Racism is alive and well, Thanks Trump and his supporters!

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'May God ruin Trump', Tlaib's grandmother says

BEIT UR AL-FAUQA, West Bank (Reuters) - Sitting under an olive tree in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Muftia Tlaib scoffs at the attention she has recently received from the president of the United States.

“May God ruin him,” she says.

Tlaib is the grandmother of U.S. congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, at the center of an affair that has drawn Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu together against U.S. Democrats.

On Thursday, bowing to pressure from Trump, Israel barred a visit by Rashida Tlaib and fellow Democrat Ilhan Omar that it had initially said it would allow.

The next day, Israel said it would let Tlaib visit her family in the West Bank on humanitarian grounds - but Tlaib rejected the offer, saying that Israel had imposed restrictions meant to humiliate her..

On Friday night, Trump tweeted:

“Rep. Tlaib wrote a letter to Israeli officials desperately wanting to visit her grandmother. Permission was quickly granted, whereupon Tlaib obnoxiously turned the approval down, a complete setup. The only real winner here is Tlaib’s grandmother. She doesn’t have to see her now!”

Ninety-year-old Muftia Tlaib, sitting in her garden in the village of Beit Ur Al-Fauqa, was not impressed. “Trump tells me I should be happy Rashida is not coming,” she said. “May God ruin him.”

Her son, Rashida’s uncle Bassam Tlaib, said the women had not seen each other since 2006:

“She was going to slaughter a sheep when Rashida arrived and prepare her favorite food, stuffed vine leave.

“SECOND MOTHER”
“Rashida sees her granny as a second mother, she has always supported her. Rashida says she owes her success to her grandmother.”

Tlaib did not outline what the conditions imposed on her visit were. Israeli media reported that she had agreed not to promote boycotts against Israel as part of her request to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Tlaib, like Omar, has voiced support for the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which opposes the occupation and Israel’s policies toward Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. BDS backers can be denied entry to Israel by law.

The pair are the first two Muslim women to be elected to Congress, and Detroit-born Tlaib is the first Palestinian-American congresswoman. Both are members of the Democratic party’s progressive wing and sharp critics of Trump and Israel.

The Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel has annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally; maintains a blockade of Gaza, run by the Islamist Hamas movement; and controls most of the West Bank, where Palestinians have limited self-rule.

    The prospects of resolving the conflict under the “two-state solution” that had guided peacemaking efforts for years have dimmed significantly since Trump took office, while Israeli settlements on land Palestinians seek for a state have expanded.

 The Trump administration, which is particularly close to the Netanyahu government, has touted its own peace plan but details remain vague. It fueled Palestinian anger by recognizing disputed Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017.

Trump has for weeks been attacking Tlaib and Omar, along with lawmakers Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts - all women of color known as the “Squad” - accusing them of hostility to Israel in a barrage condemned by critics as racist.

“Trump has told Rashida and Ilhan to go back to their home countries. What a contradiction, yesterday he asked them to leave and today he asks that they aren’t let in,” said Bassam Tlaib.

Still, the grandmother is hopeful: “My heart tells me that she will come.”

Trump is giant gaping anal fissure.

#Resist

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Texas Rangers say no criminal investigation warranted for Donald Neely arrest

A Texas Rangers investigation into the arrest of a handcuffed black man led by mounted officers with a rope down a Galveston street concluded that the officers’ actions did not warrant a criminal investigation.

Galveston city officials had requested a third-party investigation into the Aug. 3 arrest of Donald Neely, 43, on a misdemeanor criminal trespassing charge. The arresting mounted Galveston police officers, Patrick Brosch and Amanda Smith, clipped a rope line to Neely’s handcuffs and led him several blocks.

The Texas Rangers were tasked with conducting a criminal inquiry of the arrest, while the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office will perform a full administrative review of the Galveston Police Department’s policies and practices.

A spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement that the Rangers had completed its investigation into the arrest and conferred with the Galveston County District Attorney’s office. The district attorney determined that “there was nothing that warranted a criminal investigation.”

Photos of the arrest drew national attention and prompted accusations of racism and comparisons to slavery. Galveston Police Chief Vernon Hale apologized after the photo surfaced, saying the officers used poor judgment.

Melissa Morris, Neely’s attorney, said she was not surprised at the district attorney’s conclusion, though still believes the officers behaved unethically.

“I can understand them deciding there’s no criminal action with these officers,” Morris said. “I still think it’s poor judgment even if it’s within the confines of policy.”

On Monday, Morris and Ben Crump, Neely’s civil attorney, demanded the Galveston Police Department release body camera footage of the arrest within 30 days, threatening legal action if the request is not honored. Crump has already begun organizing a civil rights march that will start at the Eugenia and George Sealy Pavilion in Galveston at 4 p.m. on Sept. 15.

A spokeswoman for the city of Galveston said it would release the body camera footage at the conclusion of the investigations by the Texas Rangers and county sheriff.

Neely’s family says he has been diagnosed with bipolar disease and paranoid schizophrenia and was living on Galveston streets for several years. His mental health condition has led to discussions between Morris and the Galveston County district attorney’s office about possibly helping him avoid jail time and getting him the treatment he needs.

Neely has a record of misdemeanor and felony infractions dating to 1994, including 19 arrests for trespassing, according to Galveston County court records. Kevin Petroff, an assistant district attorney for Galveston County, said prosecutors are more interested in getting Neely the help he needs rather than adding more jail time to his record.

“We have discussed all possible mental health treatment options and ways in which that we might work towards that goal,” Petroff said.

Morris was hopeful that Neely might be the flagship case for a possible mental health diversion court that Galveston County is in the early stages of developing. County commissioners in June voted to authorize Wayne Mallia, a former state district judge, to gather information from similar diversion courts across the country and report back on his findings.

“Mr. Neely has dozens of criminal trespassing convictions just because he’s homeless and in poverty and mentally ill,” Morris said. “The fact that they’re trying to divert that and give him some help instead of convicting him is definitely a step in the right direction.”

#Resist

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Feds Arrest Neo-Nazi Trump Fan for Threatening to "Exterminate" Miami Hispanics

Washington state resident Eric Lin was not shy about his love for Adolf Hitler. According to a criminal complaint filed Friday, Lin enjoyed referencing the Third Reich in writing: He apparently sent a litany of Hitler-referencing death threats to a Hispanic woman in Miami and got himself arrested last week after he planned to wire a man $10,000 to beat her up, hatched a plot to kidnap her and stuff her in a plastic bin, and repeatedly vowed to kill every Hispanic person in the Magic City.

"The time will come when Miami will burn to the ground — and every Latin Man will be lined up against a Wall and Shot and every Latin Woman Raped or Cut to Pieces," Lin allegedly wrote August 8.

Lin, age 35, is originally from Clarksburg, Maryland, but was arrested Friday in Seattle and charged with making threatening communications online. Lin appeared in Seattle federal court for this first time this morning. He has not yet entered a plea.

According to an affidavit from a Miami FBI agent filed in federal court, Lin was not shy about putting his violent threats in writing. Between May and August of this year, Lin allegedly fired off a litany of hateful, pro-Trump, pro-Hitler, and violent Facebook messages directed toward Hispanics living in Miami. Those messages wound up in the hands of the FBI.

Per the FBI agent's affidavit, an alleged victim — an immigrant from Spain identified only as "C.I." — contacted the Miami Police Department to alert law enforcement that Lin had been sending her threatening messages from two Facebook accounts since May 30. Miami PD alerted the FBI July 24. Then the feds interviewed C.I., who provided 150 printed pages of insanely racist, violent messages Lin had allegedly sent. She said Lin had at one point frequented the Miami restaurant where she worked.

Among the many terrifying messages Lin sent was an image of Hitler superimposed over a photo of Lin's face, C.I. said.

"Composite of my face with the Führer and Reichskanzler Deutschland," he allegedly wrote May 30. The informant also told the FBI that Lin had whipped out the same photo in the restaurant where C.I. worked.

From there, the messages grew far more hateful and violent. Lin repeatedly said he wanted to "kill" and "exterminate" Hispanics, whom he repeatedly referred to as "Spics." In one case, he called Hispanic people "rabid dogs." In another, he said he would let C.I. "live so you can slowly watch me destroy your entire race."

"In 3 short years your entire Race your entire culture will Perish only then after I kill your Spic family I will permit you to die by hanging on Metal Wire [sic]," Lin allegedly wrote June 7. The next day, he told C.I. he planned to "enslave, rape, and use you like a baby-making machine. Once I'm finished with you I might just get rid of you like a piece of trash." The same day, he allegedly also said he would kill C.I. with a rifle while carrying a neo-Nazi dagger used by the SS.

The messages only continued. He allegedly said he wanted to "exterminate" the "worthless Latin race." July 9, he sent more Nazi-referencing threats. "By the authority of ADOLF HITLER AND GOD I HEREBY DECLARE SPANISH AND ALL SPANISH-SPEAKING PEOPLE ILLEGAL," Lin allegedly wrote. "[T]hat's ALL I NEED AUTHORITY FROM ADOLF HITLER TO ACT. I FOLLOW ONLY ADOLF HITLER AND THEN GOD. THEY ARE ONE AND THE SAME." He again threatened to kill every Hispanic person in Miami and at one point told C.I. he would "drink your blood until you die."

The messages then trod pro-Trump territory. July 19, Lin allegedly wrote:

I thank god every day Donald John Trump is President and that he will launch a Racial War and Crusade to keep the Niggers, Spics, and Muslims and any dangerous non-White or Ethnically or Culturally foreign group "In Line." By "in Line" it is meant that they will either be sent to "Concentration Camps" or dealt with Ruthlessly and Vigorously by the United States Military.

The FBI obtained a warrant to search Lin's private accounts. The feds found even more terrifying details: Lin had apparently been hatching plans to pay someone to hurt or kidnap C.I. while he'd also been messaging her.

"Hey Chris, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?" Lin allegedly wrote July 10. "I was wondering if you can go to Miami and beat up this Spic who insulted me. I can pay you $10,000."

"Sure, pay me first Paypal or Zelle," the alleged accomplice responded.

Days later, Lin seemingly changed his tune. Instead of simply beating up C.I., "Chris" should kidnap her, stuff her in a plastic bin, and transport her all the way to Seattle. Lin wrote:

The Plan is you and Mara convince her that you are Rich White Americans people she looks up to. And then get her into a rented house or mansion and chain her up and put her in a Rubber maid Plastic Bin. Then you got to drive her to Seattle, Washington, upon which I will pay you $25,000 cash. You don't need to kill her her hurt her at most you will be charged with Kidnapping. Nothing will happen to you if you get the Right lawyers She's a Spic who Hates White Americans... I doubt the FBI would care much about her.

The same day, he added, "I don't care if I have to Pay you a Million Dollars or More I want this Done!"

Thankfully, Lin never got the chance.

#Resist

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The 1619 Project and the far-right fear of history

In the summer of 1619, two warships manned by English privateers raided a Portuguese vessel the pirates hoped was brimming with gold. Instead, they found and divided up an altogether different cargo: some 350 African slaves, taken in bondage possibly from what is now Angola. What happened to all those poor souls may never be known — they were among the early wave of the more than 12 million Africans sent across the Atlantic to live and die in slavery in the New World.

But we do know that, in August of that year, the English privateers appeared not far from the colony of Jamestown, in modern-day Virginia, and bartered 20 to 30 of these Africans for food from the English settlers there. That transaction 400 years ago marked the first landfall of black people on the shores of what would become the United States.

In recent weeks, it has been the subject of a spate of coverage in mainstream media, including an ambitious series of reported essays published in a special issue of the New York Times magazine this past weekend. The “1619 Project” takes this arrival as a seminal event with which to reframe the history of the United States. It charts how — from prison systems to land laws, the origins of capitalism to the evolution of the American diet — there’s little that defines the United States that doesn’t somehow have the legacy of slavery at its foundation.

For the project’s lead reporter, Nikole Hannah-Jones, it underscores the black condition in America. “We are the constant reminder of … the lie at our origins that, while Thomas Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence, his enslaved brother-in-law was there to serve him and make sure that he’s comfortable,” she said in an interview with PBS. “If you believe that 1776 matters,” she added, “if you believe that our Constitution still matters, then you also have to understand that the legacy of slavery still matters and you can’t pick and choose what parts of history we think are important and which ones aren’t.”

The project was deeply researched and fact-checked with the assistance of a panel of historians. Elements of it were conducted in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, a venerable pillar of American learning. It’s a serious work of popular history that starts America’s clock four centuries ago. (The Washington Post published its own reckoning with 1619.)

What followed was 250 years of brutal slavery the United States, then a century of de facto apartheid rule. Hannah-Jones, 43, stresses that she is part of only the first generation of black Americans born in a country where it was not legal to discriminate against them.

But this reframing proved all too much for an assorted cast of American conservatives. Newt Gingrich, a former Republican speaker of the House, blasted the Times for printing “propaganda.” President Trump echoed the talking points of right-wing media, decrying the “zero credibility” paper’s “Racism Witch Hunt.” And conservative pundit Erick Erickson lamented the “racial lenses” that the project deployed to look at a history of black subjugation.

For right-wing nationalists, there’s little room for the recognition of fundamental evil, of an original sin, in the founding myth of the nation. A commentator for the far-right Federalist website complained that the project’s goal was to “delegitimize America and further divide and demoralize its citizenry."

The project’s proponents swatted away such claims, arguing that there’s nothing divisive about a more thorough and just accounting of the past — and that these criticisms only justified the urgent need for it now. Trump and his ilk may scoff at efforts to think more deeply about America’s racial sins, but he has defended those who marched in favor of monuments to white supremacy.

“Coinciding with the Trump presidency and resurgent white nationalism, the 400th anniversary of slavery in what would become the United States has inspired renewed scrutiny of the curse of color caste on our collective consciousness,” wrote academic Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey in The Washington Post last month. “The widening wealth and health gaps between African Americans and whites, hyper-criminalization and mass incarceration of African Americans, the meaning and future of affirmative action, and efforts to save Confederate flags and memorials are but a few contentious issues that will trigger further conflict.”

These battles over historical memory are hardly unique to the United States. In countries like Turkey and India, nationalist ruling parties have launched a steady assault on the legacies of their republics’ secularist founders. Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to rehabilitate Joseph Stalin, an epochal dictator with the blood of millions on his hands.

In Europe, far-right politicians routinely gripe about shouldering the stigma of their nations’ fascist pasts. A leader of Germany’s ultranationalist AfD party in 2017 bemoaned how the country’s focus on atoning for the horrors of the Holocaust rendered Germans “a totally defeated people.” That same year, France’s Marine Le Pen denied that the French should feel guilty in the present for the deportations of French Jews to their deaths in Nazi concentration camps.

“If someone was responsible, it was those who were in power at the time, which is not France,” Le Pen said. “France has been abused in the minds of people for years. We taught our children that they had every reason to criticize, to see only the darkest historic aspects. I want them to be proud of being French again.”

Those who engage with history more seriously than politicians understand that recognition of a national darkness need not be an impediment to national pride. “This America is a community of belonging and commitment, held together by the strength of our ideas and by the force of our disagreements,” wrote Harvard historian Jill Lepore in her latest book, “This America: The Case for the Nation.” “A nation founded on universal ideas will never stop fighting over the meaning of its past and the direction of the future…. The nation, as ever, is the fight.”

#Resist

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Trump decides that Democratic-voting Jewish Americans are either ignorant or ‘disloyal’

It’s not clear how many Jewish people there are in the United States in part because it’s not clear how one should properly define “Jewish.” The Post’s Emily Guskin explored the complexity of the issue last year, estimating that the number of Jewish people in America likely ranged from 5.7 million to 7.2 million — or, under a more expansive definition, up to 12 million.

And on Tuesday, President Trump told reporters that any members of that group who vote for Democrats, which is most of them, either “lack knowledge” or are “disloyal.”

The context for Trump’s comment was a reporter’s question about Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who were barred from entering Israel earlier this month following comments critical of the nation — and following advocacy for the ban from Trump. Tlaib was eventually granted entry to see her elderly grandmother, but she declined to go because of restrictions Israel placed on a visit.

Trump has repeatedly and expansively described both Omar and Tlaib as anti-Semitic, leveraging controversial comments Omar made about American politicians who support Israel (for which she apologized) and, more broadly, the pair’s criticisms of the country. Trump’s habit, though, is not to present a case for why an opponent is bad but, instead, to paint with a massively broad brush.

“You should see the horrible things that Tlaib has said about Israel,” Trump said, without identifying any such things. “You should see the things that the four of them have said about Israel over the last couple of years,” he continued, referring also to Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.). It would indeed be interesting to see what the four had said, since if they’ve all made repeated anti-Semitic comments, they have not risen to public attention. (Trump’s claimed to have a list of horrible things the four have done in the past but has never presented anything substantive.)

Specifically, Trump was asked about reducing aid to Israel as a result of Omar and Tlaib being barred from entry. Trump feigned shock.

“I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation. Where has the Democratic Party gone?” Trump said. “Where have they gone where they’re defending these two people over the state of Israel? And I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”

There’s a remarkable irony here. Omar was criticized for a tweet which was interpreted as suggesting that American politicians had conflicting loyalties to the U.S. and Israel. “I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress,” she wrote in a tweet following criticism for a similar comment she’d made in a speech. This was the brunt of the anti-Semitism charge against her earlier this year.

Trump’s comments are an explicit invocation of the primacy of Israel over other domestic politics. How could any Jewish American be so “disloyal” as to vote Democratic, he says, prompting the obvious question: Disloyal to whom?

Where has the Democratic Party gone, he asks, that it defends elected members of its party over Israel? The answer, of course, is that the party exists to defend its members, even in cases that are more obviously problematic than the scenario that Trump’s referring to with his expansive, overheated rhetoric. Trump expects the Democratic Party to put Israel’s concerns over its own in criticizing Omar’s positions? There’s the aforementioned irony, in case you hadn’t spotted it.

Disparaging Jewish American Democrats as lacking knowledge — as ignorant — means disparaging millions of people. In 2016, exit polling suggested that Jewish voters preferred Hillary Clinton over Trump by a nearly 50-point margin. Last year, the margin was closer to 60 points. But those are small sample sizes and therefore less precise than they might seem.

Instead, we can look at polling conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2015. At that point, Pew found that nearly two-thirds of Jewish Americans identified as Democrats or as independents who generally vote Democratic. If we assume, say, 5 million adult citizens in that population, more than 3 million American Jews fall into Trump’s lacking knowledge/disloyal group.



Over time, that affiliation has been consistent, as Pew data show — even in the Trump era.



That group of Jewish Americans who vote Democratic may include his own daughter. Ivanka Trump converted to Judaism when marrying her husband Jared Kushner. She’s a registered Republican but hasn’t always been; she was ineligible to vote in the 2016 Republican primary because she was a political independent. A political independent, we’ll note, who donated to numerous Democrats. A political independent whose father has referred to as a Democrat in the White House, however jokingly.

The Republican Jewish Coalition quickly jumped in to support Trump’s comment.

“President Trump is right,” it wrote in a tweet, “it shows a great deal of disloyalty to oneself to defend a party that protects/emboldens people that hate you for your religion."

The Coalition’s tweet gets at Trump’s goal: Conflating Omar’s comments with Tlaib’s and Ocasio-Cortez’s criticism of Israel’s policies with anti-Semitism and those representatives with the Democratic Party broadly. We go quickly from the views of two freshman members of Congress to a sweeping indictment of the party that is presented as necessarily disqualifying for anyone Jewish.

When Omar suggested earlier this year that political support of Israel was predicated on campaign contributions, she apologized. In 2015, Trump, then a candidate, spoke to the RJC and made a similar comment.

“You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money,” he said then. “You want to control your politicians, that’s fine.”

The RJC tweeted after Trump’s speech, too.

#Resist
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[Athos_131]

Here is the White House’s evidence supporting Trump’s claims of Democratic anti-Semitism

To hear President Trump tell it, the group of four Democratic representatives who have been an ongoing focus of his criticism for the past month are anti-Semites.

Asked about the four last month — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Ilhan Omar (Minn.) — Trump insisted that they collectively harbored anti-Jewish sentiments.

“I think they’ve said horrible things, and they’re anti-Semitic,” Trump said. “And if you look at the kind of statements they’ve made about Israel, it’s a disgrace.”

Calling their purported rhetoric “a very dangerous thing,” Trump later reiterated his claim.

“I think these four congressmen — and I could say some worse than others — but if you look at the statements they’ve made … when they hit Israel the way they’ve hit Israel so hard, so horrible,” he said, “I think, to me, that’s a disgrace.”

On Tuesday, he referred to the four as “AOC” — Ocasio-Cortez — “plus three."

“You should see the things that the four of them have said about Israel over the last couple of years,” he reiterated. He went on to criticize Jewish Americans who voted for Democrats as displaying either “a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”

Given how long Trump has made these claims about the group’s anti-Semitism, we reached out to the White House to do exactly what Trump wanted: to see the things that the four of them have said about Israel. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham sent the following, reordered for clarity but without other edits.

The White House’s list
Rep. Rashida Tlaib attacked those in Congress that stood up against the anti-Israel BDS movement, claiming “they forgot what country they represent.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar questioned the patriotism of Americans who support pro-Israel policies, asking why “it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”
Omar revived this horrible anti-Semitic thinking when confronted over her comments.
Omar has claimed that support for Israel is “all about the Benjamins.”
Omar once tweeted that “Israel has hypnotized the world” and prayed that people would see the “evil doings of Israel.”
Omar and Tlaib have both declared support for the BDS movement that demonizes Israel.
Analysis
You’ll notice first that Omar is the primary focus of the list. Tlaib is mentioned twice; Ocasio-Cortez and Pressley not at all.

Let’s start with Tlaib. This is her tweet:

https://twitter.com/RashidaTlaib/status/1082095303325609984

Tlaib says that her point was that American elected officials represent the United States, where boycotts and protests are constitutionally protected. In its response cited by the White House, the Anti-Defamation League even gave her the benefit of the doubt.

The tweet “has been interpreted by some as suggesting that Jews or Members of Congress, such as the sponsors of the bill, are more loyal to Israel than to their own country,” it reads. “Whether or not this was her intent, this type of language is deeply problematic.”

Tlaib is also criticized for supporting BDS, the “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” movement aimed at putting economic pressure on Israel to change that country’s policies for dealing with Palestinians. The movement has been criticized as threatening the state of Israel and as being inherently anti-Semitic. It’s worth noting, though, that there’s a line between criticism of Israel and hostility toward Jews that is often blurred in this discussion.

The criticisms of Omar — who, like Tlaib, is Muslim — include BDS but go further, focusing on three particular incidents.

The first is Omar’s comment at an event this year which is quoted, her comment about there being “political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country"; namely, Israel. Coincidentally, the context for the comment was Omar’s concern that the arguments being made by herself and Tlaib (who was sitting next to her) were seen as anti-Semitic in part because of their religion.

Omar went on to tie pro-Israel lobbying to other prominent lobbying efforts.

“I want to ask why is it okay for me to talk about the influence of the NRA, of fossil fuel industries or Big Pharma, and not talk about a powerful lobbying group that is influencing policies?” she said.

The “push for allegiance” comment led to an exchange with Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.) over the same “dual loyalty” issue for which Tlaib was criticized. The isolated “have allegiance/pledge support” line comes from that exchange.

In her exchange with Lowey, Omar said she was focusing on criticism of the country, not the people.

“Being opposed to Netanyahu and the occupation,” she wrote, “is not the same as being anti-Semitic.”

The other examples used against Omar are a tweet suggesting that legislators support Israel because of “Benjamins” — money. She apologized for using the line, while continuing to argue that she was concerned about the influence of lobbying money. The White House also points to that 2012 tweet by Omar in which she stated that Israel had “hypnotized the world.” Omar apologized for that this year, as well.

What’s not included in the White House’s list, we’ll note, are some of the charges that Trump made during a campaign rally in North Carolina last month. At that point, Trump claimed that Omar had offered sympathies to al-Qaeda and had downplayed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. These are both claims that went viral in conservative media that stem from interpretations — or misinterpretations — of comments Omar made during an interview and in a speech. The White House didn’t include them.

Instead, we learn that Trump’s designation of the four Democrats as anti-Semites officially stems from:

Two of them supporting a heavily criticized political effort focused on Israel’s policies.
A nebulous tweet by one of the two.
Two problematic tweets from the other for which she has apologized.
Comments about lawmakers having an allegiance to Israel.
On Wednesday, Trump clarified his “disloyalty” assertion about Jews who vote Democratic by saying that they were “being disloyal to Jewish people and you’re being very disloyal to Israel.” That, of course, is an explicit assertion that American Jews have some sort of dual loyalty.

The ADL’s response to Tlaib, shared by the White House, notes that this is a charge that “has been leveled as a smear against many kinds of Americans — including against Americans of Japanese descent during World War II.” The group wrote that it would reach out to Tlaib to “discuss concerns about the history and context of the allegations of dual loyalty that have been leveled at Jewish Americans at various times in our history.”

As of writing, it has not offered a statement about Trump’s comments.

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Trump, frustrated by unpopularity with Jews, thrusts Israel into his culture war

Trump decided long ago that it would be smart politics for him to yoke his administration to Israel and to try to brand the Democratic Party as anti-Semitic.

He set about executing a pro-Israel checklist: moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing the Golan Heights as part of sovereign Israel, and taking a hard line against Iran. And he promoted himself as the greatest president — a deity even — for Jewish people.

Yet Trump has become flummoxed that Jewish Americans are not in turn lining up to support his reelection, according to people familiar with his thinking, and he has lashed out in predictable fashion.

“If you vote for a Democrat, you’re very, very disloyal to Israel and to the Jewish people,” Trump said Wednesday on the South Lawn of the White House. He was amplifying a statement he made in the Oval Office a day earlier: “I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”

Trump’s use of the word “disloyalty” drew immediate criticism from Jewish groups, whose leaders said it echoed anti-Semitic tropes about where American Jews’ loyalty lies. The president insisted his comments were not anti-Semitic.

Regardless, this turn in the president’s rhetoric about Jews magnifies his transactional approach to politics and his miscalculation that his hawkish interpretation of support for Israel should automatically translate into electoral support from Jewish Americans.

It also reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the motivations of many Jews, who are not a monolithic voting bloc but rather prioritize a wide range of issues — not only Israel, but also education, the economy and the environment, as well as civility and morality.

“He is reflecting a concept of Jewish Americans as single-issue voters around Israel, which we’re not; that we’re uniformly hawkish on these issues, which we’re not,” said Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of J Street, a liberal pro-Israel advocacy group. “In reality, what matters most to us are the exact values that the president is spending his term trashing. We care about equality and justice, and we embrace the notion that this is a nation of immigrants and opportunity for all.”

Looking to his 2020 reelection bid, Trump is thrusting Israel into the culture wars he has waged as president. He is trying to make support for Israel a litmus test — along with immigration and guns — and calling Democrats anti-Semitic to fire up his base.

Daniel Shapiro, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel under President Barack Obama, said Trump’s expectation that Jewish people vote for him because of his record on Israel is “breathtakingly cynical.”

“In his typical buffoonish way, he thinks that by [pushing] out these instructions, essentially, to American Jews to get in line and become his supporters he’s going to be successful,” Shapiro said. “It’s all shaped by his narcissism. It’s all shaped by his transactional nature. It’s all shaped by his insatiable need for praise and confirmation of his greatness and appreciation for the gifts he’s bestowed on whoever it is he’s courting. And it’s not going to fly with this community.”

Trump’s transactional expectations for Jewish voting patterns reflect how he views other voting blocs. He routinely defends himself against charges that he is racist by citing the relatively low unemployment rate for African Americans on his watch, as well as the criminal justice legislation he signed last year, as if those are the only issues of concern to black voters.

Trump has claimed a “Jexodus” movement of Jews from historically backing Democrats to supporting Republicans. But polling shows this may be more fantasy than reality.

In the 2016 election, 71 percent of Jewish voters cast ballots for Hillary Clinton and 23 percent for Trump, according to exit polling. Gallup tracking poll data in 2018 showed that just 26 percent of Jewish Americans approved of Trump’s performance as president while 71 percent disapproved, making Jews the least likely of any of the religious groups studied to support Trump.

Trump has been told over and over again that he is “the most pro-Israel president ever,” according to a former senior administration official, delivering on a wish list that includes recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel — but the official said Trump is angry that he has not received more plaudits from Jewish Americans. Trump contrasts his unpopularity with Jews to the overwhelming support he enjoys from evangelical Christians.

This official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the president’s mind-set, argued that Trump’s rhetoric of late is “a manifestation of frustration of not getting the recognition and the praise and the support that he feels like he deserves as a result of what he’s done.”

Trump placed an early bet on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and they forged a close alliance, but Netanyahu faces a difficult reelection bid next month, and a loss would be devastating to Trump. Furthermore, Trump’s push for a Middle East peace deal has stalled, and the Palestinians have rejected the U.S. proposal.

Still, Trump tweeted a quote early Wednesday from Wayne Allyn Root, a noted conspiracy theorist and conservative radio host in Nevada, who praised Trump on Newsmax and lamented that a majority of Jews vote for Democrats.

“President Trump is the greatest President for Jews and for Israel in the history of the world, not just America . . . The Jewish people in Israel love him like he’s the King of Israel. They love him like he is the second coming of God,” Trump quoted Root as saying.

Jews do not believe in a second coming.

Trump has used statements from Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) criticizing Israel and its treatment of Palestinians to label them “anti-Semites.” And he has called them “the face of the Democratic Party.”

The Trump campaign’s chief operating officer, Michael Glassner, issued a strongly worded statement Wednesday accusing Democrats of supporting those who want “to wipe Israel from the map.”

“As a Jew myself, I strongly believe that President Trump is right to highlight that there is only one party — the Democrats — excusing and permitting such anti-Jewish venom to be spewed so freely,” Glassner said. “In stark contrast, there is no bigger ally to the Jewish community at home and around the world than President Trump.”

At Trump’s urging, the Israeli government last week blocked the two congresswomen from visiting the country, citing their support for a boycott movement against Israel. The Israelis then relented in response to a request from Tlaib to visit her grandmother, who lives in the occupied West Bank, but the congresswoman ultimately decided not to make the trip because she would have been required by Israel to pledge not to promote boycotts.

Democratic leaders have publicly supported the congresswomen, even as they have sought to distance the party from some of their sentiments. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said at this spring’s American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference that his party supported Israel and that it was “absolutely vital” to continue doing so.

“Those who seek to use Israel as a means of scoring political points do a disservice to both Israel and the United States,” Schumer said, in a veiled reference to Trump. “Our politics may be more polarized than ever, but it is incumbent upon all of us who care about the U.S.-Israel relationship to keep it bipartisan.”

After Trump’s “disloyalty” comments this week, Schumer said in a statement Wednesday: “When President Trump uses a trope that has been used against the Jewish people for centuries with dire consequences, he is encouraging — wittingly or unwittingly — anti-Semites throughout the country and the world.”

On the campaign trail, Democratic candidates also denounced Trump’s comments.

“Come on, man. That’s like a dog whistle. ‘Loyalty.’ Come on,” former vice president Joe Biden told a crowd in Newton, Iowa.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey shared his understanding of Jewish values. “There’s an idea in Judaism about kindness and decency and mercy,” he told reporters in Altoona, Iowa. He added, “One of the greatest Jewish ideals is to welcome the stranger. One of the great Jewish writings comes from Micah. That is, you know, ‘Do justice. And love mercy.’ These ideals are not being evidenced by the president of the United States.”

#Resist

[Athos_131]

Candidate: Michigan City Should Be as White 'as Possible'

A city council candidate in Michigan shocked a public forum when she said she wants to keep her community white "as much as possible."

Jean Cramer made the comment Thursday in response to a question about diversity in Marysville, a city in St. Clair County, 55 miles (88 kilometers) northeast of Detroit. The Times Herald in Port Huron said she's one of five candidates running for three council seats in November.

More than 90% of Marysville's 9,700-person population is white.

Cramer responded when the moderator asked candidates if Marysville should do more to attract foreign-born residents, who are boosting populations in some Great Lakes states.

"Keep Marysville a white community as much as possible," she replied. "White. Seriously. In other words, no foreign-born, no foreign people."

The newspaper later asked Cramer if she wanted to clarify her remarks.

"Husband and wife need to be the same race. Same thing with kids," she said. "That's how it's been from the beginning of, how can I say, when God created the heaven and the earth. He created Adam and Eve at the same time. But as far as me being against blacks, no I'm not."

Other candidates at the forum were deeply troubled. Mike Deising said: "Just checking the calendar here and making sure it's still 2019."

Council member Paul Wessel said anyone who makes it to Marysville should be allowed to live there. The council meeting room is named for the late Joseph Johns, who was Syrian, owned a local business and was an elected official for decades. He was the father of Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Hayman.

"I don't even know that I can talk yet, I'm so upset and shocked. ... So basically, what you've said is that my father and his family had no business to be in this community," Hayman told Cramer.

Mayor Dan Damman said Cramer's comments were "vile" and "jaw-dropping."

#Resist

[MintJulie]

Candidate: Michigan City Should Be as White 'as Possible'

Yup.  Local media has been blowing up with this.   She's toast.

[Athos_131]

A Louisiana Parish Jailed a U.S. Citizen for Being Latinx. We’re Suing.

Ramon Torres had been a U.S. citizen for nearly ten years when he was detained for four days on an immigration hold – despite having a U.S. passport, a Louisiana driver’s license, and a Social Security card, and despite that fact that a court ordered his release.

Torres’ ordeal began in August 2018, when he was pulled over and arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Torres, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2009, was carrying multiple forms of identification, including his driver’s license and other security credentials. Torres was booked at the Ascension Parish Jail, and the next day the Parish Court ordered his release.

But Torres wasn’t released. Instead, the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office placed an “immigration hold” on Torres on the suspicion that he was unlawfully present in the United States.

The basis for this suspicion? He had a Latinx name and brown skin.  Staff at the sheriff’s office explained that they had a policy of detaining all Latinx people for immigration review.

When his friends and family tried to intervene and provide additional documentation proving that Torres is a U.S. citizen, officials in the sheriff’s office still didn’t budge.

Torres spent four days in jail before a lawyer’s involvement finally secured his release.

This was a flagrant violation of Torres’ constitutional rights, and this week the ACLU of Louisiana sued on his behalf.

Racial profiling is illegal, unconstitutional, and deeply harmful to families and communities – diverting scarce resources away from pressing public safety priorities.

What happened to Torres is inexcusable and antithetical to our most cherished American values.

Unfortunately, this is what happens when local law enforcement authorities get in the business of federal immigration enforcement. From Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s reign of terror in Arizona to the Trump administration’s mass deportation and detention agenda, immigrant communities are being unfairly targeted, harassed, and terrorized by the very law enforcement agencies that should be protecting them.

It’s also a reminder of the thinly-veiled racism that underlies these policies. Ramon Torres is a U.S. citizen. He owns a home. He has a driver’s license and other forms of proof of his identity. But he was held in jail because of his Latinx name and the color of his skin.

Our lawsuit asks the court to declare these actions unconstitutional and to award damages to Torres for what he endured. But more broadly, we must also continue the fight against all forms of anti-immigrant bias and discrimination. The safety and wellbeing of our communities depend on it.

#Resist

[Jed_]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1075651

So an American citizen of Peruvian origin has acid thrown in his face and was told to go back to where he came from, all over a parking space.

I can’t get this incident out of my head and keep seeing my beautiful Peruvian wife getting acid thrown in her face for being brown and having an accent.

This is just one of several stories I read yesterday.

A family of color was asked to move in Buffalo Wild Wings, because they sat their extended family near a regular customer who is a known racist.  Why wasn’t the racist given the option to move, or better yet, fuck off and leave?

A Colorado man had his plan to bomb a Synagogue foiled by an FBI sting.

A Puerto Rican man was denied buying cold medicine in CVS because they wouldn’t accept his Puerto Rican driver’s license and demanded his VISA, something that as a U.S. citizen he wouldn’t have or need.

None of the news agencies I read these stories from blamed Trump, but I sure do.  He has emboldened and legitimized such incidents with his hateful language and actions.

[psiberzerker]

That's horrible, and cruel, but also one of my favorite vocabulary words.  Vitriolage.

[joan1984]

A simple call to ICE and a look into their available database could have been done to answer the question about status. No need to hold 'everyone' or 'anyone' unless there is a existing 'Detainer' on file for that person.

American Citizen held for no reason, is a good reason to Sue. Hope they win lots, and hope the law enforcement folks revise their process, since it is illegal.

A Louisiana Parish Jailed a U.S. Citizen for Being Latinx. We’re Suing.

Ramon Torres had been a U.S. citizen for nearly ten years when he was detained for four days on an immigration hold – despite having a U.S. passport, a Louisiana driver’s license, and a Social Security card, and despite that fact that a court ordered his release.

Torres’ ordeal began in August 2018, when he was pulled over and arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Torres, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2009, was carrying multiple forms of identification, including his driver’s license and other security credentials. Torres was booked at the Ascension Parish Jail, and the next day the Parish Court ordered his release.

But Torres wasn’t released. Instead, the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office placed an “immigration hold” on Torres on the suspicion that he was unlawfully present in the United States.

The basis for this suspicion? He had a Latinx name and brown skin.  Staff at the sheriff’s office explained that they had a policy of detaining all Latinx people for immigration review.

When his friends and family tried to intervene and provide additional documentation proving that Torres is a U.S. citizen, officials in the sheriff’s office still didn’t budge.

Torres spent four days in jail before a lawyer’s involvement finally secured his release.

This was a flagrant violation of Torres’ constitutional rights, and this week the ACLU of Louisiana sued on his behalf.

Racial profiling is illegal, unconstitutional, and deeply harmful to families and communities – diverting scarce resources away from pressing public safety priorities.

What happened to Torres is inexcusable and antithetical to our most cherished American values.

Unfortunately, this is what happens when local law enforcement authorities get in the business of federal immigration enforcement. From Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s reign of terror in Arizona to the Trump administration’s mass deportation and detention agenda, immigrant communities are being unfairly targeted, harassed, and terrorized by the very law enforcement agencies that should be protecting them.

It’s also a reminder of the thinly-veiled racism that underlies these policies. Ramon Torres is a U.S. citizen. He owns a home. He has a driver’s license and other forms of proof of his identity. But he was held in jail because of his Latinx name and the color of his skin.

Our lawsuit asks the court to declare these actions unconstitutional and to award damages to Torres for what he endured. But more broadly, we must also continue the fight against all forms of anti-immigrant bias and discrimination. The safety and wellbeing of our communities depend on it.

#Resist

[psiberzerker]

A simple call to ICE and a look into their available database could have been done to answer the question about status.

Literally Gestappo tactics.  Do you know any Jews, passing as patriotic Germans?  Report them, so we can round them up, and deport them!  

So, rather than throwing acid on them with intent to maim, just call the Government, and have the round them all up.  For 'merka!

I'm not calling you a Nazi.  They're organized.  At best, you're just a sympathizer, and apologist.

[joan1984]

The issue at question was presumption of criminal behavior, IE, alien status of the person who was detained after the Court released that person, pending a hearing for the Motor Vehicle infraction for which the person was arrested.

The law enforcement people erred, or were prevented by some political local decision, and there was no 'need' or 'reason' to detain, absent a ICE Detainer on file, which could be found by a LOOK at the database and/or a phone call.

The lawsuit hopefully will prevail, and the civil suit if needed will get a payday.

A simple call to ICE and a look into their available database could have been done to answer the question about status.

Literally Gestappo tactics.  Do you know any Jews, passing as patriotic Germans?  Report them, so we can round them up, and deport them!  

So, rather than throwing acid on them with intent to maim, just call the Government, and have the round them all up.  For 'merka!

I'm not calling you a Nazi.  They're organized.  At best, you're just a sympathizer, and apologist.

[psiberzerker]

The issue at question was presumption of criminal behavior, IE, alien status of the person who was detained after the Court released that person, pending a hearing for the Motor Vehicle infraction for which the person was arrested.

The same is true of the President, and the House of Representatives.  The difference is one is a specific person, who stands accused of specific crimes, against America, and Democracy.

The other is presumed Guilty of vague crimes, without a trial, nor due process, based soley on the of the color of their skins, and their first language.  The presumption that America, and Americans are white, and speak English.  That anything else is unAmerican.

White Supremacy, hence the Gestappo Tactics.  A crime is only a crime if you're not the President, and therefore above the law.  If you're poor, then you deserve to be rounded up, your children taken away, and stripped of all rights, without any charges.

If they're "Criminals," charge them with a crime.  Just like you claim to support for the President.

[joan1984]

Exactly the same.

Charge him, or stop harassing via media.

It suits the purpose of the Democrat party to harass and the media is not calling them on it so they hope Voters will believe 'where there is smoke, there is fire', and just presume the Dems would not lie so boldly to their face about the coup that is under way, and has been under way for years.

You know it, all Democrats know this is BS, and still you cheer on such anti democratic behavior. It has worked in the past, when Republicans ran from it and that is the only playbook Democrats have, seems.

Donald Trump was elected not as a Politician, but as someone who would not buckle under, would take the issues TO those who voters do not wish to be bound with and demand the change needed to bring our Nation BACK from the nonsense, and back to America First in a real sense.

All the gaggle of contenders for the Dem Nomination for Presidential Candidate seem willing to spend however many Trillions they can, from any source they can, to appease the supposed DEMANDS of socialist, leftist media and activists. NOTHING is out of bounds, except "normal" behavior, a good economic status, to underlay stable Jobs, and the stable America which will benefit for us all.

Sooner or later you run out of "other peoples' money". Each Candidate is very careful to say that 'the rich' will pay for all you wish and could ever hope for.

Nonsense.

The issue at question was presumption of criminal behavior, IE, alien status of the person who was detained after the Court released that person, pending a hearing for the Motor Vehicle infraction for which the person was arrested.

The same is true of the President, and the House of Representatives.  The difference is one is a specific person, who stands accused of specific crimes, against America, and Democracy.

The other is presumed Guilty of vague crimes, without a trial, nor due process, based soley on the of the color of their skins, and their first language.  The presumption that America, and Americans are white, and speak English.  That anything else is unAmerican.

White Supremacy, hence the Gestappo Tactics.  A crime is only a crime if you're not the President, and therefore above the law.  If you're poor, then you deserve to be rounded up, your children taken away, and stripped of all rights, without any charges.

If they're "Criminals," charge them with a crime.  Just like you claim to support for the President.

[Lois]

A simple call to ICE and a look into their available database could have been done to answer the question about status. No need to hold 'everyone' or 'anyone' unless there is a existing 'Detainer' on file for that person.

Maybe you should tell your fellow Trumpoids, as they seem to be the problem.

[psiberzerker]

Charge him, or stop harassing via media.

Seriously?  He dominates the Media.  You can't turn on your TV, check your wall, or watch a Youtube video without seeing his smug face smiling back at you.  He spends more time on Twitter than he does reading his own official briefings, and he loves the attention.  All of the attention.  That's not harassment, telling everyone on multiple occasions, on national television, that you'd do your daughter, if she wasn't related to you, now that's Harassment.  

What crimes have these children committed by being born here?  What are they imprisoned for?  

[joan1984]

  What children are you speaking about. Nothing in this story about children...

One drunk driver who pissed off a cop, sounds like, and is suing police for not charging him, but rather holding him without a legal charge. An adult male American, harassed by holding him without charges. Hope he wins the lawsuit.

  When Trump harassment has been sorted, would that He could sue weasel lying Democrats and Media for attempting to steal our President for 3 years, and they continue baseless, irrelevant claims to delay and obstruct his office.

  We need to see some of these Democrat and RINOs frogmarched, along with Obama's cadre of lying, law breaking Intelligence, FBI, and Cabinet Officers like Lynch, Brennan, and many many more, soon to face justice for their crimes.

  What crimes? Treason, IMHO, and others. Swing by the neck? One can wish.