Trump, congressional leaders need to ‘unequivocally call out' political violence, says Minnesota Rep
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The Herald Scotland
13 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Why are Democrats so unpopular? Liberal leader offers a clue
This country really is a melting pot of immigrants from all over the world, and that's part of what makes America unlike any other on earth. The mutual understanding that America is a land of opportunity and that it's an honor to call it home is what binds citizens together, even if our ancestors came from diverse parts of the globe. Of all Americans, you'd think members of Congress would be the first to embrace utmost allegiance to their country. For some Democrats, that's not the case. "I'm a proud Guatemalan before I'm an American," Illinois Rep. Delia Ramirez, a member of the Homeland Security Committee, said in Spanish to a conference last weekend of leftist leaders in Mexico City. It's a jarring statement coming from one of our nation's lawmakers. Opinion: Are you hot, fit and tan? Get ready for liberals to label you a MAGA fanatic. Congress members take an oath to our country. Do they mean it? Ramirez wasn't the only U.S. progressive in attendance at the second annual Panamerican Congress. She was joined by several other "Squad" members, progressive House lawmakers, including Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. The event was organized in part by the leader of Progressive International, a "radical left-wing group," according to Fox News. At the Progressive International's inaugural summit in 2020, its leaders declared that "capitalism is the virus": "We aspire to eradicate capitalism everywhere. We believe that exploitation, dispossession, and environmental destruction are written into the genetic code of capitalism. We do not support efforts to save this system, nor enable its expansion to all corners of the earth." It makes one wonder what members of the U.S. Congress were doing there in the first place, but I digress. Ramirez isn't the only congresswoman to make her disdain toward our country known. Omar, who escaped war-torn Somalia as a child to come to the United States, claimed in June that America was being turned into "one of the worst countries" - presumably because she disagrees with President Donald Trump. Unlike Omar, Ramirez was born a U.S. citizen after her Guatemalan mother crossed into the country while she was pregnant with Ramirez. It's hard to think of another country where a first-generation citizen could go from poverty to the halls of Congress. That's not enough, however, to win Ramirez's loyalty over the corrupt country her parents escaped. Opinion: News media should report what's happening in Gaza, not run Hamas propaganda Members of Congress take an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic," and promise they will "bear true faith and allegiance to the same." Ramirez's comment on the world stage seems to defy that oath. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. Should Ramirez be 'deported'? She should at least apologize. Once Ramirez's anti-American comments hit social media, the pushback was swift. The White House called her words "despicable." Republican Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tennessee, wrote: "Denaturalize, deport, and kick her off Homeland Committee. We know where her allegiances lie." The Homeland Security X account also questioned her allegiance. Similar sentiments were echoed across the conservative media ecosystem. Opinion: Sydney Sweeney's jeans ad triggers liberals. She looks good. They don't. The House member, for her part, has responded with defensiveness. "Let's call it what it is: today's attacks are a weak attempt to silence my dissent and invalidate my patriotic criticism of the nativist, white supremacist, authoritarians in government," Ramirez said in a statement. "It is the definition of hypocrisy that members of Congress - who betray their oath each day they enable Trump - are attacking me for celebrating my Guatemalan-American roots." Ramirez didn't just celebrate her roots, however. Before world leaders, she elevated the country where her parents fled above her own. She's an American and a member of Congress. There's no defense for what she said. Ramirez owes her constituents - and the rest of us - an apology. Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@ or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques
The National
16 hours ago
- The National
Netanyahu makes more enemies by the day within Israel's military
Throughout my many stays over decades there as a journalist, I was always struck by how Tzahal – the Hebrew acronym for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) – was an inescapable part of life for Israelis. Just as most Americans will not hear a wrong word said about their 'veterans', so too have those who have served in Israel's armed forces historically been almost beyond reproach. READ MORE: Home Secretary 'made false allegations against Palestine Action' I'd go as far as to say that even above religion itself, Israeli military service, and by logical extension the IDF, is one of the most significant factors contributing to social cohesion in the country – or at least was up until now. In a country that historically has revered its military leaders and heroes, it's quite something then when those same figures, past and present, start to make their own voices heard by questioning the policies of the Israeli prime minister and government. Even long before the war in Gaza, the rumblings of disquiet were there. But with every day that passes, those voices are becoming more widespread and vociferous. This past week, though, what we have been witnessing is arguably a turning point in public dissent within Israel's influential and exalted military and security establishment. Just a few days ago, almost 600 former Israeli military, intelligence and law enforcement officials signed an open letter to US president Donald Trump (below) urging him to pressure prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza, arguing that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel. Calling themselves the Commanders for Israel's Security (CIS) group, the list of signatories reads like a veritable Who's Who of soldiers and spies, some near legendary in Israel in terms of their deeds and service records. Among them were former prime minister and IDF chief Ehud Barak and former IDF chiefs of staff Moshe Ya'alon and Dan Halutz; ex-Shin Bet directors Nadav Argaman, Yoram Cohen, Ami Ayalon, Yaakov Peri, and Carmi Gillon; ex-Mossad chiefs Tamir Pardo, Efraim Halevy and Danny Yatom; and former Israel Police commissioners Dudi Cohen, Moshe Karadi, Rafi Peled, and Assaf Hefetz. Yes, admittedly, some have criticised Netanyahu and his policies before, but never so many and in such an orchestrated way. READ MORE: David Lammy contradicted as UK 'shares Gaza spy plane data with Israel' As the Times of Israel reported, the group also issued a joint video message with a call to end the war in Gaza, arguing that Israel has racked up more losses than victories and that the fighting has dragged on for political reasons rather than strategic military need. 'Each of these people sat in cabinet meetings, operated in the inner circles, attended all the most sensitive decision-making processes,' a voiceover at the start of the video says by way of introduction. 'Together, they have more than a thousand years' experience in national security and diplomacy.' Collectively, the CIS group is a powerful lobby, of that there is no doubt. But this will not stop some Netanyahu supporters asking 'So what?', given that most of the group are now retired. But what's important to recognise here is that it's not just past but very much present-day military voices too that are expressing their disquiet. Current IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir might have been handpicked by Netanyahu to do the prime minister and his right-wing coalition government's bidding in Gaza, but even he, it would now seem, draws the line at plans for the complete 'conquest' of Gaza. Just to be clear here, Zamir is no Mr Nice Guy and politically pretty hard line. In fact, it was almost a given that his appointment would deliver the 'total victory' in Gaza Netanyahu promised. But last Monday, Zamir moved to reduce the size of the standing army, arguing that the decision to fully occupy Gaza constitutes a 'trap' for the IDF. According to Israel's state broadcaster Kan, Zamir told Netanyahu, 'You're going to create a trap in Gaza,' and was also quoted as saying that full occupation 'will significantly endanger the lives of the hostages and cause erosion in the army'. Such was the annoyance among the Netanyahu household, it seems, that Netanyahu's son went on social media to suggest that Zamir was behind a 'rebellion and attempted military coup that is fit for a banana republic in Central America in the 70s'. And so in the space of a week, Netanyahu finds himself under almost unprecedented attack from his top general of the moment and military and intelligence leaders of the past. There is a perverse irony in all of this. For ever since coming to power in his very first term, Netanyahu has insisted that Israel's security must override all other considerations. This, he hoped, would be his lasting legacy. Yet here right now, a pantheon of those who for decades served on the frontlines of Israel's security apparatus are quite simply telling him that his policies over Gaza will result in the opposite, creating more insecurity and deepening Israel's pariah status. Just as Netanyahu has tested the limits of Israel's relationship with Trump and its US and European allies, so too is he gambling with the unspoken limits of his government's relationship with its security establishment. It's worth remembering that Israel has legislative elections at the very latest by October next year, but which could quite easily be called before then. Netanyahu has, so far, prolonged the war in Gaza to remain in power and now his military is getting uneasy about a prolonged campaign. READ MORE: Harrowing before and after pictures show extent of devastation in Gaza As one academic commentator observed, for years, Israel's state-army-people trinity has been the bedrock on which the country has been built. That trinity is now fracturing like never before. This week, in their video address, the CIS group called for those currently in the posts they once held to take a stance against the continuation of the war. They must 'bravely stand up before the prime minister and before the cabinet and say their piece… about this war and its futility,' said ex-Shin Bet director Nadav Argaman. When not one but five of Israel's ex-chiefs of the Shin Bet internal security and counterintelligence service agree with such a statement, it's time to sit up and take notice. It's unlikely of course that Netanyahu will do so, which means that he will only further lose the allegiance of those on whom Israel's security has depended for so long.
Spectator
21 hours ago
- Spectator
Deluded Americans are descending on Ireland
The American girl was listing her reasons for moving to Ireland in protest at Donald Trump. 'I cannot stay in a country where Roe vs Wade has been overturned. Did you know abortion is restricted in a lot of states? Oh no, I cannot wait to live in Ireland.' We are becoming used to Americans staying at our B&B while they are house-hunting in Ireland during a fit of pique. We let it all go over our heads. But the question remains. Why are these migrating anti-Trumpers so daft? They are flouncing out of America to come to Ireland in a reverse ferret of how the journey across the Atlantic has been done for centuries. When they explain their reasoning, they couldn't bark up a wronger tree if they tried. Although I would say, in their defence, the way Ireland markets itself is very misleading, with all the rainbow Pride flags and Palestinian embassies. But liberal Americans don't seem to understand that this is the image, tailored for tourism and EU grants, I suspect. The practical reality is very different. As wonderful as the Emerald Isle is, they're going the wrong way across the Atlantic. 'From Galway to Graceland' is the song title. There is no song entitled 'From California to Carlow'. Or Cork. Or Kerry. No young person living in New York or Los Angeles has ever dreamed of leaving the lights, the shops, the theatres and the endless opportunities to get on a boat to Rosslare to begin working on a cattle farm and going down the chipper for their dinner. But a whole load of overprivileged Yanks are descending on Ireland in a huff, invoking their Irish ancestry and sitting in the rain declaring 'This will show Trump!' – while Trump is enjoying White House room service and sunning himself in Palm Beach. I call it the Rosie O'Donnell syndrome. The actress and comedian makes no sense when explaining why she has moved from New York and Hollywood to Dublin, allegedly because she doesn't 'feel safe' surrounded by people who voted for Trump. I often amuse myself during the long, dark West Cork summer evenings by imagining Ms O'Donnell trying to call out a plumber. 'I wonder if she's had a blocked loo yet, or an overflowing gutter,' I remark to the builder boyfriend. 'No bother!' says the BB, impersonating a plumber who is not going to turn up. Ms O'Donnell keeps insisting it's all fantastic. Maybe the locals are saying 'Top of the morning to you, Rosie!' to amuse themselves. But at some point she's going to have someone say the following to her, very impatiently: 'So do you want to go on the waiting list for a call-out for a quote for a new bathroom in six months' time or not?' When the two girls from California came to stay at our B&B, they burst through the kitchen doors as we were eating our dinner and launched into a gushing speech about how much they loved Ireland and felt at home in Ireland, having been here a day. Yeah, all right, I thought. We don't tend to get five-star reviews from people who've just landed that morning. We get five-star reviews from people who've been on the road a week or two, and who fall into our red-hot, full pressure showers with a gratitude that's bordering hysteria. These two were at the idealistic stage. It only took them two minutes to get on to Trump and a pro-choice rant which we could have done without, for we were eating a plate of linguine. One girl stood outside smoking and asked if we had any weed, while the other girl made herself comfortable on the kitchen sofa and started explaining what happens to women in southern US states where abortion is restricted. She could not live in that kind of country. She wanted to live in a society where there was completely unfettered freedom for women in the pro-choice arena. That's why they were in Ireland on a mission to investigate relocating here… The BB looked at me, pausing the forking of linguine into his mouth. 'Er,' I said. And I put my fork down. 'Are you sure we can't offer you some pasta?' No, they said, they had just had pizza. 'Ice cream?' I said. 'Go on. Have some ice cream.' They said that would be nice. So I got five flavours of ice cream out of the freezer and set them on the table with bowls and spoons and the girls sat down at the table. I said: 'You do know Ireland is Catholic, don't you?' They looked blank, then started gushing again. 'We just love it here! We feel right at home, don't we?' 'We do! The people are wonderful! So welcoming! We're going to be so happy here!' While one puffed on a vape and the other ate ice cream, they told us how much they despaired for their country. They said there was some hope for women's rights and liberal ideology, though, because of the nice Muslim Democratic candidate being lined up for mayor of New York. By now, the BB and I were sitting there with our mouths slightly ajar, saying nothing. What was spilling out of their brains made no more sense than if they'd told us they were going to put the raspberry ripple in the oven to keep it frozen. They finished slagging off America, then went to bed saying they had to be up at 7.30 a.m. to go to Blarney Castle. The next day they came down at noon and said they might give the Blarney Stone a miss. They were going just to get in the car and drive and see where the road took them. 'That sounds like an excellent plan,' I said, wondering if the road would be so good as to take them back to the airport.
