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United States News Title: Republican Palestinian-American is sole vote against anti-Semitism monitor WASHINGTON (JTA) Chris Smith, the New Jersey Republican who is trying to push through a bill that would enhance the role of the anti-Semitism monitor, put out a news release minutes after it passed the US House of Representatives and noted it was approved overwhelmingly. Legislators love to describe support for their bills as overwhelming, but the word they love even more is unanimous. Only one vote kept Smith from tasting that victory, and it was by a fellow Republican: Justin Amash of Michigan. Why was Amash, a traditionalist Christian libertarian and Palestinian American, opposed to the bill, which would set a 90-day deadline for US President Donald Trump to fill a position left empty since the start of his term? JTA asked his office, as well as Amash directly on Twitter, and he was not forthcoming. Amash is otherwise voluble on how and why he votes. Heres a look at his record. Amash values transparency
Amash, elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010, soon made a name for himself as a social media savant in painstakingly explaining every one of his votes on his Facebook page. Somewhere along the line that commitment faded. Plenty of Amash votes go unexplained on his Twitter and Facebook feeds these days, including his anti-Semitism monitor decision. But he still engages plenty with followers on how and why he voted. Last week he was at pains, in polite replies to sometimes rancorous comments on Twitter, to explain why he voted against a bill favored by most other Republicans that would guarantee payment to workers furloughed during a government shutdown. Amash said that existing law already guarantees payment, and that the bill under consideration would encourage shutdowns rather than inhibit them.
but has avoided explaining sensitive votes Amashs unexplained vote against the anti-Semitism monitor is not the only occasion he has declined to discuss third-rail votes. In July, he was one of five Republicans who voted against an act that would enhance the US response to emerging or potential genocides; no explanation was forthcoming. (The bill was named for Elie Wiesel, the late Holocaust memoirist and Nobel Peace laureate.) Without an explanation, its hard to pin down what keeps Amash from voting for what are essentially anti-bias actions. Amash, when he first ran, was mentored by former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, a perennial GOP presidential candidate and the partys foundational libertarian, who favored a much lower US profile overseas. Both the Wiesel act and Smiths anti-Semitism act are undergirded by an outlook that favors a robust US leadership role internationally. Domestically, Amash has spoken out against bigotry, and he was among the first in his party last week to slam fellow Republican Steve King of Iowa for wondering why white supremacist has become an idea worthy of condemnation. This is an embrace of racism, and it has no place in Congress or anywhere, Amash said on Twitter. Amash also appears to put principle ahead of what others would call political slam dunks: Last year he was only one of two lawmakers to vote against giving the Congressional Gold Medal to Steve Gleason, a former NFL player suffering from Lou Gehrigs disease. My threshold for awarding the Congressional Gold Medal is that the persons actions were *uniquely* heroic in the annals of history, regardless of celebrity status, he said on Twitter. Most often, deserving recipients are war heroes or civil rights heroes. Hes a proud Palestinian American Last Thanksgiving, he thanked the minister who helped his family to come to the United States as Palestinian-Christian refugees in 1956. Amash said on Facebook that he was thankful for the Wagoner family, who sponsored and aided my fathers family, Palestinian Christian refugees, to begin a new and wonderful life in America. Amash has been honored by the (now moribund) American Task Force on Palestine. Amash votes with the pro-Israel lobby on Iran issues, seeking to isolate Israels nemesis, but scores high with pro-Palestinian groups on issues related directly to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For instance, in 2014 he voted against additional funding for Israels anti-missile system, Iron Dome, during that summers Gaza war. He noted that he had previously backed funding for the system, but objected in this case because the bill did not include the offsets that conservatives usually demand when new funding is sought. In 2011 he described Israel as a helpful ally and said he was for a two-state solution. More recently, Amash sounded a rare peevish note on Twitter. When freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., described another freshman, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, as the first Palestinian-American member of Congress, Amash corrected the record. Do news organizations not fact check anymore? he said on Twitter, linking to a news article that repeated the error. Im a Palestinian-American, and Ive served in Congress for several years. (JTA got it right.) Hes proud of bucking his party This years Amash has voted against the back pay bill for furloughed federal workers, initiated eminent domain legislation that would make it tougher to build Trumps wall with Mexico and been lacerating in his assessment of the presidents nominee for attorney general, William Barr. Amash pointed to Barrs record during the George W. Bush administration of defending warrantless eavesdropping. Amash has decorated his Facebook and Twitter pages with a quote from George Washington warning against the baneful effects of placing party above country. Over the weekend, when a progressive challenged Amash to work with the progressive Democratic freshman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Amash replied stay tuned. Hes buds with a gay liberal Jewish Democrat Amash joined forces with Jared Polis, the gay liberal Jewish Democrat from Colorado, in the last Congress in a bid to enhance restrictions on warrantless eavesdropping. Amash congratulated his friend when he was elected Colorado governor and said he regretted losing the only Democrat who was a member of the Liberty Caucus, the libertarian biweekly get-together launched by Amash. Congratulations to my friend @jaredpolis! Amash said. Ill miss having you here in the House.
Poster Comment: An America firster, and a great American. Thus the cheezy hit piece. Amash 2020.
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#1. To: Hondo68 (#0)
If you want to flood America with muslims from terrorist countries. Which Amash the piece of cat shit supports. It's ok he wont be a congressman much longer. Say adios to the loser.
Justin Amash is an Orthodox Christian. Not a fake one like the protestants.
So if you believe that Jesus is the son of God. You repent of your sins. You use the King James Bible. You are a fake Christian according to the weirdo internet poster named Hondo who tells us to vote for candidates that support abortion, gun confiscation and open borders. That is why even Fred Mertz calls you a dopehead. You really are a dumb person.
That ain't nothing compared to what he calls you! Fred's a good Catholic.
I don't recall hondo getting into much in the way of religious postings. I thought it was clear enough he was raised in the church of Rome but is pretty much a lapsed Catholic. What I don't get is where you're seen hondo telling people to vote for candidates who support abortion, gun confiscation and open borders. This is a small forum and, while I don't read every last post here, I would think I would have noticed him doing that, given all the years that some of us have posted to each other at LP and then here at LF. Do you have any example(s) of hondo urging support for Lefty/Dem candidates? If he has, I honestly don't recall it. Fred doesn't post much but I don't recall him calling hondo a dopehead. Can you list any posts where Fred does call hondo a dopehead? I flagged Fred directly so he can confirm or dispute whether you have accurately summarized Fred's opinion of hondo. I had the impression that hondo and Fred are both older retired men of a generally conservative outlook on most topics. On many occasions, I don't care for Fred's opinions but, again, I don't recall him expressing the kind of hostility toward hondo that you suggest. So, Fred Mertz, is Stone accurately representing your opinion that "hondo68 is a dopehead"? Is this your opinion? Do you post such an opinion of him on a regular basis? You really should remember that some, perhaps a majority, of posters here are older dudes that have posted together at different forums for decades. And many people nowadays are more socially isolated. Before you use your power as an admin to bash them or even to cut them off from their old chat channel buddies, maybe you should consider a bit whether being so mean to old dudes on your forum really makes you happier or the forum any better. How do you want to be treated as you age, Stone? Or if you become an old dude with just a small online presence but which you enjoy, mostly because you've known some others on that forum for so many years, people that are as familiar and comfortable to you as your favorite old pair of tennis shoes? People who are old enough to reflect the ideas of your generation, who remember all the same things that you remember.
Not so much. Amash certainly has a bigger following and influence with libertarian voters than, say, Jill Stein had with Dem voters when Stein managed to pull enough votes away from Hillary in MI/WI/PA for Trump to win in 2016. Or the number of votes cast for Nader or Buchanan in key Florida counties that led to Junior Bush's defeat of Al Gore. Be careful what you wish for. I think the House GOP made a serious avoidable error in how they've treated Amash, however offended they were at some of his votes/speeches.
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