Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

Home Front: WoT

Rashida Tlaib introduces resolution for US to formally recognize Palestinian Nakba

2022-05-19

[IsraelTimes] Initiative backed by ’Squad’ of progressive politicians, to mark ’catastrophe’ of 1948, unlikely to receive a vote; represents latest broadening of Israel debate in Democratic party Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib on Monday introduced the first-ever Congressional resolution that would see the US formally recognize the Paleostinian "Nakba" or "catastrophe" that coincided with the establishment of Israel. The initiative was submitted on the 74th anniversary of when Paleostinians commemorate their displacement and dispossession during Israel’s War of Independence in 1948-1949. The resolution was co-sponsored by fellow members of the so-called progressive Squad, Reps. Alexandria Sandy Ocasio-Cortez Dem Congressgirl from da Bronx in Noo Yawk and leader of the Mean Girl Caucus in Congress. One of the Great Minds of the 21st Century, she is known as much for her innaleck as for her dance moves. She is all in favor of socialism, even though she's fuzzy on the details. She was the inventor of the Green New Deal, though she doesn't talk about it much anymore... , Ilhan Omar ...Somali-American Dem representative from Minnesota. She was apparently married to her brother and may be her own grandmaw on her mother's side... , Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush ...a member of the progressive Squad. Born in St. Louis, Bush represents Missouri's 1st congressional district that includes all of the city of St. Louis and a large part of northern St. Louis County. Cori sez America is Racist AF... along with Democratic Reps Betty McCollum and Marie Newman. It is likely that the measure won’t even receive a vote, given the overwhelming support for Israel in both parties, but its submission represents the latest demonstration of the broadening debate on Israel in the Democratic party, as sympathy with the Paleostinian cause and support for a two-state solution shrinks among Republicans. The resolution acknowledges the "Right of Return," for millions of Paleostinian refugees, which Israel argues would mark the end of the Jewish state. It states that Israel "depopulated more than 400 Paleostinian villages and cities, often demolishing all structures, planting forests over them, or repopulating them with Jewish Israelis" during the 1948 war. The legislation claims that the Nakba is an "ongoing process," pointing to Israel’s establishment of hundreds of settlements and outposts in the West Bank. Tlaib — who is of Paleostinian descent — also references US awareness of the "scale and magnitude of the Paleostine refugee crisis as it unfolded. The resolution refers to an October 1948 telegram sent from the US Embassy in Israel to the secretary of state warning that the "Arab Refugee tragedy is rapidly reaching catastrophic proportions and should be treated as a disaster." The resolution declares that it is US policy to officially commemorate the Nakba; reject efforts to deny the Nakba; encourage educating the public on the Nakba; continue US financial support for Paleostinian refugees; and support the implementation of United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... General Assembly Resolution 194, which enshrines the Paleostinian Right of Return. The resolution was lambasted by pro-Israel groups as well as politicians from both parties. "The root of the catastrophe: the Arab world refused to accept the UN plan for a Jewish and Arab state in what was left of the UK’s Paleostine Mandate after Jordan’s creation. Instead, five Arab armies invaded Israel, attempting to destroy it and push the Jews into the Mediterranean Sea," tweeted the Democratic Majority for Israel. "This is another attempt by the most radical leftists in Congress to delegitimize our ally Israel and to promote anti-Israel and frankly antisemitic efforts to destroy the only democracy in the Middle East," said Republican Jewish Coalition chairman Norm Coleman. "The fact that such a resolution could be introduced at all demonstrates that the Democratic leadership in the House is completely unwilling or unable to rein in the worst impulses of their caucus."

Link

Home Front: Politix

Pittsburgh Jewish Federation Bans Free Beacon After Publication of Dem Candidate’s Comments on Israel

2018-02-24

[FREEBEACON] The Washington Free Beacon has been banned from covering and reporting on all events related to the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh, a Jewish communal organization, following its publication of remarks made by Pennsylvania Democratic congressional candidate Conor Lamb at an event that the Federation says was off the record and closed to the press. The Free Beacon first unearthed the comments by Lamb, who is currently running for Congress in a special election next month, in a Feb. 12 report that quoted the candidate accusing Israel of "terrorism" and the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians in the Gazoo Strip. Lamb said at the time it was "disheartening to see" support for Israel being expressed in the pages of his college newspaper. "It was disheartening to see the add [sic] in the DP the other day which read, ’Wherever we stand, we stand with Israel,'" Lamb wrote. "There is no doubt that both sides of this conflict have committed wrongs, but if this latest attack is not terrorism, I don't know what is." When asked about those comments last week by an attendee at an event sponsored by the Pittsburgh Jewish Federation at the South Hills Jewish Community Center, Lamb claimed to have "absolutely no memory" of the remarks and seemed to suggest the comments may have been planted or forged, though he offered no evidence. After the Free Beacon published Lamb’s response, Joshua Sayles, a top official with the Pittsburgh Jewish Federation, phoned the Free Beacon to say that the publication's reporting on Lamb’s comments was "unacceptable" and informed the outlet it is now banned from covering all Federation-related events in Pittsburgh. Sayles, who serves as the director of Pittsburgh's Community Relations Center, or CRC, said Lamb’s remarks were made off the record and that the event was closed to the press. However, there's more than one way to skin a cat... the event was presented as open to all community members and an invitation made no reference to it being off the record. Regardless, the Free Beacon legally obtained the video of the remarks and was neither party to, nor bound by any agreement between the Federation and Lamb. Sayles told the Free Beacon on Tuesday that he would be contacting all area synagogues to alert them of the ban. Lamb has come under fire following the Free Beacon’s report on his comments accusing Israel of state sanctioned terrorism. In defending his remarks, Lamb claimed to have no recollection of writing the 2002 comment. "I've looked at that several times in the last 24 hours and as a prosecutor I'll give you the most honest and accurate thing that I can say, which is, I have absolutely no memory of ever using those words at all. In the climate we're in, I think you all can fill in the rest, but all I can tell you is I don't recognize it," Lamb said, according to the tape obtained by the Free Beacon. National pro-Israel organizations such as the Republican Jewish Coalition condemned Lamb’s initial comments, describing them as "ignorant and extreme." "Conor Lamb's refusal to address his own ignorant and extreme attack against Israel is very troubling," Former Sen. Norm Coleman, RJC’s national chairman, said in a statement. "Given that refusal and the fact that he's running as a supporter of the anti-Israel organization J Street, it appears his views have not changed at all."

Link

Home Front: Politix

Felons Voting Illegally May Have Put Franken Over the Top in Minnesota, Study Finds

2010-07-13

The six-month election recount that turned former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken into a U.S. senator may have been decided by convicted felons who voted illegally in Minnesota's Twin Cities. That's the finding of an 18-month study conducted by Minnesota Majority, a conservative watchdog group, which found that at least 341 convicted felons in largely Democratic Minneapolis-St. Paul voted illegally in the 2008 Senate race between Franken, a Democrat, and his Republican opponent, then-incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman. The final recount vote in the race, determined six months after Election Day, showed Franken beat Coleman by 312 votes -- fewer votes than the number of felons whose illegal ballots were counted, according to Minnesota Majority's newly released study, which matched publicly available conviction lists with voting records. Furthermore, the report charges that efforts to get state and federal authorities to act on its findings have been "stonewalled." "We aren't trying to change the result of the last election. That legally can't be done," said Dan McGrath, Minnesota Majority's executive director. "We are just trying to make sure the integrity of the next election isn't compromised." Won't happen until the Dems lose because of something like this. He said his group was largely ignored when it turned over a list of hundreds of names to prosecutors in two of the state's largest counties, Ramsey and Hennepin, where fraud seemed to be the greatest. A spokesman for both county attorneys' offices belittled the information, saying it was "just plain wrong" and full of errors, which prompted the group to go back and start an in-depth look at the records. "What we did this time is irrefutable," McGrath said. "We took the voting lists and matched them with conviction lists and then went back to the records and found the roster lists, where voters sign in before walking to the voting booth, and matched them by hand. "The only way we can be wrong is if someone with the same first, middle and last names, same year of birth as the felon, and living in the same community, has voted. And that isn't very likely." The report said that in Hennepin County, which in includes Minneapolis, 899 suspected felons had been matched on the county's voting records, and the review showed 289 voters were conclusively matched to felon records. The report says only three people in the county have been charged with voter fraud so far. A representative of the Hennepin County attorney's office, who declined to give her name, said "there was no one in the office today to talk about the charges." Are there cars in the parking lot? Check under their desks. But the report got a far different review in Ramsey County, which contains St. Paul. Phil Carruthers of the Ramsey County attorney's office said his agency had taken the charges "very seriously" and found that the Minnesota Majority "had done a good job in their review." The report says that in Ramsey, 460 names on voting records were matched with felon lists, and a further review found 52 were conclusive matches. Carruthers attributed differences in the numbers to Minnesota Majority's lack of access to nonpublic information, such as exact birth dates and other court records. For example, he said, "public records might show a felon was given 10 years probation, but internal records the county attorney has might show that the probation period was cut to five and the felon was eligible to vote." Carruthers said Ramsey County is still investigating all the names and has asked that 15 investigators be hired to complete the process. "So far we have charged 28 people with felonies, have 17 more under review and have 182 cases still open," he said. "And there is a good chance we may match or even exceed their numbers." McGrath says the report shows that more still has to be done. "Prosecutors have to act more swiftly in prosecuting cases from the 2008 election to deter fraud in the future," he said, "and the state has to make sure that existing system, that flags convicted felons so voting officials can challenge them at the ballot, is effective. In 90 percent of the cases we looked at, the felons weren't flagged." "If the state had done that," he said, "things might be very different today."

Link

Home Front: Politix

Specter forgets his party affiliation

2010-04-08

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) seems to have momentarily forgotten which party he belongs to. Evidence, if any was needed, that you're always the last to notice when your mind goes. He's, what? 88 years old? It's probably time, since we can't get term limits, for a mandatory retirement age for pols. In this video, the party-switching senator notes that he has been endorsed by the college Republicans, except that the more applicable endorsement for him right now would be the college Democrats. Whoops. It's not the first time Specter has slipped up on his new party affiliation. Shortly after the switch, he suggested he was rooting for GOP Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn.) in his recount effort.

Link

-Lurid Crime Tales-

Community Activists Re-distribute Wobegone Wealth (burglars hit Garrison Keillor)

2009-08-02

ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Pastor Inqvist of the Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church would be shocked: Thieves have struck author Garrison Keillor's St. Paul, Minn., bookstore, officials say. Video surveillance tapes showed a man and woman entering Keillor's store about 1:20 a.m. Thursday, making off with $3,000 from the safe of Common Good Books, store manager Martin Schmutterer told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Sounds like an uncommonly good haul. "They were very calm about it," he said after posting still photos of the burglars online on the bookstore's blog page. Schmutterer said the pair smashed a window in a coffee shop above the store, then made their way downstairs to loot a safe. Asked if Keillor, the celebrated author and host of the long-running public radio show "A Prairie Home Companion," on which Pastor Inqvist is a running character, had seen the video, Schmutterer said he had. He told the Pioneer Press the creator of the innocent, fictional town of Lake Wobegon didn't say much after seeing it. "(Keillor is) very calm about it, but I wouldn't want to put words in his mouth," he said. "It's that goddam Norm Coleman's fault. I though we were rid of him."

Link

Home Front: Politix

Franken Vows Not to Waste Chance

2009-07-03

Senator-elect Al Franken turned a rally at Minnesota's Capitol on Wednesday into an extended thank-you to supporters, promising not to "waste this chance'' in what amounted to a victory speech nearly eight months late. With a crowd of several hundred cheering his words, the Democratic senator-elect from Minnesota said he had drawn strength from their efforts when his spirits flagged during the long vote recount and subsequent legal battle. "When you win an election by this close a margin, you know not one bit of effort went to waste,'' Mr. Franken said, a day after Minnesota's Supreme Court affirmed his victory and Republican Norm Coleman conceded. Many in the crowd sported pro-Franken or pro-union shirts. "I'm one of 312,'' read one sign, a nod to Mr. Franken's winning vote margin.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Norm Coleman concedes Minnesota Senate race to Al Franken

2009-07-01

Republican Norm Coleman has conceded to Democrat Al Franken in the Minnesota Senate race, ending one of the longest Senate races in American history and clearing the way for Democrats to hold a 60-seat supermajority in the Senate. Coelman's concession, given from the front of his St. Paul home, came just a few hours after the Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously ruled Franken the winner of last November's Senate race. In a unanimous 5-0 decision, the court upheld a three-judge panel's April 14 ruling that Franken defeated Republican Norm Coleman in the race by 312 votes out of 2.9 million cast. The 32-page opinion was remarkably decisive, picking apart and rejecting one Coleman legal claim after another. In its final line of the ruling, the state Supreme Court said Franken is "entitled" under Minnesota law to "receive the certificate election as United States senator from the state of Minnesota." "The Supreme Court of Minnesota has spoken and I respect its decision and will abide by the result," Coleman said. "It's time for Minnesota to come together under the leaders it has chosen and move forward. I join all Minnesotans in congratulating our newest United States Senator -- Al Franken. Coleman's concession means that Gov. Tim Pawlenty can easily sign an election certificate in the interim.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Minnesota SC rules for Franken in Senate fight

2009-06-30

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as the winner of the state's long-running Senate race. The high court rejected a legal challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, whose options for regaining the Senate seat are dwindling. Justices said Franken is entitled to the election certificate he needs to assume office. With Franken and the usual backing of two independents, Democrats will have a big enough majority to overcome Republican filibusters. Coleman hasn't ruled out seeking federal court intervention. Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said the earliest Franken would be seated is next week because the Senate is out of session for the July 4th holiday. Coleman's appeal hinged largely on whether thousands of absentee votes had been unfairly rejected by local election officials around the state. The unanimous court wrote that "because the legislature established absentee voting as an optional method of voting, voters choosing to use that method are required to comply with the statutory provisions." They went on to say that "because strict compliance with the statutory requirements for absentee voting is, and always has been required, there is no basis on which voters could have reasonably believed that anything less than strict compliance would suffice."

Link

Home Front: Politix

Battle Over Unfilled U.S. Senate Seat Goes Before Minnesota Supreme Court

2009-06-02

Republican Norm Coleman asked the Minnesota Supreme Court on Monday to throw out a lower-court ruling that handed Democrat Al Franken a win in the state's U.S. Senate race. Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg argued that counties were inconsistent in the way they decided whether absentee ballots were filled out properly and should be counted. "Twelve thousand citizens who made good-faith efforts to vote were disenfranchised, with a variety of reasons," Friedberg said. Franken attorney Marc Elias argued that Coleman's team has failed to show specific voters were disenfranchised, but only broad categories of mistakes that might have left some voters behind. "This isn't evidence, this is an argument," Elias said. Coleman, whose term in the Senate expired in January, trailed Franken by 312 votes after a recount and his lawsuit challenging the results of that recount. He wants the justices to instruct the trial court to open more rejected absentee ballots. Franken hopes the court sweeps aside the appeal and orders that he immediately receive the election certificate required to take office. Franken is the potential 60th vote for Democrats in the Senate, though two of those are independents. It wasn't clear how quickly the court would rule. Several of the five justices immediately grilled Friedberg with skeptical questions. Justice Christopher Dietzen said he saw "no evidence or fraud or misconduct." "It seems like you're offering little more than an opening statement in this case," Dietzen said. "Coleman's theory of the case, but no concrete evidence to back it up."

Link

Home Front: Politix

Obama's Specter coup has quickly morphed into a gigantic political headache

2009-05-07

A series of odd incidents that have proceeded from Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's party switch last week have raised questions about whether the newest Democrat has permanently damaged himself in the eyes of the state's voters. The White House is concerned enough about the developments that deputy chief of staff Jim Messina and Ron Klain, a senior adviser to Vice President Biden, traveled to Capitol Hill on Wednesday and huddled with Specter to try to iron out the problems, according to informed Democratic officials. Those problems -- in brief: Specter pronounced that he would be keeping his seniority when he announced his party switch last week -- maintaining that his ability to deliver for the state would not be diminished in any way shape or form by his move across the aisle. Except, that wasn't exactly right. The Senate's approval of Specter's junior status on a series of committees led to a "he said, he said" between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and the newest member of his caucus. Asked about the back and forth by CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday, Reid stood his ground saying simply: "He is a person who's been in the Senate since 1980. I think he should be able to handle himself." In a sitdown with the New York Times' Deborah Solomon, Specter said he was hoping that the Minnesota courts would do "justice" and declare former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman the winner in the contested 2008 election. Whoops! Specter tried to walk the comment back told Reid that he briefly "forgot what team I was on." Specter has done little to back off his initial assertion that his decision to switch parties was based almost entirely on political calculations and had little to do with ideology. While most party switchers are almost certainly guided by personal political concerns (what politician isn't?), most don't come right out and say it because it is a turnoff for voters who want to believe that their politicians believe in, well, something. For Pennsylvania voters -- especially Democratic primary voters -- this triptych of recent events is likely to be deeply troubling. "His actions over this past week have done nothing to curry favors with either party," said Penny Lee, a former senior adviser to Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) and now a Democratic consultant. "He needs to show some willingness to be a Democrat." Another Democratic strategist who follows Senate races closely was more blunt about the damage Specter has done to himself over the last week. "Do you think that any right-minded local Democratic elected official is going to stick his neck out for Arlen?" the source asked rhetorically. "Or any member of the Democratic Senate caucus?" Even those Democrats who believe that Specter has done himself no real long-term electoral harm with his actions over the past week don't exactly give him rave reviews. "The pride swallowing can't be easy but he had no choice if he wants to get reelected, and he was honest about that," said one senior Democratic strategist. Despite all of that criticism, Specter still has a number of things going for him heading into next year -- most importantly the support of an exceedingly popular president who commands massive loyalty particularly among the Democratic base and a campaign war chest bulging with nearly $7 million. And, average voters are not likely to be following every jot and tittle of the Specter saga -- especially so far from an election. Still, insiders are paying very close attention and, if Specter's stumbles over the past week encourage Rep. Joe Sestak to run in the primary, then the damage will have been done. What once looked like a huge coup for the White House -- and from a governing standpoint remains one assuming Al Franken eventually wins in Minnesota -- has quickly morphed into a gigantic political headache that almost no one saw coming. Politics is great, ain't it?

Link

Home Front: Politix

Specter Will Be Junior Democrat on all Committees except Aging - HaHaHaHa

2009-05-06

Despite promises from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) would retain his seniority after switching parties, Specter will be put at the end of the seniority line on all his committees but one under a resolution approved on the floor late Tuesday. Under the modified organizing resolution, Specter will not keep his committee seniority on any of the five committees that he serves on and will be the junior Democrat on all but one -- the chamber's Special Committee on Aging. On that committee, he will be next to last in seniority. As a result, Specter -- who as a Republican was ranking member on the Judiciary Committee and a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, as well as ranking member of the panel's Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education -- will now rank behind all the other Democrats, at least until the end of this Congress. According to a senior Democratic aide, it remains unclear whether Specter -- who will still retain his seniority in the Senate outside of the committees -- will see a boost in his committee seniority should he be re-elected for the next session. The status of his seniority for the next Congress will be determined once the 112th Congress convenes in 2011, the aide said. Democrats said that while unrelated, Specter's comments to the New York Times Magazine this weekend indicating he would support former Sen. Norm Coleman's (R-Minn.) disputed re-election bid against Al Franken have angered many Democrats. "Sen. Specter better watch comments like these. They won't help him in the caucus," a Democratic leadership aide said, adding that the comments have "caused a lot of heartburn in the caucus."

Link

Home Front: Politix

Franken's in limbo as the weeks grind on

2009-05-03

Six months after Election Day, Al Franken is a man in limbo, preparing for an office he's not entirely sure he's going to get, chained to a fundraising treadmill for a legal battle that goes on and on, and champing to get to work while precious committee assignments and pitched policy battles pass him by. He has hired a Minnesota state director -- Alana Peterson -- but she's working for free because he can't draw on any money budgeted for a Senate seat that has no winner. His office? Most days it's his Minneapolis townhouse. On Friday, it was the back corner of the Egg and I, a venerable breakfast and lunch joint on University Avenue near the line between Minneapolis and St. Paul. The restaurant is a few dozen feet away from a darkened office with a forlorn "For Lease" sign in the window and slightly peeling red letters that announce "United States Senate Office, 100 N" -- the former digs of Norm Coleman, who occupies a similar nether state as both sides prepare for oral arguments before the state Supreme Court in June.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More