A Worthless Resolution, What Was Missing, The Brave 23

Gary Bauer

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: A Worthless Resolution - After repeated fumbles, the House Democrat leadership finally got their resolution against bigotry across the goal the line yesterday evening. The vote was 407-to-23. I am not going to applaud those who supported this resolution. It was worthless.

It should not have taken Democrats who control the House of Representatives eight days to condemn anti-Semitic statements about Jews having too much influence over U.S. foreign policy or being disloyal to America. And the resolution should not have omitted the offending party, Rep. Ilhan Omar.

This controversy was caused by her disgusting anti-Semitic remarks. Period. Full stop. Yet anyone unfamiliar with the controversy would have no clue as to why the resolution was necessary based on its text.

Not only is she not mentioned, there are numerous references to white nationalism and white supremacy. And there is an entire page devoted to condemnations of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry -- in this resolution that was necessary because of anti-Semitic statements from a Muslim congresswoman.

Most of the so-called "progressive" left will not confront the growing anti-Semitism within its own ranks.

Needless to say, the resolution left many members of Congress dissatisfied, including some Democrats. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said, "I was very disappointed we weren't able to have a separate resolution that condemns anti-Semitism."

As Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) put it:

"We are having this debate because of the language one of our colleagues, language that suggests Jews like me who serve in the United States in Congress . . . that we are not loyal Americans? Why are we unable to singularly condemn anti-Semitism? . . . This shouldn't be so hard."

Proving just how worthless the resolution truly was, Omar evidently felt vindicated after it passed! She issued a joint celebratory statement with fellow Muslims Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Andre Carson (D-IN), saying:

"Today is historic on many fronts. It's the first time we have ever voted on a resolution condemning Anti-Muslim bigotry in our nation's history. . . We are tremendously proud to be part of a body that has put forth a condemnation of all forms of bigotry including anti-Semitism, racism, and white supremacy."

While it might have been the first time she ever voted on such a resolution, the House passed a resolution condemning anti-Muslim bigotry just four days after the 9/11 attacks.

The resolution at its core was actually a progressive condemnation of the American people rather than the anti-Semites in the House. The thrust of the document is that we are a nation full of haters. We are not.

What Was Missing - Since Democrats decided to expand the subjects covered in the resolution, there was one glaring omission. There was no condemnation of anti-Christian bigotry. I guess the Democrat leadership doesn't care about that.

We have seen judicial nominees attacked by liberal senators worried that their faith would affect their rulings.

There is a whole "industry" established to bash Christian schools, labeling them as "educating for hate" because they are teaching traditional Christian views on the sanctity of life and the definition of marriage.

Numerous left-wing politicians have called conservative pro-life Christians "the American Taliban," which is ironic because progressives frequently claim that extremism has nothing to do with Islam.

Christian, pro-family organizations are regularly smeared as the equivalent of the KKK by progressive groups.

If you speak with any elected Christian official serving at the national level, they will tell you that if they publicly refer to Christ or pray at a public event, the atheist lobby and radical secularists will harass them, and in some cases even threaten them.

The issue before us this week was anti-Semitism. But the left's response to the dilemma it had, which was that a lot of progressives supported Omar, was to list a bunch of hate in order to avoid dealing with anti-Semitism as a special kind of evil.

In other words, they set out to bury anti-Semitism in a long list of things that are wrong and they conveniently left out anti-Christian bigotry.

Once again, Christians and Jews are reminded of just how much we have in common -- we're at the bottom of the progressive pecking order.

The Brave 23 - I'm sure some of you may be wondering about the 23 votes against the resolution. After all, what politician would want to go on the record against a resolution opposing hate?

Twenty-three Republicans had the courage to oppose the resolution because it was so watered down and meaningless. It is important that you understand this because the left is already trying to smear these good men and women.

Here's how Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) explained his vote:

"If a Republican Member was pushing the antisemitism that Rep. Omar keeps peddling, this resolution would name names, and be solely, emphatically focused on anti-Semitism and that member would be removed from their committee assignments.

"The double standard motivating this decision by the Speaker and the moral equivalency filling this watered down text is spineless and disgusting."

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) was equally blunt, saying:

"Today's resolution vote was a sham put forward by Democrats to avoid condemning one of their own and denouncing vile anti-Semitism. While I stand whole heartedly against discrimination outlined in this resolution, the language before the House today did not address the issue that is front and center.

"Rep. Omar's comments were wrong and she has proven multiple times that she embodies a vile, hate-filled, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel bigotry. She deserves to be rebuked, by name, and removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. . .

"For Democratic leadership to kowtow to their radical members and refuse to offer legislative language that criticizes Rep. Omar's statements in the strongest possible manner confirms what we already knew: that their party is controlled by far-left extremists who can't even muster the courage to stand up to blatant anti-Semitism.

"This is a sad day for the House and Democrats' lack of action is fully responsible for bringing us to this unfortunate moment."
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Gary Bauer (@GaryLBauer)  is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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