u/Tappyy

In particular, I’m thinking about a few things.

The first thing I’m thinking about is Ilhan Omar. She has been forcefully condemned by the right for her comments about Somalia and acting in their interest in Congress. The Heritage Foundation went after her for it, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer called for her resignation for putting Somali interests over her constituents, Trump has attacked her along this axis as well, and Majorie Taylor Greene sought to censure her for these remarks. EDIT: Someone wanted me to explicitly add the context that the statements Ilhan Omar has been scrutinized for were not given in English originally, and Omar argues that the translation of her statements were not accurate. This is covered in the Hill article I linked but now it’s in the body of the post as well.

The second thing I’m thinking about are some older remarks by Ted Cruz and, more recently, some remarks by Jon Fetterman that haven’t seem to have gotten nearly as much attention. Ted Cruz has famously been a proponent for Israel in congress. In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Cruz said:

> Listen, I came into Congress 13 years ago with the stated intention of being the leading defender of Israel in the United States Senate. I’ve worked every day to do that.

Fetterman also recently had an interview with Jon Stewart where he called support for Israel his “red line,” to which Stewart responded “But that is not our country.”

So at what point, if any, do you feel a congressperson’s support for a foreign country’s interests is problematic?

EDIT: Forgot to add the link to the Ted Cruz interview, it should be in the post now, sorry!

A recent petition started by some family members of 9/11 victims is calling for Mamdani not to attend the Commemoration Ceremony. You can read their listed reasoning in the link.

For some additional context, it’s worth noting that some 9/11 families oppose the petition. Additionally, at least according to the Commemoration website, the ceremony consists of the reading of the names of the victims and several moments of silence— I can’t find anything indicating Mamdani would be speaking if he were to attend, but that’s not necessarily ruling out the possibility. A spokesperson for the Memorial and Museum said in the following statement to Snopes:

> We have intentionally worked to keep the commemoration free of politics because remembering those we lost on 9/11 should never be a partisan issue. Government officials from across the political spectrum, including every sitting president, governor, and mayor since 9/11, have attended the ceremony simply to bear witness -- they do not deliver remarks and are asked to remain in a designated area.

I also checked to see if a politician had ever been asked not to attend the memorial before and was unable to find any precedent for this.

EDIT: Accidentally double posted this question, sorry! I deleted one of them so as not to flood the subreddit. Not sure how that happened. Also, thank you all again for your time and consideration.

whenever juniper laughs

At what point, if any, do you feel a congressperson’s support for a foreign country’s interests is problematic?

Do you think Mamdani should be allowed to attend the 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony? Why or why not?

some of my minis from over the years!

when youre fighting maruki and detox activates

do you have any idea how many phantom wafers you can get for 5 million yen