Good morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Coffee is black, hot and sweet.
Unnecessary. I suppose that’s the best description for a “present” vote, in Congress. It certainly is not a protest vote, that would be a “no” vote. It’s not a show of indifference, that would be not showing up to vote. A “present” vote is a statement that whatever is being voted on doesn’t deserve a vote, neither for nor against it. A statement. On record.
A “present” vote makes clear that, in the voter’s opinion, the subject being voted on is irrelevant, a waste of time, unnecessary. Really a step up from not showing up to vote, not really indifferent, more like making a point of showing how the result is indifferent, not just giving up the vote, but a recorded shrug, a duly noted “couldn’t care less” about the subject. If you care, you vote for or against a given subject.
On Valentine’s Day, the House of Representatives voted on a resolution condemning Hamas' use of rape and sexual violence as weapons of war, specifically since 10/7/2023. Of the 431 members eligible to vote, 12 didn’t vote, 419 did vote. 418 voted favorably. One voted “present”.
What could have been a clear unanimous vote condemning Hamas rape and sexual violence, was stripped of that statute by one vote. Not a vote of conscience, not based on conviction. Just a shrug.
That representative, if you didn’t already know, is Rashida Tlaib. She didn’t express any of her very well recorded “convictions”, regarding the legitimacy of Hamas as a resistance, freedom fighters group. She didn’t heed to her “conscience”, regarding the justification for the actions of Hamas on 10/7, as she has done many times away from the House floor. She just shrugged.
She could have had the courage to stay true to her position, and vote against the resolution. She did have that option. But has the coward she is, she voted “present”. And her justification, stated the same day on the House, as well as on social media, was that the resolution didn’t go far enough. As a “true champion” for women’s rights, she considered the resolution fell short of condemning Israel for the same crimes, and she waved a print out of a Haaretz article.
An article that describes how the IDF strips Palestinian suspects to their underwear, and marches them into captivity in plain sight. That was her counterpoint to the atrocities committed by Hamas. And feeling justified by this, with all her conviction… She abstained.
I may feel disappointed by other democratic representatives, who contort themselves into pretzels to try and make sense of the nonsensical views they espouse, but for Tlaib I feel nothing but disdain.
She couldn’t even bring herself to speak out for her true beliefs on the record, exactly the same as the republican Nazis, who pretend they didn’t say what they said, and act like they don’t believe what they believe. At least at the federal level, because we have seen plenty of outspoken, on the record, nazi speech in State Houses, all around the country.
Tlaib, cowardly, shrugs and brushes off her true feelings, that show nothing but love for Hamas.
But we see her.
We know her true colors, no matter how many “present” votes she casts, trying to hide them from the public record.
And we will not forget.
There are only two sides here, regardless of the complexity of the situation in the Middle East. You are either against terrorism, or you are for it, even if you just shrug, and try to walk away untouched. Pick one.
At least have the fucking backbone to pick one.
Have a great Thursday.
Am Yisrael Chai.
