US, Israel Only ‘No’ Votes as UN Members Condemn Cuba Embargo for 30th Straight Year (+1 more)

Peace advocates on Thursday said that the near-unanimous vote by United Nations member states to demand an end to the US economic embargo of Cuba underscores the imperative for the Biden administration to lift the crippling 60-year blockade.

For the 30th straight year, UN General Assembly members voted in favor of a Cuban resolution condemning the embargo, first enacted during the administration of then-President John F. Kennedy, who according to close confidant and historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., wanted to unleash “the terrors of the Earth” on Cuba following Fidel Castro’s successful overthrow of a brutal U.S.-backed dictatorship.

Thursday’s vote was 185-2, with only the United States and Israel dissenting, and Ukraine and Brazil abstaining.

“The Biden administration talks about the need for a rules-based international order. Today’s UN vote clearly shows that the global community is calling on the US to lift its brutal embargo on Cuba,” CodePink cofounder Medea Benjamin said in a statement.

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Conflicts of Interest: Rep. Ilhan Omar Adopts the War Party’s Talking Points

On COI #343, Kyle Anzalone discusses progressives in Congress supporting the war in Ukraine.

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Lauren Boebert is the One with Terrorist Ties, not Ilhan Omar

By JUAN COLE

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) was caught on camera boasting of taunting Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) that she is a terrorist.

The taunt was ironic given that Hunter Walker at Rolling Stone reported that Boebert was one of a handful of representatives on the Hill who repeatedly met with conspirators planning the January 6, 2021, Capitol Insurrection in which angry armed mobs invaded the halls of Congress chanting “hang Mike Pence” and seeking to harm legislators.

Walker said of his two two top sources within the insurrectionists, “Rolling Stone has separately obtained documentary evidence that both sources were in contact with [Arizona Rep. Paul] Gosar and Boebert on Jan. 6.”

On Jan. 6! That is, while the insurrection was taking place!

That is, Boebert is the one with terrorist ties.

Rep. Omar is a refugee from the violence of warlords and terrorists in Somalia who came to the U.S. as a girl and rose to become a congresswoman because of her devotion to her new country and the trust she gained among her constituents that she would carefully steward their interests. Hers is a quintessential American story. Seven of the thirty-nine signers of the U.S. Constitution were foreign-born, one in the West Indies. For Rep. Omar to be tagged unjustly with the very violence that drove her from her homeland as a child must be deeply upsetting.

Boebert, addressing a small group of constituents in a living room, told a story (which Rep. Omar contests) that she was getting into an elevator in the Capitol when a policeman came running toward her with alarm on his face. Puzzled, she looked around and saw that Rep. Omar was in it with her. She alleged that she reassured the policeman that Omar did not have a backpack and so it was probably safe. She said that she then used the phrase “jihad squad.”

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Ilhan Omar: Progressives Are ‘Being Held Hostage by Conservative Democrats’

By Leia Idliby

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) accused “conservative Democrats” of holding both the progressive and Biden agenda “hostage” while on The Dean Obeidallah Show.

“What’s gonna happen if you can’t have a vote on Monday, on the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, or some version of that? Is there going to be a vote on this bipartisan loan, is that actually gonna happen?” Dean Obeidallah asked Omar on Thursday.

The bill has not only gotten pushback from GOP lawmakers, who have taken issue with both the size of the budget blueprint as well as certain provisions the Democrats are considering, but it has also been opposed by centrists in the Democratic Party.

While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that he intended to move “full speed ahead” with President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion spending package, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) stressed that the bill would not have his vote.

Omar, who serves as Congressional Progressive Caucus whip, said that on Thursday, “Senate progressive leaders put out a statement today reminding conservative Democrats that there was a deal made” regarding the infrastructure bill.

“The deal was that we will support the infrastructure bill if they supported the reconciliation budget resolution and if they go back on their deal we’re going back on our deal — and I don’t think anybody wants that to happen because it doesn’t benefit any one of us,” she continued.

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Omar Slams Biden Admin for Continuing ‘the Construction of Trump’s Xenophobic and Racist Wall’

Jordan Williams 

© Greg Nash Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.)

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) criticized the Biden administration for the continued construction of the former administration’s wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, which she called “xenophobic and racist.”

The criticism comes after The Washington Times reported that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees that the administration was considering finishing certain “gaps” in construction.

The outlet reported that Customs and Border Protection has submitted plans for further construction.

“It’s shameful and unacceptable for @POTUS to continue the construction of Trump’s xenophobic and racist wall,” Omar said on Twitter.

President Biden issued an executive order on his first day in office pausing some funds related to constructing the wall, and later rescinded the emergency order that former President Trump used to justify constructing the wall.

According to The Times, Mayorkas told ICE employees that the cancellation of funds “leaves room to make decision” on finishing “some gaps in the wall.”

“The president has communicated quite clearly his decision that the emergency that triggered the devotion of [Department of Defense] funds to the construction of the border wall is ended,” Mayorkas was reported in the Times as saying. “But that leaves room to make decisions as the administration, as part of the administration, in particular areas of the wall that need renovation, particular projects that need to be finished.”

When asked about plans to fill in “gaps” where construction was halted, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that the administration was reviewing funds that were allocated for the wall. However, she made clear that the administration planned on investing in “smart security” at the border, rather than finishing the wall.

“We have never believed the wall as an answer to addressing the challenges — immigration challenges at the border. That’s why we’re proposing an investment in smart –investments in smart security at the border,” she said. “What we see as 21st century solutions for border management, and why we believe we should build a functioning immigration system.”

[Source]