• davel [he/him]@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      54 minutes ago

      The bill removed “offensive” weapons, but left in “defensive” weapons. The distinction is meaningless; defensive weapon systems allow Israel to continue to prosecute it’s genocide without other countries (notably Iran) being able to act against them, so it still enables genocide.

      Agreed.

      If she votes against the bill: AOC opposes cutting military aid to Israel!

      If she votes for the bill: AOC voted to keep sending weapons to Israel!

      No. There were two distinct votes at play here.

      The first vote, for which she voted nay, was to amend the bill, removing the sending of weapons to Israel.
      The last vote, for which she voted nay, was to pass the bill itself.

      At issue here is the first vote only.

      This yearly military budget bill always gets passed, without exception, which AOC knows. She knew that, in the end, the bill would get passed despite her nay vote. That being the case, why did she vote against removing military aid to Israel?

  • fodor@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    13 hours ago

    The post title is BS, but the content is worthwhile, lol. Singling out just one person? Come on now, don’t be a doofus.

        • geneva_convenience@lemmy.mlOP
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          9 hours ago

          https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/aoc-is-a-genocidal-con-artist

          People who say you should criticize AOC less because there are way worse members of congress act like she’s just passively sitting there being a mediocre lawmaker. She’s not. She’s actively anchoring the leftmost edge of the Overton window of US politics to militarism, capitalism, colonialism, and genocide. She’s actively stopping American politics from moving any further left than the nightmare we see before us.

          Leftists shouldn’t hate AOC less than the politicians to her right, they should hate her much more. It isn’t Mike Johnson’s responsibility to move the US government to the left, and it’s not Nancy Pelosi’s job. It’s hers. That’s what she was elected to do. That’s what she framed the goals of her entire political career as being. And she’s taking her stand firmly bracing against any leftward movement from America’s genocidal, warmongering, unjust, exploitative, tyrannical status quo.

          • apotheotic (she/her)@beehaw.org
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            8 hours ago

            I mean, yeah, I don’t disagree, but surely its more important for this specific article to note that there are only 6 representatives in the house who care about reducing the money going to Israel?

            • geneva_convenience@lemmy.mlOP
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              8 hours ago

              We all know the establishment is corrupt.

              The progressives are the ones supposed to not be voting with the establishment.

    • pjwestin@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      19
      ·
      20 hours ago

      What she actually said, for anyone who cares:

      Marjorie Taylor Greene’s amendment does nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza. Of course I voted against it. What it does do is cut off defensive Iron Dome capacities while allowing the actual bombs killing Palestinians to continue.

      I have long stated that I do not believe that adding to the death count of innocent victims to this war is constructive to its end. That is a simple and clear difference of opinion that has long been established.

      I remain focused on cutting the flow of US munitions that are being used to perpetuate the genocide in Gaza.

      For the record, I think this is a shitty explanation. The Iron Dome permits Israel to commit it’s genocide with impunity and act as a belligerent in the region. I get the attempt to differentiate between defensive support and offensive support, but cutting of arms for the Iron Dome would be the fastest way to curb Israeli aggression. But this statement in no way, “clarifies that she supports genocide.”

    • ghen@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      23 hours ago

      Well that is certainly one interpretation of her words. Maybe not the one closest to the truth but definitely one way of thinking lol.

      • njm1314@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        12 hours ago

        I mean I disagree I think it’s absolutely closest to the truth. She’s just trying to fudge what she means but that’s exactly what the truth is.

        • ghen@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          3 hours ago

          No, her goal is to preserve life. Israel needs defense just like any other country. They don’t need the other three billion dollars that we give them for offense. Removing their money for defense is the dumbest idea. That is what AOC is pointing out.

          • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            2 hours ago

            So you would support the USA sending billions of dollars of defensive weapons to Russia to protect them from Ukrainian attack?

            Or are you a hypocritical toad?

              • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                edit-2
                2 hours ago

                Ah yes, the classic reddit loser move of reading off terms from the wikipedia entry on logical fallacies like they’re magic incantations that win internet arguments.

                Maybe you should actually learn what ad-hominem means before trying to act like a mystical debate wizard, because nothing I said was one.

          • njm1314@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            2 hours ago

            Well that’s just nonsense. First of all any money you send them for defense is money they don’t have to spend a defense so they’re spending offense. That’s just common sense. Secondly giving them a giant suit of armor just allows them to act with impunity in the region. That giant suit of armor is what allows them to slaughter people with no thought to consequences. All she’s doing is arming and equipping a genocidal fascist state. That’s it. That’s the truth.

            • ghen@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              2 hours ago

              Because it’s not money. It’s the value of the equipment that they are given or allowed to spend the money on. We give them 500 million or whatever in credit towards American companies that make defensive equipment.

              If we only gave them the giant suit of armor, and nothing else, then that’s all they could possibly use. Defense.

              If we give them no suit of armor but tons and tons of guns then that’s all they could possibly use. Offense.

              That’s the difference here, MTG wants to remove their defense so that they get more aggressive. AOC says that’s ridiculous and we should remove their offense while keeping their defense solid. AOC cares about all life not just who’s side is getting bombed now.

              • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                2 hours ago

                The idea that Israel being immune to facing any blowback to it’s endless aggression is somehow making it less aggressive is so absurd that I can only assume you’re trolling.

              • njm1314@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                2 hours ago

                Brother that didn’t make any sense whatsoever. Did you not read my comment?

                Any money you give to a genocidal state. Any money whatsoever. Any equipment. Any Aid. Anything. That’s funding genocide. End of story.

  • crankyrebel@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    29
    ·
    edit-2
    1 day ago

    AOC is career politician (insert add for term limits here) and as such she is tries to walk the middle line, carefully selecting her words and never goes far enough on her stance on certain issues that might get her in trouble, like her meandering support about Gaza and Israel. She is not the progressive darling we need, just the best the DNC has, and at times, that isn’t saying much. We need a viable working class, progressive party that isn’t afraid to fight.

    She is an outspoken surrogate for President Biden, a figure many fellow socialists have condemned as a warmonger. She has also carefully calibrated her messaging around the war in Gaza, declining to take some positions that have inflamed Jewish Americans.

    Ocasio-Cortez Loses the Democratic Socialists’ Endorsement Over Israel

  • Angelusz@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    20 hours ago

    This looks like a bad-faith AOC attack piece. I’m sure she’s not perfect. I’m also sure that she’s a better, more ethical politician than most in the USA (which isn’t saying much, you guys have awful politicians).

    One might wonder why you choose to post this, instead of focusing on the way, way, way worse things also going on over there.

    Quite telling.

    • moakley@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      17
      ·
      1 day ago

      Ugh.

      Listen to Marjorie Taylor Greene talk, and she’s easily the worst of the worst. But sometimes she does something like this or speaks out against Trump, and in that respect she may actually be one of the better Republicans, which is an extremely, extremely low bar to clear.

  • JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    39
    ·
    1 day ago

    I wonder if there were bad hidden things in the bill again? (I know most of the US congress is bought by AIPAC)

    Like in the US, a bill often gets to congress that is named something like “the children are the future protections act” that provides free meals and better education for kids or something universally good, and then clause 7.1.2.5 says “all people of color are stripped of all rights and Lockheed Martin gets an extra 200 billion per year and a on-demand hit squad provided by the CIA and is immune to prosecution, and the police have the right to spy on every citizen and steal their wallets without a warrant.”

    Because the majority of members of US congress have admitted to not actually reading the bills.

    • geneva_convenience@lemmy.mlOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      48
      ·
      edit-2
      1 day ago

      There was nothing bad in the amendement itself.

      This was not a vote on the whole bill. It was a vote to change a part of the bill and strip out funding for some free weapons to Israel. It was voted on seperately.

    • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      1 day ago

      It could also just be that it’s MTG’s bill and she’s introducing it because she’s explicitly antisemitic. It’s like if a well-known white supremacist introduced articles of impeachment for Clarence Thomas because they can’t stand having a black man on the court. Maybe if this is the one shot that can get it done you bite the bullet and do it because the result is worthwhile even if you’re going to get asked why you teamed up with the white supremacist, but for a doomed bill that’s only going to be a statement of principles, the benefit is limited and the person who introduced it is part of the statement.

          • geneva_convenience@lemmy.mlOP
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            edit-2
            2 hours ago

            If the personality of the person intruducing an amendement matters then AOC would never vote with any Republican, right?

            • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              11
              ·
              1 day ago

              MTG’s problematic aspect isn’t her being a Republican. It’s not even that she’s a particularly bad person (she is). The perceived motivation for this messaging bill is antisemitism. This is Jewish space lasers lady.

              • geneva_convenience@lemmy.mlOP
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                12
                ·
                edit-2
                1 day ago

                So? Her bill is about cutting off money for weapons to Israel not Jewish space lasers.

                4 real progressives voted yes.

                • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  9
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  1 day ago

                  I suppose you could pretend that context and pretext simply don’t exist. Poll taxes were just about raising money and English only laws are about government standardization.

                  I’m also not of the opinion that the people voting for it made a heinous choice either. They were just willing to take questions about MTG’s antisemitism in exchange for a minor messaging vote. Nothing anyone did here is important. AOC has put out statements much more critical of Israel than being vote 7 on a muddled messaging bill.

  • NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    18 hours ago

    I’m pretty sure a large contingent of her constituency is New York Jews, many of whom are probably Orthodox… It’s not a stretch to believe that many of those voters are also Zionists