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As Joe Biden said, "The words of a president matter, no matter how good or bad they are."
For the past four years, our president, Donald Trump, has been using words to divide this country, to encourage people to hate each other, and to sow distrust in government.
It all came to a screeching crescendo Wednesday afternoon when his thuggish supporters attacked the Capitol. Trump has been dangerously creeping towards this moment, along with his GOP colleagues, since he took office.
His words encouraged domestic terrorism. Earlier on Wednesday, he thanked his supporters when they chanted "fight for Trump." He told the crowd that they will never take back the country with weakness and they need to show strength and be strong. He even praised them saying he loved them and that they were special.
Many GOP members denounced the violence and called for Trump's removal from office. But their words are meaningless. Their silence for the past 1447 days is unconscionable. They only spoke out when the violence Trump personally endorsed touched them and forced them under benches and desks.
This dark moment in America will not be forgotten, nor will the bright moment that followed. Congress reconvened to confirm Joe Biden's win. Democracy prevails.
The Capitol will be repaired. The offices will be cleaned. Work will resume. But the scars on our democracy's heart will take longer to heal.
Unfortunately, this week's bedlam overshadowed our victory in Georgia. We hoped we left an ugly piece of the past behind when the Southern state elected its first Jewish Senator and its first black Senator. Mobs waving the confederate flags and wearing antisemitic slogans on shirts ransacking the Capitol reminded us that we haven't actually travelled very far.
It will soon be Joe Biden's task to lead us to a better place. It will take his strength and fortitude, along with that of Congress, to work to end the racism and bigotry that also forced its way into the Capitol.
If Democrats and Republicans can hide together while under attack, then they can work together to address the critical issues facing our country.
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Be a Part of Joe Biden's 2021 Inaugural Committee
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Israel-Europe Ties Improving, Warming up to Abraham Accords
Foreign Ministry deputy director-general for Europe Anna Azari said when she prepared her working program for 2020 a year ago and looked at the challenges and goals ahead, blowback from the possibility that Israel might extend its sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria was at the top of the agenda. The Foreign Ministry has been working to help those European diplomats understand the shift in the paradigm of the Middle East. The Ministry sees positive trends in Israel-Europe relations and has even won over some Abraham Accords skeptics
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Holocaust-Denying Neo-Nazis Among the Trump Supporters Who Stormed U.S. Capitol
Avowed white supremacists and Holocaust deniers were among the Trump supporters who violently occupied the U.S. Capitol, with experts on far-right extremism calling the storming a jarring but natural product of years of violence and hateful rhetoric stoked by disinformation and conspiracy theories. The crowd of Trump supporters at the Capitol also included adherents of the "Groyper Army," a loose network of white supremacists that includes "America First" podcaster Nick Fuentes, who has questioned the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust and believes that Israel has a malicious influence on U.S. policy.
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Violence at the Capitol Had Its Roots in Anti-Choice Violence
The events at the Capitol were the inevitable escalation of years of anti-democratic rhetoric coming from the Trump administration, and Rewire News Group has been covering it from the start. From the first days of Trump's presidency, far-right agitators like the Proud Boys did not just find a home in the Trump administration -- they also wielded influence with an ideology steeped in toxic masculinity that erupted once again this week.
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The Democratic Sin of Congressional Chaplains
On the last day of 2020, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that for the first time in history a female minister would serve as the new chaplain for the U.S. House of Representatives. As a Baptist minister who believes in gender equality in the pulpit, my concern is not with retired Rear Adm. Margaret Grun Kibben as a minister. Rather, I remain opposed to government chaplains. Shattering the glass ceiling hardly seems like a celebratory moment when we use those shards to puncture the wall between church and state.
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Assault on Democracy: Sen. Josh Hawley Has Blood on His Hands in Capitol Coup Attempt
No one other than President Donald Trump himself is more responsible for Wednesday's coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol than one Joshua David Hawley, the 41-year-old junior senator from Missouri, who put out a fundraising appeal while the siege was underway. Hawley was first to say that he would oppose the certification of Joe Biden's Electoral College win. That action, motivated by ambition, set off much that followed -- the rush of his fellow presidential aspirant Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and other members of the Sedition Caucus to put a show of loyalty to the president above all else.
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How Ossoff and Warnock's Georgia Senate Wins Will Impact the Climate
Democrats have won control of the Senate and with it, a fighting shot at passing meaningful climate legislation. First, it means that President-elect Joe Biden will have an easier time confirming his cabinet nominees. Second, control of the Senate will enable the Democrats to more easily reverse some of President Donald Trump's last-minute environmental deregulations.
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The 25th Amendment: The Quickest Way Trump Could Be Stripped of Power, Explained
Should Trump further escalate his attempts to hold on to the White House, there is a way for top officials to quickly strip him of the powers of the presidency: by invoking Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. Under that amendment, if the vice president and a majority of Cabinet secretaries conclude the president is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office," they can put that in writing and send it to congressional leaders. Once that happens, the vice president immediately becomes acting president. If the president disputes it, Congress decides the matter, with a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate needed to keep the vice president in charge.
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Late-Night Hosts React to Capitol Riot: 'the Treason Finale of the Donald Trump Era'
Late-night hosts, typically some of the most jovial personalities on television, were somber and angry after rioters stormed the halls of Congress in a failed attempt to block the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.
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"I will not be deterred from carrying out my sacred constitutional duty. I've survived an RPG for our democracy. Tin pot dictators and their mobs won't stop me from doing my job."
- Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
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Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs (JACPAC) is a pro-Israel PAC with a domestic agenda. We support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and advocate for reproductive health and the separation of religion and state and incorporate other issues of importance to the Jewish community, including gun violence prevention and climate change. In addition to providing financial support for U.S. Senate and House campaigns, JACPAC educates our membership with outreach events designed to inform and activate their participation in the political process.
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Paid for by Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs. Contributions or gifts are not tax deductible. Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation, and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle. Corporate contributions and contributions from non-US citizens who are not lawfully admitted for permanent residence are prohibited. All contributions by individuals must be made from personal funds and may not be reimbursed or paid by another person.
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