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Notes -
Maybe things have changed, but isn’t this considered anti-semitism:
” he was asked if he had ever been an agent of the Israeli government.”
Asking about dual loyalty until a few minutes ago I feel like has always been something you are not allowed to do. And since it’s a Jew that means the ADL gets you banned from every social media platform and payment system. Even implying that Ilhan Omar isn’t loyal to the US (after she gives a speech professing love to Somalia) is considered a dog whistle.
Have things changed this much on the Jewish question because I feel like not too long ago this was a straight to jail question.
Shapiro described himself in his own words as a "past volunteer in the Israeli army." He also worked briefly in the Israeli embassy- no; not the US embassy in Israel, the Israeli embassy in Washington:
Screaming anti-Semitism in the face of questions over "dual loyalty" is losing effectiveness because the problem of dual loyalty among Zionist Jews in the American government is undeniably a very real phenomenon. They clearly do identify and love that foreign country and advocate for it and work for it directly! They are loyal to Israel, there is no question. You cannot serve two masters.
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They didn't ask the question because he was Jewish, they asked because he lived in a kibbutz in Israel for a while and worked on an army base. They had to ask. The same reason they had to ask Tim Walz if he was an agent of the Chines government because he lived there for a while and took kids on field trips there afterward. They also have to ask these people if they've ever had affairs, if they've ever been arrested, if they have any criminal contacts, if they've ever been treated for a mental condition, if they've ever used drugs, if they've ever embezzled state funds, if they're having financial problems, and any number of countless other things that you'd be embarrassed about if someone asked you because of the implication.
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There was literally a brief period between Pat Buchanan’s campaign in 1992 (or really Gingrich and the Evangelicals’ greatest triumph in 1994) and like 2017 when it was highly unfashionable. It lasted a little longer than peak woke but it was hardly a centuries long phenomenon.
During the period of two wars in Iraq it should be noted. It was at peak unfashionability at the exact same time of peak relevance of the question with respect to American foreign policy in the Middle East.
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It is considered antisemitic. They still needed to do it though.
This isn’t a dinner party. This is the Presidency of the United States.
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