What Are You For

The supposed point of J-Street - though watching how it evolved from the beginning to now I wasn't surprised at all - was to delicately give Democrats (and others) some cover if they moved a bit "left" on Israel-related issues, to provide cover against attacks from AIPAC and others, to make sure AIPAC wasn't the only "Jewish group" on speed dial for reporters.

And when the moment came they showed their real purpose was not to battle "the Right," but instead to foreclose anything further left. A common tale in DC.

Edmondson said she understood that J Street has historically moved with caution to maintain its ability to lobby Washington officials, but argued that now would have been the time for the organization to take a clear stand: “We’ve spent 15 years building this political power to rival AIPAC. And now, all of a sudden, when that power could be wielded during a literal genocide, it’s like, ‘Oh, we actually can’t do any of the things we’ve been saying all these years that we can.’”

Your favorite orgs and outlets in DC quite often serve this purpose. Even the liberal New Republic (back in the day), even the liberal J-Street...