Progressives (Liberals)

On the other hand an honest new look needs to happen with Israel and Palestine and oppression of the Palestinian people.

Federal regulators moved on Wednesday to ease oversight of the country’s largest banks and other financial firms, continuing a push by the Trump administration to reverse rules that were put in place following the 2008 financial crisis.

Folks may recall that when the Bush admin went to Britain to get Blair on board in attacking Iraq, the Brits wanted the Palestinian matter addressed before any war because they had concluded that issue was the main driver behind Muslim anger towards the West.

But Blair got rolled by the Trump people who were not much interested in Palestinian suffering or justice but were very interested in oil and in increasing their military footprint in the middle east.

I'm shocked at how she’s being attacked. THIS VERY BEHAVIOR proves Omar’s point: Israel has too much pull in American government.

Shame on you. Jews do not secretly control the world.

If the Palestinians ever decide to make peace with Israel, the left will immediately make a huge comeback there.

Likud and its right-wing affiliates have pretty much precluded any meaningful peace accord with the Palestinians.

The subjugation of the Arab population has become an effective method of attracting political support.

If Israel ever decides to make peace with the Palestinians, I and many others around the world would welcome it back into the international progressive community.

Antisemitic trope, my ass.

although we all know that anti-Arab/anti-Muslim rhetoric

...The double standard hits at what many progressive Jewish leaders say is the bigger issue about the backlash Omar is now facing.

“Did Ilhan use some phrases that I wish she hadn’t and that I don’t want to defend? Yes,” said Max Berger, co-founder of IfNotNow, an American Jewish movement to end support for the occupation. “But the point she was making substantively is absolutely true, and the reason that she’s facing the level of anger… coming at her that she is, has everything to do with her politics, and who she is, and very little to do with the fact that she used an anti-Semitic trope.”

Think Progress has a good piece up on this Omar issue

Jon: How about a resolution simply stating that Steve King’s views on all minorities are more offensive that Omar’s statements about American Zionists? That might satisfy everybody.

Ed: Adding Islamophobia to the items condemned in the resolution is another potential angle.

Jon: It already mentioned Islamophobia.

Ed: Sorry, I may not be keeping up with versions of this.

Ben: I don’t see the point of a resolution in the first place. The whole thing feels like overkill — like a silly distraction.

Max: Last night the Daily Beast was reporting that one option on the table was a resolution condemning “all hate.”

Ed: Condemning “all hate” is pretty edgy, eh?


Max: It’s the kind of bold stand that makes me proud to be a Democrat.

Jon: Counterpoint: The party’s strong stance of opposing hate against everybody is a good thing.

Max: I cede the point.

Ed: Meanwhile, for Republicans, this is like a three-cushion shot: They get to claim that Democrats are hypocrites; they pander to the Christian right and whatever Jews are open to their appeals; and they can indirectly protect Trump and the entire GOP hate machine. Oh, and I left out the fourth cushion: 10,000 more “Democrats in Disarray” stories. I could see a take with a headline like: “For Republicans, Attacks on Omar Are Peak Whataboutism.” They’ll be talking about Omar for years.

Think Progress, itself, is a piece of ****.

instead of just polluting threads

Republicans Are Going to Try the ‘Red Scare’ Strategy Again. Will It Work?

...Republicans are very likely to continue their attacks on Democrats as one big happy socialist family, forcing them either to fight over acceptance or rejection of the label or grin and bear it through a sustained red scare. In the end Donald Trump’s record and character may cast so large and ominous of a shadow over the country in 2020 that nobody much cares whether the candidate who challenges him is a firm capitalist-roader or something to the left of that. Indeed, while it’s very likely the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign will be significantly more out-front progressive than Hillary Clinton’s indistinct and largely negative 2016 effort — barring some shocking Hickenlooper boom in the primaries — it might be best for the party to postpone any struggle for its soul until Trump is gone. But without question, Trump’s MAGA legions will try to force the issue, loudly.