Galindo’s carceral fantasies — but it’s very much on the same moral axis, just translated into statecraft instead of punishment.
This is far more realistic than Maureen Galindo’s ranting about ICE detention centers and castration. It’s inevitable. The Democratic Left is in open revolt. These are no longer “nutty” ideas:
The Democratic left already has a coherent anti‑Israel policy framework
And it’s not fringe anymore. It includes:
conditioning military aid
ending offensive weapons transfers
blocking certain joint programs
supporting ICC/ICJ investigations
recognizing Palestinian statehood
opposing U.S. vetoes at the UN
restricting intelligence cooperation
All of it is already being debated inside the party. But on the left it’s not being debated: It’s the policy, Jedis.
We could zoom in on any one of these, but to me the universities are the most important part of the ecosystem.
A serious disentanglement agenda would begin by treating U.S.–Israel academic cooperation as a state‑supported ecosystem rather than a collection of private friendships. The federal government funds enormous amounts of research through NIH, NSF, DoD, DARPA, and the Department of Energy. Much of that money flows into joint projects with Israeli universities, especially those with defense or intelligence ties.
The next layer is the formal partnerships: memoranda of understanding between U.S. public universities and Israeli universities, joint degree programs, faculty exchanges, and shared research centers. These are not constitutional rights; they are administrative agreements.
Then there is the security‑training layer. Many U.S. police departments and campus security offices participate in exchange programs with Israeli police or military units.
You can also imagine restrictions on technology transfer. Universities are major nodes in the flow of dual‑use research — AI, cybersecurity, materials science, biotech.
Finally, there is the symbolic but potent step: instructing federal agencies to avoid partnerships, conferences, or consortia that include Israeli state institutions.
Universities won’t be told what ideas they may teach or what views their faculty may hold. They will be told that public money and public institutions will no longer be entangled with the institutions of a foreign state whose actions the U.S. finds unacceptable. That is the constitutional version of the instinct Galindo expressed in a destructive way.
I could go on (and on, and on), but I’ve made my point.
What’s untouchable now will become touchable very soon. The Democratic party is full of these guys, all seething. They’ve been thinking about this for years. Their playbooks are ready. I’ve only touched on the surface.5
Why now?
Because of demographic change — the very demographic change that major Jewish organizations welcomed and championed. The Democrats are just doing what they did in the 19th century and the 20th: importing and processing vast numbers of foreigners into their power base.
The two biggest boosters of anti-Zionism in the public sphere are middle-American white liberal woman, and “third world” immigrant men. It’s not even a Muslim thing — it’s “third world.” Saagar Enjeti and Ro Khanna are not Muslim.
Blacks and Jews no longer run the plantation. Black people, as it happens, were a moderating influence against the crazies with their “nutty” planks.
Remember the “killing fields” of South Carolina? How the black church ladies controlled who became the candidate? Biden was their last hurrah.
South Carolina is just another primary now. And they’ve died and done gone.
AOC is now the moderate.
It’s now the party of Hasan Piker, Zoran Mamdani, Jennifer Welch, Saagar Enjeti, and Krystal Ball.
Stupid Batya Ungar-Sargon doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
True: you can’t go full fruitcake and win elections. But you can sanely together an anti-Zionist plank and win. It’s only a matter of time.
Where are the Republicans in this? I’ll deal with that later.
But this is why I don’t care about the Democrats anymore. I don’t care about their post-mortems. I don’t care about their disavowals. I don’t care about what they say about this, that, or the other thing.
It ain’t my party anymore. I have to change affiliation.
LOL, I think ‘Heritage American’ sounds like a cheap furniture line from Temu. And yes, this paragraph compresses a hell of a lot. In the 1850s, the Republican coalition wasn’t only the ‘landed core’ — it was a fusion of Free Soil farmers, anti‑slavery Whigs, Northern industrial interests, German immigrants, and evangelical reformers. Most were old‑stock Northerners, but the Germans were a huge and distinctive part of the party’s early strength.
Dana Carvey did McLaughlin to perfection.
It’s off now. Not sure whether Instagram tossed her or she deactivated her account.
A Republican plant who was chosen by “AIPAC tracker” on Bluesky as their preferred candidate. They disavowed her after the imprison and castrate IG post.
I purposely left out Israel’s nukes. There is nothing the Democratic left wants more than to expose Israel’s nuclear capacity and to force it out of strategic ambiguity. Nothing.
Democrats are stupid. Certainly the anti Israel section can’t come up with anything more coherent than eat the rich and tear down hostage posters.
Also the Israel haters also hate America. They don’t just want America to stop helping Israel, they also want to see America on its knees. Not for any specific reason, just because.
I don’t think that the Democratic Party used to want to see America end as an idea. They wanted to tweak it to their views.