Hijiacking a conference about solidarity with Arab Christians with calls for a Arab Christian – Jewish alliance probably won’t end well. With Ted Cruz involved there are so many moving parts it’s hard to untangle the derp. See our report.
A fascinating look at Arab-American political activism and its discontents as the background of the Cruz trainwreck. From TPM Reader HK …
Unfortunately, this is par for the course every time an Arab-American organizations tries to play “respectability politics” by courting the favor of politicians they know most of their constituents disagree with. It happens in both Muslim and Christian circles in the States.
Arab-Americans have few allies in Congress anymore. Those they did have (Cynthia McKinney and John Traficant, to name a few) we’re either too fringe or too corrupt to ever feel entirely comfortable with. David Bonior was districted out in Michigan and those members of Congress who represent areas with large Arab communities (Bill Pascrell, Marcy Kaptur, and John Dingell, to name a few) have increasingly over the years had to temper the decibel of their advocacy on any issue that runs afoul of AIPAC. Justin Amash might be it for now.
In historical terms, 9/11 was just yesterday, perhaps a week ago. But in what we might call ‘news terms’ it’s now something like ancient history. Even the bloody shirt crowd who got in the habit of using the annual memorials and remembrances to beat down any questioning of the “War on Terror” or any other aspect of the country’s post-9/11 footing seem to have lost some of the appetite for it.
And for those who never bought into the politics of 9/11, again, for lack of a better word, there’s a element of rejection to any further commemoration. I can understand both trends. And both seem healthy in their own way. What it all reflects is that almost from the beginning there’s been a clear and I would say growing difference between 9/11 and 9/11ism – and by the latter I mean the whole mix of activism, propaganda, politicization and advocacy that grew up around the events in question.
Yoga Studio plugs “9+11= 20% off” Sale. And believe it or not, it went downhill from there.
Finally, after a lot of game-playing, the NFL has ordered a full and independent investigation into the handling of the Ray Rice case under the supervision of two of the commissioner’s top supporters.
Georgia’s top election official now openly lamenting and warning about “all these minority voters” being registered by Democrats.
Bracing? Overstated? A mix of both. But there’s an undeniable point TPM Reader JB makes here. No one bats a 1000% at this …
To me the most notable thing looking back on 9/11 13 years later is how crystal clear it is now that it was an anomalous event and not, contrary to all the rhetoric of the time, the dawn of a new era of domestic terrorism. The fact that basically nothing analogous – meaning a domestic terror attack planned and executed by foreigners or local cells funded by Al Queda or like groups — has happened in the 13 years since is pretty incredible and unexpected. Perhaps more surprising still is that the only viable explanation for the dearth of attacks is that terrorists motivated to carry out attacks inside the United States do not exist.
More evidence we’ve blown through into the Monty Python phase of ISIS hysteria reporting.
Meet Jeremy Heath Higgins (text from a Department of Justice news release) …
Jeremy Heath Higgins, 28, a resident of Quinton, Alabama, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Madeline Haikala to two counts of federal civil rights violations, announced the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama.
As part of the plea proceedings, Higgins admitted that on June 14, 2013, he approached and threatened an African-American man at the Alabama Rose Steakhouse, a restaurant in Quinton, Alabama, because the man was present at the restaurant with a white woman.