I have to wonder what all those
Eastern European refugees and asylum seekers we fought so hard to bring to this
country during the last half of the 20th century must be thinking right about
now.
Am I next? Is the White House going to come after me? I had a broken tail light once and ignored the ticket...does that make me eligible for deportation?
These are not joke questions. They are real. And they are terrifying.
What the man who claims to be our president said over the weekend was so heinous, so egregious that its horror can only be bested by the deafening silence of GOP lawmakers who have maintained an unacceptable blackout in response to his weekend racist screed. These raging religious right people, the ones who talk Bible and Jesus and the rest of that stuff...where is their moral compass? Whatever happened to WWJD? How do they keep their lips locked when blatant racism pours over the podium on the White House lawn?
Now, I'm not fan of Speaker Pelosi; in fact, I think she has mishandled The Squad from start to finish. There were any number of approaches that coulda/shoulda/woulda prevented The Squad from running amok. But she didn't. Now, we need a minor miracle to clean up the mess.
However, Speaker Pelosi was right when she tweeted:
The extreme asininity of this past weekend's Twitter fest was solely about throwing more sabots into the Democratic machine, and you're an idiot if you missed that part. The cabal hanging around the oval office knows this caliber of hate-speech will release an overwrought Kraken to further fracture the DNC. This isn't about the The Squad, it's about reducing the opposition's ability to mount a viable political assault against that thing sitting in the oval office. The GOP operatives may be despicable, but they are not stupid. They know immigration is a hot-button issue and they are there to exploit it.
And while we're at it, let's make one thing really, really clear.
EVERY SINGLE CLOWN IN CONGRESS IS SITTING THERE BECAUSE
SOME FAMILY MEMBER ENDED UP COMING TO THIS COUNTRY,
EITHER AS AN IMMIGRANT OR IN CHAINS
with the exception of
- Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-OK, Cherokee
- Rep Sharice Davids, D-KS, Ho-Chunk
- Rep Deb Halaand, D-NM, Laguna Pueblo
These three are the only members of Congress who, if you follow the administration's logic, should be in there. They are our First Nation Congresspeople and regardless of party affiliation, they are the true original citizens of this continent. The rest of the congressclowns should just board their ships and go back to whatever shit hole country they came from because clearly they are not happy with America. They tell us that every day. According to Feckless Leader, that would solve the immigration problem. And if you actually can believe something the sociopath in the oval office said, his father immigrated from Germany, so guess what, Angela? Your kleiner Lügner Kumpel is all yours. (For the record, Feckless lied about that, too: Fred was born here...but he is still an immigrant according to his spawn's definition.)
And in case you still want to support this administration because you think the economy is stronger than it's ever been, let me leave you with this graph I found showing the market's performance on a day-by-day comparison between the Obama administration and the current one.
The y-axis shows the total percentage increase or decrease in the S&P 500 index and the x-axis shows the number of trading days since inauguration day. The performance for President Obama is shown as well for comparison purposes.
The reality is the current administration languishes on the heels of the previous one. It's not simply the occupant in the oval office, it's the fed, the futures, the outlook, and about a zillion other factors that make the market rise and fall. This is not subjective charting; these are just the raw numbers.
Wake up, America, and smell the bullshit. It's getting deeper, higher, and more toxic. Just like our air and water quality. But hey! Who's looking?
The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week
36 Months sounds like a long time,
but it isn't. Really.
I always find your posts stimulating, but not being Jewish, you sometimes leave me in the dust. And, that’s okay. However, I have questions that I have posed to a number of Jewish Americans in my neighborhood, some friends, some not, and now I would like to pose them to you:
ReplyDelete— Why does acknowledging the fact of the political influence of Israel through financial contributions by Jewish Americans and other lobbyists equate with anti semitism?
— Why does criticism of Israel’s policies toward Palestinians equate with criticism of Jews and again, antisemitism?
My status in this country makes me fully appreciate the scope of meaning in the sentiment “never again.” However, I am confused that Israel’s identity depends on the topic of conversation — one minute, it’s a political entity, an autonomous state, if you will, the next it is a religious shrine for the Jewish people. Of course, it can be both, but considering that there are Israelis who are not Jewish, I question how one is exactly like the other.
I hope that you will find this query worthy of your attention. All my best.
Good to hear from you! I love your questions and comments. Truly.
DeleteSorry about the dust part. I do try to insert inks where I think people may need more information. Anytime you think I’m missing one, let me know and I can always add it in.
These are tough questions without easy or pat answers. First and foremost, Israel is a living democracy with all the political messiness that comes with being a democracy. There are spaces that are sacred to Jews in Israel, but there as many spaces that are sacred to Christians, Muslims, Druze, Bahá'í, Samaritans, Karaites, and others, but that does not make the State of Israel a shrine. It is not.
There are those who would question the loyalty of American Jews to America because we support the existence of Israel, the place we consider our indigenous homeland. These days, lobbying for anything is an ethically iffy business, and too often abused. However, a lobby can serves to inform and educate on issues where it’s all too easy to condemn out of ignorance, and that includes things like civil rights here in the US. The so-called Jewish lobby is not a single “thing; it is as diverse as the politics in this country. Honestly, we don’t all agree on anything.
At the same time, not all Jews are thrilled with Israel's current government, self included, and don’t support many of the policies that Netanyahu puts forward. But that doesn’t mean Israel has sacrificed its right to exist in its own territory. As the _only_ democracy in the ME, lots of people have civil rights there who would not in other countries. All Israelis participate in elections, they can serve in the Knesset, the Supreme Court, the town councils, the various ministries…and they do. All Israelis serve in the IDF , and most do it proudly because they are defending their homeland no matter what their faith, color, sexual orientation, or even gender. That is something we should be supporting.
It’s easy to blame Israel defending itself against terror from its neighbors. It’s much easier to turn a blind eye than actually do one’s homework. And it’s really easy to say, “Oh, they’re just Jews.” That is anti-Semitism.
Y'know, you should go to Israel. Then you can see the conundrum for yourself, and see how it works in real time. It's where the unexpected becomes expected.
You might find this of interest. It appeared in the Wall Street Journal and is a pretty good analysis.
Deletehttps://www.wsj.com/articles/can-ilhan-omar-overcome-her-prejudice-11562970265?mod=searchresults&page=2&pos=1
Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, the WSJ demands a subscription to read the opinion piece you recommended. I’ll find it at my local library soon.
DeleteI must say that the headline assumes a great deal about the topic and about Ilhan.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the current condemnations of Ilhan Omar have exposed and cloud any objective consideration of how the United States government should express its support of Israel. My major opposition is toward the passing of laws which hinder American freedoms, particularly the right to protest and to boycott.
I believe it a slippery slope toward further suppression through criminalization of dissent which goes way beyond Israel, and that terrifies me. We like to label people and movements, but not every supporter of pressing for Palestinian rights is anti-Semitic. Where they are, they should be opposed, but not with the forms of legislation that are spreading across the country — strokes with broad brushes which deny both the complexity of the issues involved and the rights of Americans to exercise dissent.
I have learned a great deal about Israeli influence at the federal and local levels in this country. That effort has opened a floodgate of information on the influence of other foreign entities. It is overwhelming.
American democracy is threatened from many angles. We should, of course, support our allies, but at what cost to our national principles? Moreover, Americans had best start paying attention to what we authorize and enable our government to do. Just looking at the federal budget and the ongoing lack of accountability is the stuff of nightmares.
You're spot on when you say not everyone pushing for Palestinian rights is anti-Semitic. I do and I'm not. Most of my community is of the same mind.
DeleteIsraeli influence is not as great as some would make it sound. And a lot of that influence comes from the far right. Keep in mind there are a whole lotta Evangelicals who believe they need Israel to exists for their own purposes...rapture, end time, apocalypse...whatever they want to call it this week. That has nothing to do with the reality of _who_ lives in Israel; that's their second coming stuff and, if you pay any attention to that train schedule, that mean the Jews all die. And the Muslims. I don't pretend to understand that but it's scary to hear it all the same.
On paper, it all seems much less complicated than it is. The reality is very different, very spun, and not at all reflective of everyday Israeli or Jewish life.
By the way, I have a PDF of the article. If you sent an email to thewifelypersonatgmail.com, I'll send it to you.
What I don’t understand are all the Jews, many of whom have lost family in the Holocaust, who support 45 only because they believe him to be a friend of Israel. I believe he’ll throw Jews under the bus first chance he gets or else push us to leave and go to Israel because we’re not wanted here.
ReplyDeleteI don't get it either. No one I know does. He panders to the Rapture crowd. They need Israel...they don't need American Jews.
Delete