AIPAC Creation Dick Durbin Retires

Durbin defeated Paul Findley, who criticized Israel and authored the War Powers Resolution, which tried to stop unconstitutional wars like the one in Yemen now.

Sen. Dick Durbin just announced he is finally retiring. After 44 years. He got into Congress by defeating liberal Republican (they had those back then) Rep. Paul Findley in 1982.

I am surprised at the number of times I’ve criticized Durbin on twitter/X. He really has been a constant apparatchik, pretending to be decent and cutting down decency time and again. Durbin low key held down the left end of the genocidal duopoly.

Durbin said in 2024: “I will stand by Israel, but I will not stand and cheer its current Prime Minister at tomorrow’s Joint Session.” A good example of a Pontius Pilates per my recent piece.

His defeating Findley was one of AIPAC’s early victories.

Findley spoke out against Israel and would go on to write the book They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby.

Paul Findley was the principal author of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which attempted to prevent presidents from getting the US into unconstitutional wars. It is now regularly violated.

Now, Trump is engaging in an unconstitutional war in Yemen — on behalf of Israel — and barely a peep is heard in Congress, least of all by Durbin.

Paul Findley was the kind of Republican that still existed when I was a kid, reformist, liberal in the best sense. And strong on civil rights. Here he is talking about integration of U.S. Capitol Page Program, which he was largely responsible for.

And he criticized Israel.

“If I hadn’t been a persistent critic of [Israeli Prime Minister] Menachem Begin, I wouldn’t have had a real contest this year,” Findley said in 1982.

In 1980, a young and ever scummy Rahm Emanuel worked for another candidate and blooded Findley. The campaign was marred by a series of dirty tricks, including bomb threats at a meeting where Findley was speaking.

In the next election cycle, 1982, Durbin defeated Findley, who was a rare voice in Congress advocating talking to the PLO.

In 1984, AIPAC used Paul Simon to defeat an even more prominent liberal Republican, Sen. Charles Percy.

Thomas Dine, AIPAC’s executive director, called it a warning. “Jews in America, from coast to coast, gathered to oust Percy,” Dine said at the time. “And American politicians — those who hold public positions now, and those who aspire — got the message.”

I think the first time I heard of Percy was when I was in college. My roommate was into Harlan Ellison and would play tapes of his talks and one featured him bemoaning how why the hell don’t we elect someone like Percy as president.

I remember an odd feeling on election night 1984, as Reagan swept the nation and the one big “liberal win” was Simon beating Percy.

So instead of a President Percy, you got Bushes and the rise of the neocons, who are better termed neocolonialists.

Durbin got points from some for being the first senator to call for a “ceasefire” in Gaza in 2023 — but the way he framed it, with a release of any captives Hamas was holding as the first step, was actually useful for the AIPAC agenda. “That should be the beginning of it” he said.

So it was no surprise that CodePink found in 2024: “Sen. Dick Durbin Shuts Out Constituents Over Israel Weapons Vote.”

Findley was the publisher of a small-town weekly newspaper when he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1960 from a district once represented by Abraham Lincoln. He often invoked Lincoln in his campaign rallies and could quote his speeches from memory.

Once, chatting on the phone with Findley, we talked about the odds against what we were trying to do. One of us, I can’t recall who, said, why are we subjecting ourselves to this. The other said we must be trying to make up for serious evil we must have done in our past lives.

After Findley died in 2019, Francis Boyle, who died early this year, told me: "Findley was a Republican, but the pro-Israeli lobby effectively destroyed his political career, as they would for Republican Illinois Sen. Charles Percy during the same period. You thus have both the Democrats and Republicans dominated by pro-Israeli individuals, like Hoyer or now Sen. Dick Durbin, who defeated Findley in 1982.

"Similarly, we've seen an escalation of exactly what Findley tried to stop with the War Powers Resolution: President after president attacking other countries illegally, in violation of the Constitution, the War Powers Resolution and international law. The issues he tried to tackle were central to trying to preserve the rule of law and ensuring that the U.S. not use force illegally. He wanted the U.S. to be the 'Land of the Free and Home of the Brave,' not relentlessly pursuing murderous wars that ultimately make our own citizens less safe."

I quote Findley in my piece: