Poll Dem VP Pic: your choice?

[GenesisNemesis]

Walz really waltzed right into this one:

Walz once praised Muslim leader who shared antisemitic propaganda

The video features Walz, who was chosen last week to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, speaking at an event hosted by the Muslim American Society of Minnesota during his first gubernatorial campaign in 2018, according to the Examiner. In the video, Walz praises Imam Asad Zaman, executive director of the organization hosting the event, as a “master teacher” and briefly touches on their shared history.

“I would like to first of all say thank you to Imam. I am a teacher, so when I see a master teacher, I know it,” Walz says in the video. “Over the time we’ve spent together, one of the things I’ve had the privilege of is seeing the things in life through the eye of a master teacher to try and get the understanding, listening today to the stories and what it means.”

Walz’s appearance alongside the Muslim cleric, one of several in recent years, came after Zaman had shared a link in 2015 to a neo-Nazi propaganda film that portrayed Adolf Hitler in a positive light. Zaman had also shared a Hamas press release in 2016 mourning the death of a Bangladeshi Muslim politician, who was executed after being found guilty of war crimes.

In the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas inside Israel, Zaman has shared anti-Israel posts on social media. On October 7, he expressed solidarity with Palestinians “against Israeli attacks” while sharing a statement from the Muslim American Society of Minnesota condemning “Israel’s recent unprovoked attacks.” Earlier that day, Zaman shared a post arguing, “Palestine has the right to defend itself.”

Btw, if "Muslim American Society" rings a bell, it may be because of this video by their Philly chapter.

Ok, probably the only time I'll agree with you on this, that is concerning.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Definitely unfortunate. Of course, remember when anti-Semitic Trump supporters marched with tiki torches in Virginia?

Some people only seem to care about brown Anti-Semitism.

 

[Harry Bosch]

But Harris had a closer connection and gut feeling with Walz.

And as we have seen in 2019, her gut does not make good decisions.

You (say you) want her to win.
WHy are you trying to make people not vote for her?


Make this make sense!!!!

I could be wrong, but I think that he really liked Shapiro. I think (sorry if I'm wrong) that he thinks that Shapiro was rejected because he is jewish.

 

[Rhea]

But Harris had a closer connection and gut feeling with Walz.

And as we have seen in 2019, her gut does not make good decisions.

You (say you) want her to win.
WHy are you trying to make people not vote for her?


Make this make sense!!!!

I could be wrong, but I think that he really liked Shapiro. I think (sorry if I'm wrong) that he thinks that Shapiro was rejected because he is jewish.

That may be true, but I’m trying to reconcile his statement that he plans to vote for Harris, presumably because he thinks her as president is better than the alternatives, while at the same time posting comments that could make her less likely to win.

That’s the part that makes no sense.
If you don’t want her to win, then don’t vote for her.
But if you do want her to win, and you plan to vote for her, why are you posting in a manner that will cost her votes?


I don’t get that.

 

[Ford]

Definitely unfortunate. Of course, remember when anti-Semitic Trump supporters marched with tiki torches in Virginia?

Remember when the right wing spent all their time attacking Obama's radical Christian pastor while at the same time over-emphasizing his middle name in an attempt to label him as a radical Muslim? Terrorist fist bump, anyone?

The Trump campaign is like a K-Tel greatest hits collection from the GOP. Veiled (or obvious) racism, calling anyone running against them "Crooked," a bunch of "every accusation is a confession" attacks, and clutching their pearls when some of their rhetoric is tied to white nationalist groups. Trump even pulled out the "communist" card, which is hilarious because the demo he's losing (35 and under white college educated women) have no memory of the Cold War and are likely saying "okay grandpa, whatever" whenever the right throws out the "communist" accusation.

Hell, for a lot of younger, educated folks, that socialism stuff is sounding pretty appealing right now. Trump "warned" his rally crowd that if Kamala is elected, we'll all get free health care. Um...Don...that's a thing we've been demanding for decades now.

 

[Copernicus]

But Harris had a closer connection and gut feeling with Walz.

And as we have seen in 2019, her gut does not make good decisions.

You (say you) want her to win.
WHy are you trying to make people not vote for her?


Make this make sense!!!!

I could be wrong, but I think that he really liked Shapiro. I think (sorry if I'm wrong) that he thinks that Shapiro was rejected because he is jewish.

That may be true, but I’m trying to reconcile his statement that he plans to vote for Harris, presumably because he thinks her as president is better than the alternatives, while at the same time posting comments that could make her less likely to win.

That’s the part that makes no sense.
If you don’t want her to win, then don’t vote for her.
But if you do want her to win, and you plan to vote for her, why are you posting in a manner that will cost her votes?


I don’t get that.

I don't either, but Derec's defense seems to be that people here support the Democratic candidates because they are hopelessly biased, not because they have good reasons to support them. So he is on a mission to reform those of us with the wrong reasons for supporting the candidates who are only tolerable because Donald Trump is so much worse. It goes without saying that Trump is worse, so why make the effort to discredit him? Bashing Harris and Walz is OK, because he's going to vote for them, and we need to know that they wouldn't be worth the effort if it were not for Trump. So he's on our side for now, although he'd rather be on the other side. But, if he's with us, then he's going to bash our candidates and spit on them. Because that's what friends do.

Does that make sense? Obviously, I can't read Derec's mind, but this is what I can reconstruct from the content of his posts.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

Definitely unfortunate. Of course, remember when anti-Semitic Trump supporters marched with tiki torches in Virginia?

Some people only seem to care about brown Anti-Semitism.

Yeah, I'm not saying Walz is an anti-semite, obviously. But definitely shows some naivety, and this kind of thing is why we need people who are more skeptical of religion in office.

 

[TomC]

Definitely unfortunate. Of course, remember when anti-Semitic Trump supporters marched with tiki torches in Virginia?

Some people only seem to care about brown Anti-Semitism.

Yeah, I'm not saying Walz is an anti-semite, obviously. But definitely shows some naivety, and this kind of thing is why we need people who are more skeptical of religion in office.

Honestly, I have trouble caring about this at all.
At the time, Walz was the governor of Minnesota. He expressed an opinion. I don't like it, I think Israel has every right to defend itself against it's enemies. But I don't think that the governor of a state like Minnesota has an important opinion on the subject either. I didn't even know about it.

I still wouldn't except for people grasping at straws to criticize the Harris-Walz ticket.
Tom

 

[GenesisNemesis]

At the time, Walz was the governor of Minnesota. He expressed an opinion.

Sure. I expressed my opinion as well.

 

[Arctish]

So Walz praised a guy who shared

Definitely unfortunate. Of course, remember when anti-Semitic Trump supporters marched with tiki torches in Virginia?

Some people only seem to care about brown Anti-Semitism.

Yeah, I'm not saying Walz is an anti-semite, obviously. But definitely shows some naivety, and this kind of thing is why we need people who are more skeptical of religion in office.

Honestly, I have trouble caring about this at all.
At the time, Walz was the governor of Minnesota. He expressed an opinion. I don't like it, I think Israel has every right to defend itself against it's enemies. But I don't think that the governor of a state like Minnesota has an important opinion on the subject either. I didn't even know about it.

I still wouldn't except for people grasping at straws to criticize the Harris-Walz ticket.
Tom

What exactly did Walz say? What was the context?

This looks like a nothingburger about Walz saying something about someone who shared something on Facebook (posted? reposted? had it show up in his feed out of the blue?) without Walz knowing about the Facebook thing and for an entirely different reason than what the Facebook thing was about.

 

[Copernicus]

So Walz praised a guy who shared

Definitely unfortunate. Of course, remember when anti-Semitic Trump supporters marched with tiki torches in Virginia?

Some people only seem to care about brown Anti-Semitism.

Yeah, I'm not saying Walz is an anti-semite, obviously. But definitely shows some naivety, and this kind of thing is why we need people who are more skeptical of religion in office.

Honestly, I have trouble caring about this at all.
At the time, Walz was the governor of Minnesota. He expressed an opinion. I don't like it, I think Israel has every right to defend itself against it's enemies. But I don't think that the governor of a state like Minnesota has an important opinion on the subject either. I didn't even know about it.

I still wouldn't except for people grasping at straws to criticize the Harris-Walz ticket.
Tom

What exactly did Walz say? What was the context?

This looks like a nothingburger about Walz saying something about someone who shared something on Facebook (posted? reposted? had it show up in his feed out of the blue?) without Walz knowing about the Facebook thing and for an entirely different reason than what the Facebook thing was about.

I think that this is one of those incidents in which a Democratic governor said something nice about an Imam--Asad Zaman--who once posted a link in 2015 to a film that has been described as attempting to promote antisemitic themes, including a revisionist view of Nazism. Apparently, the story was generated within the right wing information bubble. See this CNN story:

Walz once praised Muslim leader who shared antisemitic propaganda​

The conservative Washington Examiner used this 9 1/2 minute video to show Walz calling the Imam a "master teacher", because he was impressed by a story that the imam told before an event the imam hosted in 2018. Walz was running for governor at the time. (The imam himself is not shown on the screen.)



Of course, it is most unlikely that Walz was aware of the 2015 post or the controversy surrounding it. He was simply praising a Muslim host at an event he was attending, and he thought the imam's sermon was good. There is nothing in Walz's background to suggest he has sympathy for antisemitic causes or feels solidarity with Hamas. That is all just part of a partisan smear campaign that has been resurrected from Republican attacks on his gubernatorial run.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

So Walz praised a guy who shared

Definitely unfortunate. Of course, remember when anti-Semitic Trump supporters marched with tiki torches in Virginia?

Some people only seem to care about brown Anti-Semitism.

Yeah, I'm not saying Walz is an anti-semite, obviously. But definitely shows some naivety, and this kind of thing is why we need people who are more skeptical of religion in office.

Honestly, I have trouble caring about this at all.
At the time, Walz was the governor of Minnesota. He expressed an opinion. I don't like it, I think Israel has every right to defend itself against it's enemies. But I don't think that the governor of a state like Minnesota has an important opinion on the subject either. I didn't even know about it.

I still wouldn't except for people grasping at straws to criticize the Harris-Walz ticket.
Tom

What exactly did Walz say? What was the context?

This looks like a nothingburger about Walz saying something about someone who shared something on Facebook (posted? reposted? had it show up in his feed out of the blue?) without Walz knowing about the Facebook thing and for an entirely different reason than what the Facebook thing was about.

I think that this is one of those incidents in which a Democratic governor said something nice about an Imam--Asad Zaman--who once posted a link in 2015 to a film that has been described as attempting to promote antisemitic themes, including a revisionist view of Nazism. Apparently, the story was generated within the right wing information bubble. See this CNN story:

Walz once praised Muslim leader who shared antisemitic propaganda​

The conservative Washington Examiner used this 9 1/2 minute video to show Walz calling the Imam a "master teacher", because he was impressed by a story that the imam told before an event the imam hosted in 2018. Walz was running for governor at the time. (The imam himself is not shown on the screen.)



Of course, it is most unlikely that Walz was aware of the 2015 post or the controversy surrounding it. He was simply praising a Muslim host at an event he was attending, and he thought the imam's sermon was good. There is nothing in Walz's background to suggest he has sympathy for antisemitic causes or feels solidarity with Hamas. That is all just part of a partisan smear campaign that has been resurrected from Republican attacks on his gubernatorial run.

I just think there should be a little more scrutiny of religious leaders on Walz's part. *shrug*

Seems reasonable if we're all about skepticism. He shouldn't just be assuming "every religious leader = good!"

 

[Copernicus]

I just think there should be a little more scrutiny of religious leaders on Walz's part. *shrug*

Seems reasonable if we're all about skepticism.

Sure, but it is unrealistic to expect that these kinds of attacks can always be anticipated and guarded against. Walz was running for governor, so he probably didn't have the resources to check out the imam's background. Not having seen the film that the imam posted a link to, I can't say whether it was really intended to praise Hitler or if the imam himself had seen the film. He was a popular cleric in the Muslim community, and Walz was campaigning for votes in that community. It seems not to have harmed him in his gubernatorial bid in Minnesota, but it is useful in a national campaign where close elections in swing states invite vote-shaving activities by Republicans looking for an edge to drive up their own numbers and drive down Democratic numbers. Pennsylvania comes to mind here. I expect this story to pop up in TV ads in that state and be pumped up in social media by the usual suspects--fake accounts on Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, etc.

 

[starwater]

Walz drove drunk, admitted it, and said he had no excuse.

At the time, yes. But in 2006, his congressional campaign certainly denied he drove drunk and offered his partial deafness as an excuse.
Walz's 2006 campaign made misleading claims on drink-driving arrest

How dare a politician make a mistake and apologize. What is wrong with him?

But in 2006, his campaign manager at the time told media that Mr Walz was not drunk when he was pulled over, falsely suggesting it was a misunderstanding.
Mr Walz failed field sobriety and breath tests after the trooper smelled alcohol on his breath, court documents show.
He was then transported to the hospital for a blood test where his blood alcohol level was 0.128% compared to the legal limit of 0.10%, according to court documents.
[...]
His campaign manager at the time suggested Mr Walz was not drunk, saying he could not understand the trooper because of hearing loss from his time serving in the National Guard.
The campaign manager also falsely claimed to the Rochester Post Bulletin that the judge who dismissed the case had criticized the arresting officer for not understanding that Walz had hearing loss.
Walz had ear surgery in 2005 to fix his hearing loss, the Associated Press reported. But court records do not mention that Mr Walz struggled to hear the officer at the time of the arrest.
His campaign at the time also claimed that Mr Walz was allowed to drive himself to jail on the night of the arrest, which was untrue.
Mr Walz reportedly acknowledged that he was drunk at the time of the arrest.
"It's just a dangerous situation," Mr Walz said in a 1996 court transcript of the hearing. "Not just to myself, but to the others who aren't even involved with it."

Kavanagh - deflected, denied, and lied about it.

He denied claims that he attacked CBF. There was no evidence to back up her story.

OMG! you are right!!!! She should have releveled in the stalking, harassments and sexual assault. It should have been a thrill for her!!! Why was she reliving it as the most exciting time of her life!!!!

Uncollaborated??? Believe women.

That's sexist. We should not blindly believe women. Any accusation of a crime requires corroboration, esp. heinous crimes.
And there was none here. Even her friend, Leland Keyser doubts her story.

You are right!!! she should view it from a male perspective!!!!! How dare she be upset!!!! What attention she got to ruin her career and family.

She told people about it at the time. So in my book that is collaborated. BIG SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE. Admitting you were wrong and owning up to it, is different than lying about it.

She did not tell anybody at the time. That's a falsehood.
She allegedly said something to a shrink, but that was much later.
You do not know that Kav lied about it. I think CBF lied her ass off. We will never know for sure. But we do know Walz blew 0.128%. That much is objective fact.

Oh Yes!! How dare she not have been flattered by it!! No reason to have therapy about it. What was wrong with her.

The George Floyd murder was a tragic stain on our democracy. The protestors shed light on a very significant problem. Whether it should have been handled differently? I'm sure the protestors would have a very different point of view.

Your right how dare those dark skinned people be so violent!!
People in this country have a right to protest peacefully. Not to vandalize or burn down stores. Not to attack people. Not to barricade streets and occupy a square for over a year. That's not protesting, and these rioters should have been arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Just like 1/6 rioters were. People should not get a pass for their crimes just because of their politics.

Nitpicking and whataboutism seems to be a consistent with these threads from this poster.

BS.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

So Walz praised a guy who shared

Definitely unfortunate. Of course, remember when anti-Semitic Trump supporters marched with tiki torches in Virginia?

Some people only seem to care about brown Anti-Semitism.

Yeah, I'm not saying Walz is an anti-semite, obviously. But definitely shows some naivety, and this kind of thing is why we need people who are more skeptical of religion in office.

Honestly, I have trouble caring about this at all.
At the time, Walz was the governor of Minnesota. He expressed an opinion. I don't like it, I think Israel has every right to defend itself against it's enemies. But I don't think that the governor of a state like Minnesota has an important opinion on the subject either. I didn't even know about it.

I still wouldn't except for people grasping at straws to criticize the Harris-Walz ticket.
Tom

What exactly did Walz say? What was the context?

This looks like a nothingburger about Walz saying something about someone who shared something on Facebook (posted? reposted? had it show up in his feed out of the blue?) without Walz knowing about the Facebook thing and for an entirely different reason than what the Facebook thing was about.

I think that this is one of those incidents in which a Democratic governor said something nice about an Imam--Asad Zaman--who once posted a link in 2015 to a film that has been described as attempting to promote antisemitic themes, including a revisionist view of Nazism. Apparently, the story was generated within the right wing information bubble. See this CNN story:

Walz once praised Muslim leader who shared antisemitic propaganda​

The conservative Washington Examiner used this 9 1/2 minute video to show Walz calling the Imam a "master teacher", because he was impressed by a story that the imam told before an event the imam hosted in 2018. Walz was running for governor at the time. (The imam himself is not shown on the screen.)



Of course, it is most unlikely that Walz was aware of the 2015 post or the controversy surrounding it. He was simply praising a Muslim host at an event he was attending, and he thought the imam's sermon was good. There is nothing in Walz's background to suggest he has sympathy for antisemitic causes or feels solidarity with Hamas. That is all just part of a partisan smear campaign that has been resurrected from Republican attacks on his gubernatorial run.

Anyone wanna guess how many shared posts on Trump's Twitter also posted anti-Semitic nonsense? Heck, how long did it take him to speak out against the anti-Semites marching in Virginia?

 

[lpetrich]

He's also split hairs about free school lunches "not *really* being free!!!"

That's not splitting hairs. It's a core principle that too many people ignore when they propose more and more generous government programs.

Except, of course, government spending that Derec likes.

Like Kamala just today with her proposal to give cash to first time home buyers.
Harris to propose up to $25K in down-payment support for 1st-time homebuyers

Not sure if that's worth doing.

She also wants to revive the expanded child tax credits.

Great. Children are an economic liability in industrial society, and this childless person will gladly support taxes to finance the next generation.

Unfortunately, we won't have Manchin and Sinema to save us this time.

Some other rotating villain might emerge, however. But while the loss of Joe Manchin will make things more awkward in the Senate, I don't miss Kyrsten Sinema one bit. I can half-understand where JM is coming from, but KS is another story entirely. What a traitorous backstabber.

 

[Derec]

Except, of course, government spending that Derec likes.

I still do not pretend that it is "free".

Great. Children are an economic liability in industrial society, and this childless person will gladly support taxes to finance the next generation.

You would have a great point if US did not already have plenty of subsidies for having children, both direct (TANF, existing child tax credit, EITC which is really a child tax credit in disguise) and indirect (free K-12 education, healthcare, WIC, SNAP, Section 8) subsidies for having children.
Why keep ratcheting it up more and more? All it does is screw over taxpayers with no children such as myself.

Some other rotating villain might emerge, however. But while the loss of Joe Manchin will make things more awkward in the Senate, I don't miss Kyrsten Sinema one bit. I can half-understand where JM is coming from, but KS is another story entirely. What a traitorous backstabber.

You call them "villains", I call them heroes.
Say what you will about Sinema, but Gallego will surely be a pushover for whatever multitrillion dollar Spendapalooza Kami proposes.

 

[robnisch]

Some call it spending, some call it investment.
Is buying a house spending or investment?
Was the interstate highway system in the 50's spending or investment in the future growth of the USA?

 

[Derec]

At the time, yes. But in 2006, his congressional campaign certainly denied he drove drunk and offered his partial deafness as an excuse.
Walz's 2006 campaign made misleading claims on drink-driving arrest

How dare a politician make a mistake and apologize. What is wrong with him?

Nonresponsive to what I wrote. Lying about a DUI is the opposite of admitting a mistake and apologizing.

OMG! you are right!!!! She should have releveled in the stalking, harassments and sexual assault. It should have been a thrill for her!!! Why was she reliving it as the most exciting time of her life!!!!

Releveled? And you are assuming she is telling the truth, when even her friend Leland Keyser doubts that what she claims happens.

You are right!!! she should view it from a male perspective!!!!! How dare she be upset!!!! What attention she got to ruin her career and family.

I am just saying that accusations require evidence, especially accusations of serious or heinous crimes. Women should not be believed automatically.

Oh Yes!! How dare she not have been flattered by it!! No reason to have therapy about it. What was wrong with her.

What the fuck are you babbling about? You erroneously claimed that she told people about her claims at the time, and I corrected that.

Your right how dare those dark skinned people be so violent!!

One's skin color should not give one a license to be violent. Even if the Left routinely excuses violence by blacks.

 

[Derec]

Was the interstate highway system in the 50's spending or investment in the future growth of the USA?

That's actual infrastructure.