Matt Duss writes:

As Democrats continue to struggle to coalesce around a shared message for the future, last week offered some troubling examples of their refusing, once again, to learn from the mistakes of the past. After a delay, the Democratic National Committee finally released the post-2024 election autopsy report that DNC chair Ken Martin had long promised. It was easy to see why he had tried to avoid making it public. In addition to being incomplete and a mess, the report was notable for not mentioning one of the most divisive and consequential issues in the party: Gaza. Even considering the report’s incoherence, it was a baffling omission, given that Gaza continues to be a real point of tension in the Democratic coalition, one that cuts to the core of what kind of party, and what kind of country, we really want to be.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t last week’s only example of Democratic-aligned organizations trying to throw Gaza down the memory-hole. On May 19, the Center for American Progress, Washington’s largest Democratic Party–aligned think tank, held its annual “Ideas Festival,” featuring a panel on “The Future of US Foreign Policy.” Three of the four panelists were former Biden administration officials, and two of those—former secretary of state (now CAP board member) Antony Blinken and former UN ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield—were top decision-makers during Biden’s catastrophic handling of the Gaza war, which a growing consensus of experts has categorized as a genocide. Gaza was not even mentioned on the panel. (It’s notable that Blinken appeared at the event unannounced, possibly to avoid protests that now follow him everywhere.)

The previous day, Foreign Policy for America (FP4A), which describes itself as a group “working to strengthen support for principled US leadership in the world,” held an event honoring Thomas-Greenfield with a lifetime achievement award. While Thomas-Greenfield had an admirable diplomatic career before joining the Biden administration, as UN ambassador she vetoed multiple UN Security Council ceasefire resolutions, measures that might have saved thousands of lives, to enable Israel to continue its assault. FP4A’s choice to honor her with an award was an insult to every Palestinian killed, maimed, or still suffering in Gaza, and a middle finger to everyone who tried to get the Biden administration to change course.

Another Democratic-aligned foreign policy group, National Security Action, has also recently been in the news. Cofounded in 2018 by former Obama administration officials, former Biden administration national security adviser Jake Sullivan rejoined its board of directors, as he did with FP4A’s board shortly after leaving the government in 2025.

I have worked with all these organizations. I spent six years at CAP as a national security policy analyst. I have been involved in numerous meetings and workshops with both National Security Action and Foreign Policy for America since their founding. I spoke at FP4A’s launch event in 2017 alongside Sullivan. All these organizations have many talented, principled staff—such as the recently relaunched National Security Action’s new executive director, Maher Bitar—and the potential to play a positive, constructive role in the future of the Democratic Party and of our democracy. Progressives need strong organizations to help build and mobilize our movement. But they cannot do that if those organizations facilitate impunity rather than accountability. [Continue reading…]