Imagine: this guy is on the House Judiciary Committee! Imagine again: here is what passes for rational, logical, responsible rhetoric on MSNBC.
Asked about the disgraceful performance of the three college presidents under questioning from Rep. Elise Stefanik, Rep. Raskin pulled out every irrelevant anti-Republican talking point he could think of to avoid criticizing fellow woke warriors, beginning with saying he hopes a college president would take action when there are calls for genocide on campus because “lax Republican gun laws” mean “we’ve got to take very seriously” people making threats.
Yes, the debacle at the hearing was about gun control. Then he really got rolling:
“Having said that, where does Elise Stefanik get off of lecturing anybody about anti-Semitism when she’s the hugest supporter of Donald Trump who traffics in anti-Semitism all the time? She didn’t utter a peep of protest when he had Kanye West and Nick Fuentes over for dinner. Nick Fuentes, who doubts whether October 7th even took place because he thinks it was some kind of suspicious propaganda move by the Israelis. And the Republican Party is filled with people who are entangled with antisemitism like that.And yet somehow she gets on her high horse and lectures a Jewish college president from MIT.”
Be proud, Marylanders! Such an unhinged rant is not only signature significance for a hyper-partisan idiot, it’s also the mark of an utter asshole.
After somehow linking the anti-Semitism running amuck on elite progressive campuses to gun control, Rankin then moved on to the other Democratic Party obsession, Donald Trump, accusing him of anti-Semitism despite his aggressive support of Israel when President and the fact that his son-in-law is Jewish and his daughter converted to Judaism. Labeling Trump anti-Semitic has been one of the less successful Big Lies wielded by the Get Trump! cabal, but it’s still been pushed hard and often. The theory is that Trump’s (justified) criticism of “liberal Jews” who reflexively vote for Democrats (and against him) is anti-Semitic. In fact, Trump’s argument has been that Democrats and progressive are not reliable allies of Israel or Jews, and the Left’s response to the Gaza conflict has proven him substantially correct.
Raskin’s definition of “anti-Semitic” follows the now familiar progressive tactic of attributing all inconvenient criticism to racism or bigotry. Criticizing Barack Obama proves racism, criticizing Kamala Harris is racist and sexist, objecting to biological males competing against women in swimming and track is “transphobic,” and opposing illegal immigration is “xenophobic.” It is a dishonest tactic, and those who find it persuasive are…well, they probably think MSNBC is a responsible news source. Is Raskin stupid, or is he lying?
It doesn’t matter in the end, but personally, I vote for stupid. His final sally, that MIT’s president Kornbluth should be immune from being criticized by a non-Jew for allowing anti-Semitism on her school’s campus, is stunning idiocy. The “only Jews can criticize Jews” apes another unethical progressive trope, the “Shut up, men!” argument that only women should have views on abortion.
As for the reference to Trump’s reported dinner with West and Fuentes, Raskin is endorsing guilt by association, Joe McCarthy’s favorite trick.
This is the abysmal level of intellect and integrity representing far too many state districts in Congress.
Ethics Alarms 
He doesn’t have to be stupid or lying. He can be brainwashed.
He is just evil incarnate. The only thing he supports is ever growing government which gives him power because big government plays well in the high percentage federal employment and contracting district he represents.
The hypocrisy in those districts are the first to bitch the rich don’t pay their fair share while they seek to enrich themselves further by putting everyone else and future generations is so much debt that it will prevent any future progress economically.
I don’t know who is worse, Raskin or the carpetbagger Trone. Unfortunately, we may wind up with one or the other becoming one of our Senators.
Raskin is vile. He does more harm to the Jewish community by being the type of person who supplies the ammunition to make it easy for bigots to stereotype and demonize Jews in general.
Gun control? Texas lets the college students carry guns to class and it hasn’t caused a problem. It might be interesting the first time there is a school shooter at a Texas college. I don’t think there has been one since campus carry was passed in 2015. Hmm….
https://www.utexas.edu/campus-carry
Well, as I recall, Texas, being the trailblazer that it is, pioneered the campus shooting craze back in the 60’s. I forget the guy’s name who was up in the bell tower at UT-Austin for a few hours. I wonder how effective people who be from the ground against someone such as that.
Speaking of Charles Whitman, it’s not surprising you imply that civilians did not provide suppressive fire that limited his effectiveness.
I’ve read some sources claim the officer and firefighter would have not been successful had Whitman not been cornered by their lines of fire.
I hadn’t heard that, as a matter of fact. But I plead guilty to being a teenager with other things on my mind at the time.
From Britannica:
“… As police began arriving in greater numbers, they were joined by private citizens (many alerted by the on-the-scene radio report of the incident as it occurred) who came armed with hunting rifles. The expanding fire from the ground forced Whitman to seek shelter behind the observation deck’s thick walls and limited his targeting ability by confining him to shooting through waterspouts.”
Whitman had been suffering from headaches and metal distress for some time before his final breakdown. An autopsy revealed an undetected brain tumor, possibly the cause.
It looks like Texas is being criticized for making sure their universities don’t take sides in this conflict. The press is mainly criticizing them for not making statements in support of Palestinians. Two grad students were dismissed from their positions for sending a statement in support of Palestinians to their classes. Although framed as a First Amendment violation, it definitely isn’t because they were speaking on behalf of the university in an official capacity. Texas is also being criticized (and sued) for forbidding their colleges from boycotting Israel. I think Texas didn’t go far enough. Every state should have a law that forbids their state schools from boycotting or sanctioning foreign countries. They are colleges, not the State Department.
The above mentioned campus-carry bill would make the anti-Jewish protests we have seen at other colleges very dangerous in Texas. It wouldn’t surprise me if every Jewish college student in Texas who is eligible has a carry license and is packing 24/7 right now.
Sounds like he has achieved the hat trick. Many are called, few are up to that challenge.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) is another poster child for the following observation…
It seems to me that there was once a time when the political left was considered to be the side of the political aisle that actively courted the intellectual elite and presented their arguments in a manner that was appealing to highly educated and very knowledgeable segments of society; however, since 2008 the political left is the side of the political aisle that’s actively courting the emotionally stunted, participation trophy wielding, psychological snowflakes, socially woke & indoctrinated, ignorant sheeple that will openly believe anything their side of the political aisle presents as absolute truth without any critical thinking. It’s as if we’re dealing with a group of people that are openly anti-intellectual, where blind acceptance of a very narrow view of the world is not only preferred but expected and critical thinking, open debate and cultural status quo is literally taboo.
The word philistine describes the attitudes, habits, and characteristics of a people who deprecate culture, spirituality and intellect, among other things. These people are very narrow minded and hostile to existing cultural protocols. Isn’t this a reasonably accurate description of the 21st century cult of pure anti- status quo progressives, aka cultural, political and intellect regressives?
Remember the catalyst to the 21st century’s modern progressive movement…
That speech from presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008 was an open call to action for progressive activists, and they came out in droves. The political left has announce, in one way or another, that they want to fundamentally change the United States at its very core and they have been actively undermining everything status quo since then to achieve their goal of “change” for the sake of change, it’s very cultish. As far as I can tell, there is no underlying status quo cultural “norm” that is immune to being attacked by this cult.
As long as the indoctrinated totalitarians in the political left see change, as in anti-status quo, as their ends justifies the means underlying ideological core, they will continue to look like a bunch of insane brainwashed cult of fools.
Jack wrote referring to Raskin’s rhetoric , “It doesn’t matter in the end, but personally, I vote for stupid.”
Stupid implies something about Raskin that I don’t believe is true, his rhetorical patterns since 2016 have shown otherwise. I personally think Raskin is very intentionally lying to the public knowing full well that the ignorant sheeple that the political left has courted, and is courting, will swallow and parrot his rhetoric as “truth” and Raskin is not wrong. I think Raskin is the epitome of the ends justifies the means, morally bankrupt, political evil that is intentionally manipulating and destroying the cultural and political cores to undermine the very foundations of the United States, he is profoundly immoral and wicked.