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Tag Archives: Israel

Jumping on the band wagon

06 Wednesday Dec 2023

Posted by Michael Bersin in Congress, Mark Alford, social media

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

4th Congressional District, anti-semitism, former newsreader, Israel, Mark Alford, missouri, right wingnut, social media

Today from Mark Alford (r):

Congressman Mark Alford
[December 6, 2023]
Elise Stefanik: “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate [your university’s] code of conduct or rules regarding bullying or harassment?”
Presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn: It’s ok to call for the genocide of Jews, depending on the context.
The answers they gave reflect the profound moral bankruptcy of Presidents Gay, Magill and Kornbluth.
This could be the most extraordinary testimony ever elicited in the Congress, certainly on the topic of genocide, which to remind us all is:
“the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group”
They should resign in disgrace.
[….]

There was hilarity in the responses:

Y’all are just hiding the fact that y’all NEED Jewish folks to convert in the Apocolypse… it was NEVER about actual anti-semitism.

Nailed it.*

And, not making any sense:

Can a Jewish person truly trust a Harvard educated doctor? The same colleges that allow this rhetoric have not allowed Conservative speakers on campus because they could incite violence. SMH

Mark Alford (r) [2023 file photo].

* Go ahead, laugh. You got it.

Previously:

We’re not a prop for your apocalyptic right wingnut fever dream (October 21, 2023)

Mark Alford (r): regurgitating right wingnut dogma

05 Sunday Nov 2023

Posted by Michael Bersin in Congress, Mark Alford, social media

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

4th Congressional District, border, former newsreader, Israel, Mark Alford, missouri, right wingnut, social media

Mark Alford (r) [2023 file photo].

Yesterday:

Congressman Mark Alford
[November 4, 2023]
While the world is watching the situation in Israel play out, our own southern border is wide open.
Since Joe Biden took office, hundreds of individuals on the terror watchlist have been encountered at our border.
That leads me to ask:
1. How many made it through?
2. Where are they now?
3. How many have ties to Hamas or Hezbollah?
We aren’t the only ones with these questions. Last week, Senator Schmitt and I led 22 of our House and Senate colleagues in a letter demanding to know how the conflict in the Middle East would affect our homeland.
For the entirety of this Administration’s tenure, we have operated with our guard down. We cannot allow that to continue.
We need answers before it is too late.

Because someone will take hostages somewhere in the Southwest and take them where?

Some of the responses:

According to the Representative, our southern border is wide open. His solution, sponsoring legislation “Combatting the Persecution of Religious Groups in China Act.” Another Alford bill with no cosponsors. Maybe spending more time on solving issues in the United States, and less time on tv and the internet, would be in order.

The border is not wide open, despite your repeated claim that it is.
Congress can can enact immigration reform. You should do your job and get on that.

Then do something. Put forth a bill, fund for additional border patrol, simplify immigration. Add immigration attorneys. Or keep doing what you always do, whine and blame others.

I guess you didn’t notice Israel’s wall didn’t work, oh and Trump’s buddy is in charge there. Also indicted on corruption funny enough.

” Blaming Biden” is not a constructive solution! How about you introducing legislation to resolve issues ? Missouri deserves better!

Fear mongering last week. Fear mongering this week. How does this help our country?

You are an absolute LIAR and should be expelled immediately. You are an elected official and you are telling the world our border is officially open. You are a reckless traitor. You talk about your big bad letters when you are not on TV, radio, or YouTube spewing your pandering line of party BS. You and your staffs salaries would be better used to assist the CBP agents you trash consistently. What is even more pathetic is the fact that you try and use religion to make yourself look like a righteous person. The stupid may believe you, but anyone with half a brain knows you are no better than Boebert, Gaetz, and Greene. You are a radical in hiding.

Congressman Mark Alford why not post your ridiculous letter that you sent with Senator Eric Schmitt? You both blither about China and of course don’t mention Russia! Do you seriously believe that the Federal Government is doing nothing to safeguard the US from terrorism? Also, why wasn’t that wall built that Mexico was going to pay for? You do nothing, but grandstand! [….]

That’s the way it is, isn’t it?

Flop sweat

01 Wednesday Nov 2023

Posted by Michael Bersin in Congress, Mark Alford, social media

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

4th Congressional District, former newsreader, Israel, Mark Alford, missouri, right wingnut, social media, Ukraine, useful idiot

Mark Alford (r) [2023 file photo].

Today, from Mark Alford (r):

Congressman Mark Alford
[November 1, 2023]
For far too long, the Washington swamp has tried to tie critical and controversial legislation together, dealing lawmakers an impossible hand by forcing them to vote on bundled legislation.
That stops here. The House is set to vote on an aid package to Israel, separate from the aid to Ukraine.
As lawmakers, we need to individually evaluate and systematically review aid packages and track where the money is going.
American taxpayers are footing the bill for these wars: they are funding Ukraine, Israel, and potentially Taiwan down the road. Congress should not be forced to send billions to multiple countries for different wars simultaneously.
America’s financial health is deteriorating; the dollar is weakening, and the endless printing of money has no end in sight.
We need individual review, accountability, and oversight for aid packages, not a bundle.
This is American taxpayers’ money, and allowing members to vote on this separately should be the standard.

We know Vladimir Putin thinks helping Ukraine is controversial. Go figure.

“Россия” (Russia) – a variant of the Russian presidential flag.

Who else? We’ll wait.

Some of the responses to Mark Alford (r)

Tell us , Alford, who do you want America to be in the World?
A Leader of Democracy that believes every single person has rights and say in their Government?
OR a Putin “kiss the hand” country who believes in Autocracy, Oligarchy and Facism.
History is repeating itself…..

The republican party needs to stop catering to Putin! Do your job and vote for aid to Ukraine and Isreal and stop playing games!

yes I remember that the United States and Europe sanctioned Russia heavily over that and General Flynn promised the Russians that Trump would ease those sanctions once he got in office.

“Make America Great Again” – in Russian.

if they were not enforced why was Russia wanting their Puppet Trump to release them so badly ?

So the majority party is trying to separate Isreal aid, while keeping it tied to IRS de-funding, and then take the separated Ukraine aide and tie it to border funding. So much for your premise of un-bundleing

That’s pretty disingenuous considering it includes cutting IRS funding.

AMEN, SO TRUE. STOP THOWING OUR MONEY AWAY TO OTHER COUNTRIES WHO DO NOT PAY BACK. YOU WANT TO CUT MY SOCIAL SECURITY, THAT IS NOT FAIR, WE WORKED FOR IT & WE DO NOT NEED IT GOING OVERSEAS WHERE THEY DO NOT APPRECIATE IT OR PAY BACK.
GOD BLESS AMERICA [….]

Is somebody going to tell her?

I don’t want aid to foreign countries

Isolationist.

I’d rather throw American tax dollars at foreign countries now to help them fight aggressors than not help them and later have to throw American service members directly into the fray.

Previously:

We’re not a prop for your apocalyptic right wingnut fever dream (October 21, 2023)

We’re not a prop for your apocalyptic right wingnut fever dream

21 Saturday Oct 2023

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Eschatology, flag, Israel, missouri, parade, Rick Brattin, right wingnut

Today at a parade in west central Missouri:

When you have a grown up in the White House

16 Monday Oct 2023

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Israel, Joe Biden, White House

This evening:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 16, 2023

Statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on President Biden’s Travel to Israel and Jordan

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will travel to Israel on Wednesday, October 18, to demonstrate his steadfast support for Israel in the face of Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack and to consult on next steps.

President Biden will then travel to Amman, Jordan, where he will meet with his Majesty King Abdullah, Egyptian President Sisi, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He will reiterate that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination and discuss the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza.

###

Joe Biden (D) [2014 file photo].

Curse the darkness

11 Wednesday Oct 2023

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Israel, Terrorism

Light candles.

Virginia dumbass

10 Tuesday Oct 2023

Posted by Michael Bersin in Josh Hawley, US Senate

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Fascist pig, Hamas, insurrectionist, Israel, Josh Hawley, Putin stooge, right wingnut, Russia, seditionist, U.S. Senate, Ukraine, Virginia

“Make America Great Again” – in Russian.

Christian, constitutional lawyer, [….] U.S. Senator for Missouri Virginia.

Josh Hawley (r) left out “Putin stooge” and “Useful idiot”.

Yesterday:

Josh Hawley @HawleyMO
Israel is facing existential threat. Any funding for Ukraine should be redirected to Israel immediately
2:35 PM · Oct 9, 2023

As if Ukraine hasn’t been facing an existential threat?

Dumbass.

Josh Hawley (r) [2016 file photo].

I dare you.

11 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by Michael Bersin in social media

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

AIPAC, Israel, Representative Ilhan Omar, social media, Twitter

Call me anti-Semitic. I dare you.

Via Twitter, today:

Esor @Esor_Fasa
I am a white Jew. I, w/ other white Jews, criticize AIPAC endlessly for buying support. No one bats an eye. But when Black folk, incl. Black Jews, have made similar criticisms, they’re attacked relentlessly. So let’s not pretend the attacks on @IlhanMN aren’t steeped in racism.
9:41 AM – 11 Feb 2019

Uh, yep.

And, a word of advice about others’ trolling:

God @TheGoodGodAbove

DEAR GOOD PEOPLE:

Don’t attack each other, for that is what the forces of evil want!

They make fake accounts and say horrible things just to trick and divide you!

Remember how you felt the day after Traitor Trump got elected!

Stay calm and defeat these Nazi bastards!

– God
3:28 PM – 11 Feb 2019

It is all about the Benjamins (By the way, nicely punned).

Bipartisanship gone bad: The Israel Anti-Boycott Act

20 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by willykay in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

ACLU, AIPAC, Ann Wagner, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Claire McCaskill, H.R. 1697, Israel, Israel Anti-Boycott Act, J Street, Jason Smith, missouri, S. 720, Sam Graves, Vicky Hartzler

The Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S.720 and H.R.1697) is very bad legislation. It’s also that rarity, a bill that truly has bipartisan support. It’s laws like this proposed legislation, I suspect, that gives being bipartisan a bad rep.

The bill essentially bans boycotts or economic sanctions against countries “friendly” to the U.S. , specifically, but not necessarily limited to, Israel:

The bill amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to declare that it shall be U.S. policy to oppose:

  • requests by foreign countries to impose restrictive practices or boycotts against other countries friendly to the United States or against U.S. persons; and
  • restrictive trade practices or boycotts fostered or imposed by an international governmental organization, or requests to impose such practices or boycotts, against Israel.

The bill prohibits U.S. persons engaged in interstate or foreign commerce from:

  • requesting the imposition of any boycott by a foreign country against a country which is friendly to the United States; or supporting any boycott fostered or imposed by an international organization, or
  • requesting imposition of any such boycott, against Israel.

The bill amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to include as a reason for the Export-Import Bank to deny credit applications for the export of goods and services between the United States and foreign countries, opposition to policies and actions that are politically motivated and are intended to penalize or otherwise limit commercial relations specifically with citizens or residents of Israel, entities organized under the laws of Israel, or the Government of Israel.

The legislation would levy significant fines not only for participating in boycotts or sanctions, but also for simply requesting information about such actions. Legislation like this would have precluded the boycott of South Africa that was at least partly responsible for the fall of apartheid. People on the left and on the right oppose this bill for much the same reason: it is improperly coercive, too broad in scope, and violates the Constitution. If its support is bipartisan, so is its opposition.

Who opposes the Israel Anti-Boycott Act?

The ACLU wrote in a letter to the Senate that “the bill would punish businesses and individuals based solely on their point of view. Such a penalty is in direct violation of the First Amendment,” adding that:

“… this bill cannot fairly be characterized as an anti-discrimination measure, as some would argue. For example, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 already prevents businesses from discriminating against customers based onrace, color, religion, and national origin. This bill, on the other hand, aims to punish people who support international boycotts that are meant to protest Israeli government policies, while leaving those who agree with Israeli government policies free from the threat of sanctions for engaging in the exact same behavior. Whatever their merits, such boycotts right ly enjoy First Amendment protection.

The American Conservative’s Daniel Larison, on the other end of the political spectrum, is in perfect agreement:

Whatever one thinks about the BDS [i.e., boycott, divestment, and sanctions] movement and related international efforts to pressure Israel to change its occupation policies, it is deranged to try to criminalize protected political speech and association. As the ACLU points out, that is what this bill does. This legislation is plainly unconstitutional, and I assume it would be struck down in court if it were ever signed into law, but the deeper problem is that so many elected representatives think it is appropriate and desirable to trample on the constitutional rights of Americans to defend another government’s illegal occupation. …

J-street, a liberal Jewish lobbying group that advocates for a two-state solution to conflict between Israel and the Palestinians but which has stopped short of endorsing boycotts and sanctions, also opposes the legislation. In an email to congressional staffers, the J Street Vice President of Government Affairs, Dylan J. Williams, wrote that in its present form, the bill would:

…undermine decades of US policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, bolster the settlement enterprise and harm the prospects for a two-state solution. […]

[…] we recommended that Members consult with free speech experts on possible Constitutional concerns with the bill. Accordingly, I want to make sure that you saw the letters issued by the ACLU yesterday opposing both the Senate and House versions of the bill on the grounds that they would impose penalties in “direct violation of the First Amendment.”

So who does support this bill?

AIPAC. But that goes without saying.

Who else? At least 237 members of the House of representatives, 63 of whom are Democrats, are cosponsors of the bill, and 45 Senators, 13 of whom are Democrats, are also cosponsors . Others will probably, due to either conviction or the pressures of the prevailing political wisdom, help vote it into law.

Missouri Supporters

As for whom in Missouri supports this legislation, here’s the list of House cosponsors from our fair state: Rep. Wagner, Ann (R-2), Rep. Sam Graves (R-6), Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-4), Rep. Jason Smith (R-8), and Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-3). And in the Senate, who else but that consummate bipartisan wannabe, Senator Claire McCaskill, has signed on. So far, at least, Senator Blunt is keeping his hands off this one. Do you think he might actually have a few Constitutional scruples?

McCaskill’s presence is the most easily explained. She’s good at the political calculus and you can bet there’s some payoff here, or at least she hopes there will be, in 2018. The woman’s great strength is her pragmatism. It’s also, alas, her frequent downfall.This case falls into the latter category.

What really bothers me, though, are all those Republicans in the House who support this bill. Don’t most Missouri conservatives get all teary-eyed about the right of bakers and the like to refuse to do business with the LGBT folks – or whoever else their personal Jesus tells them to dis? Yet they don’t want to let businessmen or individuals who have moral qualms about the activities of foreign countries refrain from doing business that supports those activities? It’s not exactly the same question – there’s lots of issues to unpack here – but, on the surface at least, it seems just a little hypocritical.

More importantly, weren’t lots of these chuckleheads elected during the Tea Party “uprising” by voters who went around in tricorner hats waving pocket copies of the Constitution? It was pretty clear, even at that time, that few Tea Partiers had actually bothered to read the document and fewer still understood it, but don’t you think that the folks they sent to Washington ought to at least show a little deference to the legal underpinnings of of our great Democracy?

*2nd to last paragraph slightly revised for clarity (12:03, 7/21/17).

Seven minutes

12 Sunday Jun 2016

Posted by Michael Bersin in social media

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

4th Congressional District, guns, Israel, missouri, Orlando, social media, Terrorism, Twitter, Vicky Hartzler

On June 8, 2016:

Hill060816

The Hill ‏@thehill
BREAKING: Police say three killed in Tel Aviv terrorist shooting [….]
3:29 PM – 8 Jun 2016

Seven minutes later:

Hartzler060816

Rep. Vicky Hartzler‏@RepHartzler
My prayers are with #Israel & victims of #TelAviv attack. #StandWithIsrael
[….]
3:36 PM – 8 Jun 2016

Today via Twitter, on Orlando, from Representative Vicky Hartzler (r):

Gray

To be fair, the day isn’t over yet.

Update:

Hartzler061216

Rep. Vicky Hartzler‏@RepHartzler
My prayers are w/ victims & families of #Orlando attack. Unnerving reminder of threat posed by radical ideologies. [….]
4:41 PM – 12 Jun 2016

One person killing fifty other people with weapons he legally purchased in the last week is not unnerving, it’s an atrocity.

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