Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ilmar Omar - hypocracy

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On Thursday, it was reported that freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene had endorsed a theory that wealthy Jewish bankers had started California’s 2018 Camp Fire by firing a laser from space in order to benefit themselves financially.

You can read her Facebook post, uncovered by Media Matters reporter Eric Hananoki, here. In it, Greene postulates that the “Vice Chairman of Rothschild Inc, international investment banking firm” may have used “space solar generators … beaming the sun[’]s energy back to Earth” to fire a “laser beam or light beam coming down to Earth” to “cause” the 2018 Camp Fire in California in order to manipulate the stock market and line the pockets of “Rothschild Inc,” “Solaren,” and Sen. Dianne “Feinstein’s husband, Richard Blum.”

Feinstein and her husband are Jewish, and conspiracy theories involving the Rothschilds are a long-standing anti-Semitic trope. Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean and director of global social action of the Wiesenthal Center, told me “anyone who used the term ‘Rothschild banker,’ that’s shorthand for Jews.”

Democrats have been calling for weeks to expel Greene from the House of Representatives, based on her anti-Semitism, conspiracy-mongering, and insurrection-backing.

But after the latest revelations, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel called the comments “disgusting” and said there is “no place for anti-Semitism in our party” and that the comments “should be looked into.” And a spokesperson for California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, told Slate, “These comments are deeply disturbing and Leader McCarthy plans to have a conversation with the Congresswoman about them.”

Speaking of silent majorities: I asked every member of House Republican leadership whether or not they believe, as Greene has speculated, that the 2018 Camp Fire might have been caused by powerful Jewish interests shooting an energy beam from space, or if such comments were appropriate.

Here is a list of their responses or nonresponses, which will be updated if and when these Republican House leaders get back to Slate.

A spokesperson for Rep. Steve Scalise, the House minority whip, said, “No, of course he does not believe that.”

Rep. Tom Emmer, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee: “We don’t support any hate-driven conspiracy theories.”

A spokesman for Rep. Liz Cheney, chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, replied in response to both questions, “no.”

Rep. Mike Johnson, the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, responded “of course not” and “of course not.”

Rep. Jason Smith, the secretary of the House Republican Conference, did not respond when his office was asked if he believed that “Rothschild Inc” had fired space lasers to start the 2018 Camp Fire, or if such comments were appropriate.

Rep. Gary Palmer, the chair of the House Republican Policy Committee, did not respond when his office was asked if he believed that “Rothschild Inc” had fired space lasers to start the 2018 Camp Fire, or if such comments were appropriate.

This lack of widespread condemnation is a marked departure from how the House reacted to Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar over 2019 statements that congressional support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins baby.” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leadership described the remarks as “anti-Semitic tropes” and asked Omar to apologize, which she “unequivocally” did.

This didn’t stop House Republicans from sponsoring a resolution to condemn Omar. Of the three Republican sponsors of that failed resolution who remain in the House—Rep. Greg Steube, Rep. Jeff Duncan, and Rep. Louie Gohmert—none responded when asked whether or not they shared Greene’s belief that “Rothschild Inc” may have fired space lasers to start the 2018 Camp Fire.

Link to Omar thread - there are more people defending her than I remember: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=373282

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced Saturday she had spoken with former President Donald Trump amid calls for her expulsion from Congress, saying she'll "never apologize" as she faces backlash over controversial actions and recently resurfaced comments.

In a series of tweets, the Georgia Republican said she was "so grateful for (Trump's) support and more importantly the people of this country are absolutely 100% loyal to him because he is 100% loyal to the people and America First."

Greene, in one of her tweets Saturday, declared: "I won't back down. I'll never apologize. And I'll always keep fighting for the people."

he also referenced comments from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a news conference this week in which the Democratic leader said that "the enemy is within the House of Representatives," referring to the rhetoric and behavior of some Republican members of Congress, including Greene.
"Yes there is an enemy within," Greene wrote. "And that enemy is a poisonous rot of socialist policies and America last sell outs who are pompous hypocrites that believe they are untouchable elites."

The congresswoman said she denounced the January 6 violent attack on the Capitol and accused Democrats of trying to "lie and blame" Republicans for the violence.

On Saturday, CNN learned that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had canceled a Tuesday House GOP leadership meeting in advance of a meeting scheduled for Wednesday with all House Republicans amid the dust up over Greene's controversial comments and views, McCarthy's renewed loyalty to Trump, and questions about GOP conference chair Liz Cheney and the nine other members of the Republican caucus who voted to impeach the former President.

McCarthy's spokesperson told CNN the leadership meeting, slated for Tuesday afternoon, was canceled because the Republican leader will be traveling back from an energy event in Houston. However, he offered no additional details for why it wasn't rescheduled.

A source familiar told CNN they believed one of the reasons McCarthy canceled the meeting is because he doesn't want to discuss Greene.

Link to Omar thread - there are more people defending her than I remember: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=373282

I don't think either case should distract from the other. Omar said something antisemitic, and she was completely wrong to do so. Greene said something antisemitic, and she was completely wrong to do so.

I think there are two pertinent distinctions:

- Omar admitted that she was wrong and apologised unreservedly. Greene has done neither.
- Omar's belief, while factually and morally wrong, was "ordinary" antisemitism, whereas Greene's is absolutely bananas. A large portion of Americans have at least one negative belief about Jews, but a relatively small amount think that Jews are supernatural or truly in control of the whole world. "Ordinary" antisemitic beliefs can still be deadly and are still wrong, but the supernatural stuff is more likely to be reflective of a deep-seated and active Jew hatred.

It's a complete embarrassment to the democratic world that these people are in positions of power. Omar at least is a fringe figure in the Democratic Party, and you'd hope Greene would be on the fringes of the Republican Party. Let's pray it stays that way.