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WHAT'S ON OUR MIND
Today is a somber day of remembrance for the Jewish community as we mark the fifth anniversary of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting. On that fateful day, a gunman with an assault weapon killed 11 people in the deadliest U.S. attack on the Jewish community. That moment changed the way we viewed our safety within our country.
Regrettably, little has changed in the past five years. There is still no assault weapon ban in this country. On Wednesday, there was yet another mass shooting with an individual armed with an assault weapon. Furthermore, antisemitism is at an all-time high in our country, with our streets and college campuses filled with anti-Jewish rallies.
Now, after three weeks of total chaos and national embarrassment, the GOP selected an extreme Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson (R-LA). We now have a Speaker who, among holding many other disturbing views, embraces the dangerous Great Replacement Theory.
The “Great Replacement Theory" is a conspiracy theory that states that nonwhite individuals are being brought into the U.S. to "replace" white voters to achieve a political agenda. This xenophobic theory is often used to stoke fear and spread the antisemitic notion that Jews hold too much power in our country. The Tree of Life shooter cited the Great Replacement Theory as his reason for the deadly attack.
Fear mongering to the extremist GOP base, Johnson said last year at a hearing, “… we have a literal invasion of lawless masses flooding over our border.” He went on to say, “countless numbers of known terrorists and vicious gang members are clearly coming across our border and making their way into our communities.”
Johnson was Donald Trump’s choice for Speaker, and he now owes his allegiance to the man who said there were "very fine people on both sides" of a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, VA.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has said that “our pledge as House Democrats is to make sure that we stand up, speak up, and show up until we crush antisemitism in the United States.”
Winning nine more Democratic seats in 2022 would have made Jefferies Speaker.
Elections have consequences.
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