Date: Thursday, 03 October 2024
https://ericzuesse.substack.com/p/4-us-senators-virtue-signal-to-voters
https://theduran.com/4-u-s-senators-virtue-signal-to-voters-to-pretend
4 U.S. Senators Virtue-Signal to Voters to Pretend Opposition to Gaza-cide
2 October 2024, by Eric Zuesse
Four U.S. Senators are using the U.S. ‘news’-media to signal to whatever progressive voters might exist, by introducing in Congress, on October 2nd, a bill, whose text hasn’t yet even been written, which opposes the continued supplying by the U.S. Government, of weapons that are being used by Israel’s army in order to reduce the 2.3 million population of Gaza, but which Israel’s Government pretends are being used against only the 20,000-or-so members of Hamas, the group which was elected by the Gazans and which has provided their Government ever since June 2007. As the bill’s to-be author, Senator Bernie Sanders, said in his September 18th (though undated) “FACT SHEET: Joint Resolutions of Disapproval under the Arms Export Control Act and Proposed Arms Sales to Israel”, “If the resolution passes, it must be passed by the other chamber and signed by the President to prohibit the sale in question.” In other words, the neoconservative (or U.S. Military-Industrial-Complex owned) President Biden (or, if this is to be done after 20 January 2025, then his neoconservative successor Harris or Trump) will need to sign it into law, in order for it (whatever its text, when it will be written, will say) to become law. The few U.S. Senators who have spoken publicly about the matter have condemed the bill, such as, for example, as the Jewsish Insider headlined on September 30th, “Most swing-state Democrats disavow Sanders’ bid to block aid to Israel. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is the only vulnerable Senate Democrat who didn’t explicitly criticize the left-wing effort.” It opened its report by saying that
Senate Democrats facing competitive reelections this year are largely distancing themselves from a bid by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Peter Welch (D-VT) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) to block a spate of arms sales to Israel.
Before Congress left Washington for its October recess last week, Sanders filed a series of resolutions to block a range of weapons transfers to Israel, including guided munitions. The Vermont senator will likely force votes on the issue when the Senate reconvenes in November.
But a number of Senate Democrats in tight reelection races are saying they won’t support those resolutions.
“At a time when Israel is under attack from Iran’s terrorist proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, calls to limit security assistance to our democratic ally Israel are wrong and dangerous. As Iran, China, and Russia deepen their military ties, it’s in our interest that America’s allies can defend themselves,” Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) told Jewish Insider in a statement. “This resolution would undermine Israel’s ability to defend against mounting regional threats, which is why I’ll do everything in my power to block it.”
Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) similarly disavowed Sanders’ effort.
“We passed aid to Israel on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis, and turning back on that aid would be reckless and irresponsible,” Casey said in a statement. “I remain committed to standing with Israel and its right to protect itself while we also work to bring the hostages home and provide much-needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
A spokesperson for Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) said he also opposes the resolutions, while a spokesperson for Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said the senator “is reviewing the resolution but has some concerns about Senator Sanders’ approach.”
“Senator Brown strongly believes that Israel has a clear and undeniable right to defend itself against Hamas’ brutal terrorism and voted to send military aid to Israel, along with much-needed humanitarian aid to Gaza,” spokesperson Kevin Donohue said. …
Sanders started his promotion of this several months earlier. On 12 July 2024, Common Dreams headlined “'Every Single Senator Should Be Supporting' Sanders Bid to Block Massive New Arms Sale to Israel: Sen. Bernie Sanders said he would introduce a joint resolution to block the proposed sale of $18 billion worth of warplanes and other weaponry to Israel.”
Sanders represents the state (Vermont) with the highest percentage of progressive, or democratic-socialist, voters; and, so, what is safe for him to promote as ‘policy’ isn’t necessarily safe for other Senators to back, even if the majority of American voters would oppose their Government’s participating in an ethnic cleansing or even genocide, if their ‘news’-media had been reporting to them that it was doing that. For Sanders, the ‘effort’ against the U.S.-Israel elimination of the Gazans is good publicity — especially because it has no real possibility of succeeding.
The conservatives (even nazis, racist-fascist imperialists) in America’s Government are real, but the progressives in it are not.
On October 2nd, the Mondoweis pro-Palestinian news-site headlined “For the first time ever there will be a vote in Congress on blocking weapons to Israel. Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced legislation to block a $20 billion arms sale to Israel recently approved by the Biden administration.” It reported that “The effort was cosponsored by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Brian Schatz (D-HI).”
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Investigative historian Eric Zuesse’s latest book, AMERICA’S EMPIRE OF EVIL: Hitler’s Posthumous Victory, and Why the Social Sciences Need to Change, is about how America took over the world after World War II in order to enslave it to U.S.-and-allied billionaires. Their cartels extract the world’s wealth by control of not only their ‘news’ media but the social ‘sciences’ — duping the public.
