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Didn't pass the purity test. Back to being a field slave. Also, you personally aren't doing enough and are therefore colluding with the oppressors. I am infallible.
You are allowed to say you like progressive policies and also hate giving weapons to genociders.
Manipulative title, fuck off.
But no blood on the doors or Schumer or Jefferies.
This whole shitshow is just the octillionth example of the left biting its own dick off instead of attacking the fascists stomping on it.
AOC's post:
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s amendment does nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza. Of course I voted against it.
What it does do is cut off defensive Iron Dome capacities while allowing the actual bombs killing Palestinians to continue.
I have long stated that I do not believe that adding to the death count of innocent victims to this war is constructive to its end. That is a simple and clear difference of opinion that has long been established.
I remain focused on cutting the flow of US munitions that are being used to perpetuate the genocide in Gaza.
So, this is a dumb explanation. It's like saying you would never support giving a knight a sword, just armor and a sheild. The armor and sheild are what let's him mow down peasants on the battlefield with impunity, you can't separate them out.
That being said, this is getting fucking ridiculous. The amendment was never going to pass (it got 6 votes), so this was entirely symbolic. Beyond that, she voted against the defense spending bill it was attached to, so in end, she didn't support arms to anyone. She's also one of the strongest voices on Gaza in congress (an admittedly low bar); she's been voting against sending arms to Israel since before October 7th, she usually votes, "present," on Iron Dome funding, and she's called what's happening in Gaza a genocide on the House floor. I can count on one hand the number of U.S. politicians willing to say, "genocide," when talking about Israel. Behind Omar and Talib, she's probably the most reliable pro-Palestinian Representative.
I'm assuming that she had some reason for voting against the amendment, and I assume it has to do with optics. Maybe she she thought siding with MTG would hurt her, maybe she thought voting against the Iron Dome would make her vulnerable to AIPAC attacks. It sucks, but Bowman and Bush both lost their seats to AIPAC money. The reality is you have to play politics sometimes, and if that means not making a symbolic vote for a doomed amendment, that's not the worst compromise to make.
I'm not sure I understand this argument. Everything is essentially money. If America gives them funding for the Iron Dome, that leaves Israel with more money to buy offensive weapons.
Exactly. Remember this when people claim we can turn the Democratic party with progessive candidates. The progressive candidates are the ones always turned by the Dems, not the other way around. It's their MO.
Cutting off defense seems like a dumb move and I agree with AOC on this. We should cease all offensive weaponry sales as that’s clearly being used in a god damn genocide.
Cutting defense means they would have to shift the budget to defense.
Moreover you're helping the aggressor protect itself against finding out the consequences of their own action.
Fuck that noise.
Why are we responsible for Israel's defense? they have free health care and education but our checkbook is open for iron dome missiles for them ? No. Thats American taxpayer money, not theirs. If they are rich enough to bribe the entire American government, then they are rich enough to buy their own missiles.
I bet that the US gets a lot of intel about the other countries in the region in return.
Thats speculative, and even if true, its not worth the cost, or the problems allying with israel creates. Israel is not useful to the US and never have been. Its all cost.
Yes, it is speculative. That is what it means when a sentence starts with "I bet".
More than that, Isreal is basically a forward opperating base of the US in the middle east. They're just the US with Groucho Marx glasses on, our sock puppet for genocide and imperialism.
Thats just not true at all.
If true, then why doesnt Israel allow any actual operational bases inside Israel? There are no US warplanes flying out of Israel, and there never have been. They fly out of Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan-- which is actually a forward operating base that you pretend Israel is, and hosts British planes too. It was a big celebration when a navy ship was allowed to dock and resupply in israel in 2018, after no US warship had been allowed to dock in Israel in the previous 20 years.
The US has a shared radar site in the negev that has 10 people staffing it, that they are just now talking about building a barracks for, and also what they call a "base within a base" AKA a desk inside a Israeli military base. Not operational. Israel is not a FOB for the US, nor is it a "giant aircraft carrier" for the US.
The US doesn't need its own troops there if the IDF acts on their behalf and they get to claim deniability. There's only a thin veil of secrecy, you can see through it in the ridiculous ways they've been allowed (and supported) in infiltrating US politics. Hell you can't even be a school teacher in Texas without pledging support to Israel.
Funding is funding.
Cut it all off.
According to her, she voted no to this bill. I’m very confused by this article.
She didn't vote yes to the amendment to the bill to remove defensive funding. She voted no to the whole bill the amendment applied to IIRC.
Ahh, gotcha, so this is just a shit stirring article that tries to send a very misleading message
She voted against an amendment that would block funds for Israel's Iron Dome "defensive" missile system, while Tlaib, Omar, Summer Lee and Al Green of Texas voted for it, along with 2 Republicans.