Anti-Trump fervor threatens foreign tourism and travelers between our border states, anticipating a poor showing at the forthcoming World Cup and Olympic games
Not Canadian, and mostly OK with the Governor of Maine, but not in this case. Hurt pride is ludicrous. Not wanting to take a chance on being "detained," arrested, or disappeared, seems perfectly reasonable to me. I frankly do not see why anyone from another country would want to take the risk of coming to my country, which is rapidly turning into a "Republican" version of Hitler's Germany/Stalin's Russia/ Orwell's Oceana/Atwood's Gilead.
Lady Liberty's torch once shone brightly...welcoming the world at large to her shores...the symbol of dignity, a promise of opportunities for all to enrich their lot in life.
Lady Liberty's torch still.remains...arm healed high.. shining yet, but with a diminished brightness...bearing witness to an authoritarian mad man's evil grip on her very soul.
Agreed! I have a lot of Canadian friends, and “disgust” and “outrage” would better describe their sentiments. I also wonder how many people don’t feel safe traveling here. I would not advise anyone to travel to the U.S., given the capricious and malicious nature of targeting people. I’m traveling to Canada next month (Whew! Need a break from this horror.) and am actually concerned about being hassled or detained on my way back in. What a horrible way to live!
If you're from south of the border you're taking a huge risk visiting the U.S. But, that doesn't mean Canadians are necessarily safe. Just ask Jasmine Mooney.
I thought only undocumented immigrants are now concerned with living in America. I have not thought about the feeling is contageous world-wide. In that sense, Mr. Trump and ICE succeeded.
Nothing like a president who undermines every single idea or thing that makes America great. Thanks, MaGAGas, for having elected a pedophile lover, rapist, tax cheater, and mentally failing monster to "lead" us.
Indeed, actions have consequences, and now all of us are stuck with them for the time being. International travelers are well-advised, given this fascist regime, to stay away from the U.S., for now. This is what we get for electing someone with all the horrible qualities you listed above, who is also supremely spiteful, a colossal ignoramus and a gleeful know-nothing.
Yes, his oblivious followers will never know how Trump is hurting the American tourism economy or the general economy because it won’t be announced on Fox News.
A few of them might figure it out when their tourism-based businesses go out of business because they lost all their foreign customers. Then they'll discover how lousy their states unemployment compensation is, and some of the other horrors the Trump regime has prepared for them as they can't get Medicaid, and the nearby hospital closes in a year or two.
Well actually one has to ask, exactly how can you say people living in delusion know anything? If you ask those who voted for Putin’s Apprentice to describe him and his plans, I doubt you will find much if any concordance with reality.
Yes, I agree but perhaps more importantly for them Putin’s Apprentice gives them permission to express their hate publicly. They really resented not being able to express their hate with bigoted epithets.
My husband and I have a good friend from India who was supposed to visit us in May. He cited the current administration for his reason canceling his trip.
In the same vein, my stepdaughter and her husband, who are Spanish citizens, canceled their side trip to the US as part of their longer visit to Canada last month.
I don't blame him. It wouldn't just be coming here. It would be getting out of here, too. I think of many from India who might go back 1x a year/every other year.
It's past time for The Contrarian, and all of its readers, to give focus to the appalling human catastrophe that is taking place in Gaza. The United States is fully complicit in this horrible crime against humanity, and it's up to everyone in the US to try to stop it.
As bad as all the other things are in the US right now, for immigrants, for transgender people, and for so many others..nothing is as shocking and disgusting than the intentional starvation of an entire population being inflicted by Israel. The US is a full partner in this abomination.
Right now, as you read this, another child is starving to death, while truckloads of aid are blocked from entering Gaza. Doctors are too sick from hunger to help their patients. Journalists are so starved they can't file reports. People are literally collapsing and dying in the streets.
Those that are brave and able enough to approach the so-called 'aid' provided by the US / Israeli "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" are murdered every single day by IDF soldiers and US mercenaries.
This terror has had full bipartisan support here and would never be possible without US involvement.
It is imperative that everyone in this country call upon their leaders to stop this human-created travesty.
The Contrarian is focused on saving democracy in the United States. If US democracy isn't saved, we won't be doing anything about any human rights crises anywhere. Trump isn't going to save Gaza, we need to get rid of him and usher in an administration that cares. And a Congress too.
I don't follow the logic here, which i s to say that I think, yes, we can claim to be [trying to save] democracy in the US if we don't raise our voices to protest US complicity in Gaza. That is a different question from whether we should raise our voices re Gaza (we should).
For one, it is a bipartisan issue and isn't related to just Trump. Israel's genocide wouldn't be possible without unwavering support from most Democrats in Congress, and Biden gave crucial support to Israel's war crimes until the day he left office.
For another, foreign policy and domestic policy are now and always have been intrinsically linked, especially when concerning Israel. It's to the point when opinions about Israel are a defining feature of even local races, like the recent Democratic mayoral primary in NYC. AIPAC is one of the single biggest lobbying groups in Congress, and they regularly focus on domestic issues as a tactic to attack pro-Palestinian leaders. OF course, many of AIPAC's biggest clients are Democrats.
Plus, the attacks on free speech in this country are always the most aggressive against those who support Palestinian rights, under both Biden and Trump. There really is no comparison to any other topic. People are expelled, fired, doxxed and deplatformed constantly in the US for speaking out against Israel.
It is pure hypocrisy to claim to care about the brutality of immigrants in this country, while turning a blind eye, or even openly supporting, even worse brutality fully supported and made possible by the US.
The US and Israel commonly share police and military tactics, trainings and technology. They are close deep partners with financial, cultural, political and military ties.
This is also directly related to the topic of this article. The continuing US support for Israel, which at this point is a pariah, rogue state, has been a big factor in the sinking opinion around the world of the US as a whole, which impacts travel, diplomacy and all other foreign relations.
But past all that, there should be no need to explain why this issue requires immediate, loud, and sustained protest and action right now, by everyone. Saying it in passing isn't enough.
I am one who has family heritage in the founding of Israel (my father's cousin was involved in it, and lived out his life there), but I cannot support Israel as it is, and believe that our complicity with them is wrong. I am anti-genocide and anti-cruelty, and by being complicit with Israel we are proving that we are not who we say we are as a country. I believe that the Palestinians have as much right to life and respect as anyone else, and I want to see our country show that it cares about the Palestinians' right to exist.
So, Jason, I see that you blame Biden and Democrats. Are you one of those who withheld your vote for Harris and therefore put Trump into office? If so, i don’t blame Democrats. I blame you and others like you who caused Harris to lose. You caused Trump as much as Fox News.
But here are some questions for you - what have you done to protest this horrible crime against humanity? Do you think the support given by Democrats is ok, as long as they tepidly fight Trump's other actions? Do you think Democrats should be accountable, or should we just blindly support them because they are not Republicans?
Not that Biden or Harris aren't just as culpable, if not more so, than Trump. They had 15 months (really, 4 years) to do anything to stop the Israeli massacre apartheid machine, and didn't. There is no possible way to excuse Biden and Harris (as well as many congressional Democrats) for the unflinching support of Israel's war crimes.
Biden and Harris's loss of support from people horrified by genocide is entirely on them...and on people like you that blame them rather than blaming those who supported and enabled genocide. These votes were tiny in comparison to the number of people who didn't vote for other reason or former non voters who voted for Trump.
And of course, there are many other reason the Democrats lost the election that is entirely the fault of Biden and the party.
But no, I still voted for Harris, knowing that Trump would be terrible in lots of other ways.
Any other dumb questions or weak misinformed accusations?
Also, if you bothered to read what I wrote, I do not only blame Democrats.
"Having to support" Gaza in order to save democracy in the US is much more basic that a political issue: it's an issue of humanity and protecting humanity wherever it is threatened.
If students being expelled and green card holders being detained and deported for speaking out about Gaza is not related to democracy, what is?
The connections between local Islamophobia and xenophobia against immigrants and treatment of Muslim refugees in occupied lands should be clear.
Regardless, if The Contrarian can have a piece about an HBO show on its front page today, it can probably find time to say something about one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern times, one that the US has a direct and crucial role in creating.
The notion that The Contrarian is so 'focused on saving democracy' that it can't comment on this atrocity is ridiculous.
Every day The Contrarian publishes articles that are not ' focused on saving democracy' and it also often publishes articles abut foreign policy issues.
Rubin is a big time supporters of Israel, and is now a 'centrist' Democrat who is always reluctant to criticize Democrats. Its as simple as that.
As with everything else, the Republican President could care less. Starvation and attacks on civilians in Gaza, he could care less. People in Africa dying of starvation and disease, he could care less. Five hundred tons of expiring food for world relief, "Burn it! I could care less!" How did we elect such a sorry excuse for a human being?
No, they don’t. If you COULD care less, then you DO care more than the minimum amount and that care could be reduced. If you could NOT care less, then you have the least and irreducible amount of care.
Thank you, thank you!! I remember wrestling with that pair of expressions for literally years, and finally came to realize that what you point out is absolutely correct.
This is true, Trump is of course a uniquely horrible President and human being. He and his cabal are an absolute disgrace.
But the blame isn't just on him. The support for Israel's genocide and use of starvation as a weapon has had full bipartisan support all along, as has the sanctioning of world governing bodies and officials that have tried to stop it.
This would not be happening if Biden , Harris and the Democrats, when they still had some power, did anything to stop it. Instead, they helped to make this what it is now. Both Democrats and the GOP need to be held accountable for this unconscionable horror.
Finally, someone gives the standard 'noun + verb + Hamas' excuse for genocide.
The IDF hasn't even bothered with its weak excuses in recent months.
Is Hamas the reason US mercenaries and IDF soldiers are killing anywhere from dozens to hundreds of starving people every day, shooting them as the try to get meager scraps of aid?
Is Hamas responsible for Israel blocking aid trucks with everything from food to baby formula from even entering Gaza, so that people are literally dying on their feet, and babies are dying every single day?
Is Hamas responsible for the increasing terror in the West Bank, where Hamas has never has any power of any sort... where the IDF and vigilante ' terrorist' settlers' have killed over 1000 people in the past 20 months, and land is stolen daily? Is Hamas responsible for an American who was beaten to death by crazed racist 'settlers' just last week, with no arrests or punishment at all for those responsible?
Is the fact that virtually every genocide scholar in the world and every international human rights organization has labelled Israel's actions 'genocide' and a flagrant, brutal violation of international law?
Was Israeli-American Omer Bartov, professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University, writing on behalf of Hamas when he unequivocally said that Israel is committing genocide in the NY Times just last week?
Is Hamas to blame for Israel's generations of brutality and apartheid that began decades before Hamas existed?
Are you against genocide, or not? Is Israel killing children every single hour of every day, or not?
Is intentionally starving an entire population a horrible war crime, or not?
If you only respond, 'yeah, but', then you are part of the problem.
My memory is that prior to the October 2023 attack by Hamas, Israel was letting food and other supplies into Gaza. Did I miss something or miss remember?
hamas is responsible as is isrile, who knew about the raid ahead of time and took HOURS to reach the isrile citizens hiding and waiting for them...crack IDF...or genocide set up troops ??
I am past tired of hearing these comments about the 'focus' of The Contrarian.
The Contrarian has published many articles about the US involvement in the Ukraine/Russia war.It has also published several articles about Mahmoud Khalil and others who were detained or threatened with deportation for their views on Palestinian rights, although The Contrarian is always careful to sidestep what they were actually prot4sting about.
This IS an issue of democracy in the US. It is about US policy, US budget, the standing of the US in the world, US, free speech in the US... It is also a bipartisan issue, Biden is just as complicit (actually more so) than Trump in this...which is likely another reason The Contrarian dodges the topic.
Democrats in Congress have power to call this out and loudly protest this right now. Instead, many Democrats like Charles Schumer pose for fun pictures next to the indicted war criminal Netanyahu, who is more responsible than anyone for this ongoing genocide.
These comments are just as much for the 'centrist' readers of this outlet. "Moderate' Democrats have largely either been on the fence or outright support Israel's crimes. That needs to change. This would not be happening if it wasn't for Biden, Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and most elected national Democrats.
That also includes Jennifer Rubin herself, who has long been a vocal supporter of Israel and reluctant to criticize its actions.
When we bring up an ongoing atrocity that the US is actively supporting and participating in , the answer shouldn't be "yeah, but"...The response should be "what can we do about it? what is the best approach to stop this?"
Harm to the travel industry by Trump is important for many people and it is a real problem. It is nowhere nearly as important as stopping this real-time, intentional starvation and massacre of an entire population, which the US could stop if it wanted to.
Do people really not see the connection between the support for brutalizing a population in another country and brutalizing immigrant populations here? The US and Israel share training, weapons, tactics, technology...
This excuse I keep seeing is just so weak. The Contrarian prints dozens of pieces every day about a wide range of subjects, including sports, culture and other human interest type issues...which is fine, but it also disproves the notion that The Contrarian has a singular focus that can't include comment on one of the worst human disasters in modern times, one that the US has a pivotal role in creating.
Today, there is a front page story about an HBO show in this outlet.
How can people keep a straight face and say 'The Contrarian has other focuses'?
Teump could make it crystal clear to Netanyahu that continuing the war in Gaza NOW. If Netanyahu says no, thrn turn off the spigot of funds and arms NOW.
Netanyahu could not continue this policy without U.S. funding.
That may be, but Gaza has fallen off the news map, despite the horrors there. I would really like to see somebody put it back on the map. I believe if Gaza was on people's radar, that might contribute to saving our democracy, because people would raise a furor over it.
This comment annoyed me even more the second time I read it.
What happened when democracy was still 'saved' under the last 15 months of Biden's administration?
Biden actively supported the Israeli massacre machine without a pause, as did most Democrats.
The support for Israel's genocide and apartheid from Democrats is worse that the support coming from the GOP really. Democrats cloak their support for mass murder in the veil of caring about 'democracy' and 'equality' like you do here. We expect more from them.
Instead, under Biden, students were suspended ,arrested and expelled, journalists were fired..all while the democracy-loving Democrats made the genocide in Gaza possible (as well as the increased attacks in the West Bank by Israel) and kept the money and arms flowing, and kept vetoing resolutions in the UN and condemning any world governing body that tried to stop this.
Agree 100 percent. Israel has absolutely no justification to block aid, and to continue to attack civilians. This is a completely preventable humanitarian catastrophe.
I absolutely agree. This is a huge disaster. Imagine living there even if food were plentiful. The Israelis are continuing to turn remaining structures into rubble. There is no shelter from heat, storms, cold, the sun, and all the while being grindingly hungry and thirsty. What could be more hellish? We are looking at what will surely be called, for all time, “the Gaza Holocaust”, and the United States will be cited with standing by and watching. as the world did for so long with Nazi Germany. The Israelis seem to be trying
to do to Gazans what Nazi Germany did to The Jews of Europe with arguably worse cruelty. If this isn’t genocide I don’t know what is.
We are saddled with the most non-empathetic government in our history. They are hell-bent on making our lives worse, while they make the rich richer. We can expect no help from them to stop the killing or the suffering in Gaza.
Agreed. The Contrarian needs to call for an immediate end to all US military assistance to Israel. Otherwise any lamentations about the horrors taking place in Gaza ring empty.
I hope that everyone here that agrees with me calls their representatives and also leaves their own comments here.
These comments are just as much for Contrarian readers as for the outlet itself.
And you can save your 'Yeah, but' and "It's not the focus' comments for someone else. I am sick of that weak argument. This is an outrageous, appalling, nightmarish emergency of the highest scale, and a bipartisan consensus of our own leadership is directly responsible.
This also isn't just about Trump. Biden is equally complicit, if not more so. So are most Democrats in Congress, with a few notable exceptions. Americans are regularly fired and deplatformed for even speaking about this, while green card holders are detained or worse.
No more excuses. You are either loudly and constantly condemning genocide, or you aren't.
How is Biden 'complicit'? He's retired and has been out of the picture since the latest horror show started in January. Responsibility falls upon those currently in office.
Um, you do know that Israel's genocidal attacks in Gaza (and the West Bank too, for that matter) well into high gear while Biden was president, right?
Or did you not read the news for the last 15 months he was in office.
Not to mention the support for Israeli apartheid and violence by Biden and Democrats even before October 2023. Do you know who Shireen Abu Akleh is? If not, look her up.
This is entirely a bipartisan issue. It's didn't start under Trump.
I have to say both GOP and DEM. Are to blame for far too long anything that the government of Israel has done had the backing of the United States. Are tax dollars are providing the weapons used to kill. I stand with the people but not their government. The Palestinian people should have a safe place to call home as should the Jewish community.
True that, though it is up to the current individuals serving in leadership positions who can do anything about the war and inhumane treatment. Trump isn't disposed to do much to help, nor is the GOP in Congress. The profit of the politico-military industrial complex comes before humanitarian concerns. This has been clearly evident.
This isn't just about the GOP, or Trump. There is bipartisan support for Israel's genocide, and the US has been an active participant under both Biden and Trump.
Just last week, 7 Democrats and 7 GOP leaders from the Senate took a chummy photo with the indicted war criminal Netanyahu, all while children were starving to death under his orders, with US support, and US mercenaries were shooting starving civilians trying to get food.
Netanyahu should have been arrested as soon as he touched US soil. Instead, both Dems and GOP posed for fun photos with him.
Not two days later, a Palestinian American, 20-year-old Florida native Sayfollah Musallet, was beaten to death by 'settler' terrorists, much like the lynch mobs of the Jim Crow South. None of the Senators said a word.
This is just one of a hundred examples. From AIPAC clients Booker and Hakeem Jeffries to most of the rest of the Democrats, they have been fully in support of Israel's genocidal slaughter all along.
We seem still to be atoning for our silence in the early years of the Holocaust by remaining silent in the face of the current Holocaust in Gaza. This is not the way to honor the victims of the Nazi Holocaust.
Have you heard about what the Syrians are doing to the Druze in Syria? Would you call what the Syrians are doing to the Druze an appalling human catastrophe? Let's shed some light on what Islamists are doing to innocents in many countries. Or is Gaza your only concern?
Is the US sending billions of dollars in weapons and aid to the Syrian government and deporting green card holders who speak out against it? Are US Senators posing for pictures with those responsible? Has this been going on for most of living memory the way Israel has brutalized the Palestinian refugees that lived under its apartheid, military rule?
Are thousands of children starving to death as a direct result of US policy in Syria?
Are US mercenaries massacring starving people as they try to get food in Syria? Are there truckloads full of rotting aid at the border? Has Syria been targeting and assassinating journalists, doctors, UN staff and aid workers for the past two years with the full support of the US government and media? Has Syria leveled an entire region populated by millions of people and is now planning to shove the survivors all into 'camps'?
Are genocide scholars and human rights groups around the world labeling this as 'genocide'?
And since you mention Syria, how many people has Israel killed there too? How many more civilians will be killed by Israel in Syria, in Lebanon, in Iran, in Yemen...?
Yes, great point, there are other bad things happening in the world, so we should shut up about this unless we mention all of those too (as if you know what else I comment about other places).
The response to "Israel is committing genocide" is "yeah, but what about...?" is as bad as just outright supporting Israel's war crimes. The false equivalence is worse than ridiculous.
Are you aware that it is the Hamas agenda to kill Jews worldwide? The fact that they can't do it does not change the fact that the genocide of Jews is their goal.
I'm wondering why you don't blame Hamas for this tragedy. Are they your buddies? How come you haven't mentioned what happened on October 7 and that Hamas murdered, tortured, mutilated and captured Israeli hostages? Here's a whataboutism: Due to Hamas's actions 1,195 people were killed(including 36 children), 79 foreign nationals, and 379 members of the security forces. Three hundred sixty four civilians were killed and many more wounded while attending the Nova music festival. About 250 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip. Dozens of cases of rape and sexual assault reportedly occurred.
Why does Hamas use Gazans as human shields, steal and stockpile the food meant for the Gazans? Why does Hamas operate out of hospitals, schools, apartment buildings and other places where civilians exist?
How many wars against Israel have been started by the surrounding Arab countries? How many Israelis have the Islamists murdered in Israel and around the world? And tell me again who started this cycle of tragedy. Or do you give Hamas a pass?
This is reported this morning by Zeteo, for all the 'yea, but' responses:
'The healthcare system in Gaza is not simply collapsing – it is being dismantled by design through targeted killing, abduction, and imprisonment of Palestinian doctors, nurses, and first responders.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli authorities have abducted more than 400 Palestinian medical professionals – a systematic erasure of those tasked with preserving life. Some remain in custody. Some have been released and recount harrowing abuse. Others have not survived.
Just this Monday, Israeli forces seized Dr. Marwan al-Hummas, the director of Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah. That same day, they raided the World Health Organization's staff residence in Deir al-Balah, mistreating and detaining WHO staff and family members. One staff member is still being held, the WHO chief said on Wednesday.
These are not isolated war crimes. Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system are part of a broader strategy to render the territory unlivable for Palestinians – a campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide.'
Just as there is a MAGA bloc that will never see any evil in anything DJT does, there is a bloc of supporters-of-Israel who will never be critical of anything the State of Israel does. Today my local NPR station had an interview with Prof. MENACHEM Z. ROSENSAFT of Cornell Law Schoo, who engaged in all sorts of verbal and intellectual gymnastics trying to refute the position that Israel's actions in Gaza are genocidal.
So, Jason, I see that you blame Biden and Democrats. Are you one of those who withheld your vote for Harris and therefore put Trump into office? If so, i don’t blame Democrats. I blame you and others like you who caused Harris to lose. You caused Trump as much as Fox News.
Since you posted the same comment twice, here is my response, again:
No, I wasn't.
Not that Biden or Harris aren't just as culpable, if not more so, than Trump. They had 15 months (really, 4 years) to do anything to stop the Israeli massacre apartheid machine, and didn't. There is no possible way to excuse Biden and Harris (as well as many congressional Democrats) for the unflinching support of Israel's war crimes.
Biden and Harris's loss of support from people horrified by genocide is entirely on them...and on people like you that blame them rather than blaming those who supported and enabled genocide. These votes were tiny in comparison to the number of people who didn't vote for other reason or former non voters who voted for Trump.
And of course, there are many other reason the Democrats lost the election that is entirely the fault of Biden and the party.
But no, I still voted for Harris, knowing that Trump would be terrible in lots of other ways.
Any other dumb questions or weak misinformed accusations?
Also, if you bothered to read what I wrote, I do not only blame Democrats.
But here are some questions for you - what have you done to protest this horrible crime against humanity? Do you think the support given by Democrats is ok, as long as they tepidly fight Trump's other actions? Do you think Democrats should be accountable, or should we just blindly support them because they are not Republicans?
The Canadians we know have sold or are selling their 2nd homes. One family who always travels back and forth with their pets was stopped by border patrol who ask them why they were traveling with "live stock". The family replied, these are our pets, we always bring them with us. The border patrol agents insisted that their 2 cats were "live stock" and told them that they could not bring them to the US. This is pure stupidity and humiliation. They sold their house in upstate NY.
I live in Seacoast, New Hampshire and I drove up route one towards Wells, Maine a few weeks ago. I was amazed at the number of vacancy signs and all of the hotels and lodges on that route. By the end of June, traffic is horrendous, and there are no vacancy signs in every hotel and lodge. Canadians typically come down to the sea coast of Maine and New Hampshire, but they’re not here this year.
Who the hell would WANT to come to America during a raging shitstorm caused by the mismanagement and incompetence of a demented, criminal, pedophile sadist and his out-of-control klusterphuck cabal of jerks who get off arresting foreigners?
I grew up in Michigan, 40 miles from Windsor-Detroit, but my real Canadian experience came in what is now called middle school. I learned the hard way not to mistake Canadians' reputed politeness for weakness. This regime will find out the hard way, too, if it persists. Which it probably will.
If the hardship hits me or anyone close to me, I won't blame Canada one bit. It's all on this illegitimate regime. No country is all saints, nor are any all bad. But I know where I stand.
Interesting perspective on foreign tourism but what continues to concern me most about the current immigration issue is what is stated early in this column, i.e., the US talent drain. Immigration brings in thousands of low skilled laborers who do the most menial jobs but it also brings in highly educated and talented people who transform our economy. A hundred plus years ago thousands of uneducated peasants from eastern and southern Europe immigrated to the US and helped build our manufacturing base. Among these immigrants were Tesla and Marconi who transformed our technology. Immigration is what made and can continue to make the US great. We shouldn't ever shut it down!
I'm 61 and am sad to know I will never see our country recover from the damage Trump and his GOP cohorts have inflicted on all of us. It will take generations to get back to where we used to be. And we may never regain the trust of other countries.
Your piece is so timely for me this morning. Last night I read a report by the ACLU that stated a county popular for its tourist attractions in my state is actively working with ICE to round up people and imprison them. The county receives a per diem stipend for each prisoner plus transportation costs. I wrote to the county board and told them we are boycotting every business in that county, canceling all travel in and through that county, and letting everyone we know what they are doing to aid this horrid regime.
That is appalling. My parents live near Madison. I'm sure the Dells tourist attractions employ an awful lot of J1 visa holders, like just about every tourist town in the US.
Jennifer Rubin is of course correct in stating that Trump is wrecking the travel industry, but it is only one of the casualties of this ruinous administration. It can be more simply stated that Trump is effectively wrecking America. Never have we had one president so intent in inflicting upon us so much damage in so many ways.
If you're not a regular reader of Rubin's columns, I highly recommend you become one. I think you will be gratified (as well as well-informed.) She has been beating the drums about ALL the ways Trump is wrecking democracy and Americans' and others' well-being and security for years, both here and at her old job as a Washington Post columnist. The fact that today she focused on the tourism industry is not an indication that she ignores everything else.
I have been a paid-up member of The Contrarian since Jennifer Rubin left the Washington Post and read her work on the Post for years before. I was not criticising her for her focus today on the tourist trade and apologise if you got that impression. What I hoped to point out is that tourism is but one casualty of what Trump is doing to America on the whole, and I thought that I did just that.
I’m a Tucson resident for half the year. Many Canadians who own homes or winter here are selling and/or not returning. It is a big blow to our economy and community.
We’ll reap what we’ve sown via our collective ballot box xenophobia and insularity . Sad but the burden will fall most heavily on working class and poor. A friend of ours teaches graduate students at a prestigious university- says for the first time, he has NO foreign grad students…
I know Washington is way over here on the west, however we have been impacted, understandably, by the loss of the Vancouver, BC to Bellingham and Seattle tourism as well. Please include states from the Great Pacific NW in discussions.
Often, all the chatter originating from folks on the east coast seems to either ignore us or confuse Washington State, a gorgeous, entirely blue state, with Washington DC, another nice place however not our state. It's a bit dismissive.
By the way, every federal position in Washington, as well as every head of our state (governor, secretary of state, treasurer, etc.) is held by a democrat. We are a true blue wall and I am proud of both our politics and our rugged beauty, from the islands in the west to the rolling hills of the Palouse in the east.
The Governor of Maine points to "Canadian's hurt pride" That is rather condescending.
It is outrage for declaring war on Canada and disgust for an authoritarian regime and its cruelty - which enjoys broad support among Americans..
Canadians have never been prouder.
Not Canadian, and mostly OK with the Governor of Maine, but not in this case. Hurt pride is ludicrous. Not wanting to take a chance on being "detained," arrested, or disappeared, seems perfectly reasonable to me. I frankly do not see why anyone from another country would want to take the risk of coming to my country, which is rapidly turning into a "Republican" version of Hitler's Germany/Stalin's Russia/ Orwell's Oceana/Atwood's Gilead.
Lady Liberty's torch once shone brightly...welcoming the world at large to her shores...the symbol of dignity, a promise of opportunities for all to enrich their lot in life.
Lady Liberty's torch still.remains...arm healed high.. shining yet, but with a diminished brightness...bearing witness to an authoritarian mad man's evil grip on her very soul.
She weeps...along with her beloved people.
Lynn, I saw a political cartoon of Lady Liberty with her hands over her eyes.
I saw one of her having been hit over the head & dragged along the ground by a caveman — any guesses who he was?
Oh, gee, that's such a difficult question… Thank you for a good laugh. I really needed one tonight.
Poor choice of words, indeed. But, I think she's as disgusted by our president as Canadians are.
Agreed! I have a lot of Canadian friends, and “disgust” and “outrage” would better describe their sentiments. I also wonder how many people don’t feel safe traveling here. I would not advise anyone to travel to the U.S., given the capricious and malicious nature of targeting people. I’m traveling to Canada next month (Whew! Need a break from this horror.) and am actually concerned about being hassled or detained on my way back in. What a horrible way to live!
Leave your phone home and take a burner instead. I'm deadly serious.
If you're from south of the border you're taking a huge risk visiting the U.S. But, that doesn't mean Canadians are necessarily safe. Just ask Jasmine Mooney.
Good example - white girl...young woman, really, and pretty. Not what our fascist regime likes to pretend they are "detaining."
She was actually a good target, the message being we can and will do this to ANYONE.
I thought only undocumented immigrants are now concerned with living in America. I have not thought about the feeling is contageous world-wide. In that sense, Mr. Trump and ICE succeeded.
Nothing like a president who undermines every single idea or thing that makes America great. Thanks, MaGAGas, for having elected a pedophile lover, rapist, tax cheater, and mentally failing monster to "lead" us.
Indeed, actions have consequences, and now all of us are stuck with them for the time being. International travelers are well-advised, given this fascist regime, to stay away from the U.S., for now. This is what we get for electing someone with all the horrible qualities you listed above, who is also supremely spiteful, a colossal ignoramus and a gleeful know-nothing.
Yes, his oblivious followers will never know how Trump is hurting the American tourism economy or the general economy because it won’t be announced on Fox News.
A few of them might figure it out when their tourism-based businesses go out of business because they lost all their foreign customers. Then they'll discover how lousy their states unemployment compensation is, and some of the other horrors the Trump regime has prepared for them as they can't get Medicaid, and the nearby hospital closes in a year or two.
Who am I kidding, they'll probably blame Biden.
👏👏
Indeed. Commenters often criticize Democrats, but SEVENTY-SEVEN MILLION voters voted for Donald Trump, knowing exactly who he is.
Well actually one has to ask, exactly how can you say people living in delusion know anything? If you ask those who voted for Putin’s Apprentice to describe him and his plans, I doubt you will find much if any concordance with reality.
Those voters might be delusional, but they responded to something Trump offered- he gives them permission to hate.
Yes, I agree but perhaps more importantly for them Putin’s Apprentice gives them permission to express their hate publicly. They really resented not being able to express their hate with bigoted epithets.
My husband and I have a good friend from India who was supposed to visit us in May. He cited the current administration for his reason canceling his trip.
Who could blame him? My Canadian friends refuse to visit us on Cape Cod.
😔😔
Yes we too have long time friends from Brazil who said they were canceling their trip here because twump is too frightening.
And so incredibly sad.
😔😔
In the same vein, my stepdaughter and her husband, who are Spanish citizens, canceled their side trip to the US as part of their longer visit to Canada last month.
I don't blame him. It wouldn't just be coming here. It would be getting out of here, too. I think of many from India who might go back 1x a year/every other year.
😔😔
It's past time for The Contrarian, and all of its readers, to give focus to the appalling human catastrophe that is taking place in Gaza. The United States is fully complicit in this horrible crime against humanity, and it's up to everyone in the US to try to stop it.
As bad as all the other things are in the US right now, for immigrants, for transgender people, and for so many others..nothing is as shocking and disgusting than the intentional starvation of an entire population being inflicted by Israel. The US is a full partner in this abomination.
Right now, as you read this, another child is starving to death, while truckloads of aid are blocked from entering Gaza. Doctors are too sick from hunger to help their patients. Journalists are so starved they can't file reports. People are literally collapsing and dying in the streets.
Those that are brave and able enough to approach the so-called 'aid' provided by the US / Israeli "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" are murdered every single day by IDF soldiers and US mercenaries.
This terror has had full bipartisan support here and would never be possible without US involvement.
It is imperative that everyone in this country call upon their leaders to stop this human-created travesty.
The Contrarian needs to start reporting on this.
The Contrarian is focused on saving democracy in the United States. If US democracy isn't saved, we won't be doing anything about any human rights crises anywhere. Trump isn't going to save Gaza, we need to get rid of him and usher in an administration that cares. And a Congress too.
Can we claim to be saving democracy in the US if we don't raise our voices to protest US complicity in Israel's genocide and war crimes in Gaza?
I don't follow the logic here, which i s to say that I think, yes, we can claim to be [trying to save] democracy in the US if we don't raise our voices to protest US complicity in Gaza. That is a different question from whether we should raise our voices re Gaza (we should).
It is not a different question.
For one, it is a bipartisan issue and isn't related to just Trump. Israel's genocide wouldn't be possible without unwavering support from most Democrats in Congress, and Biden gave crucial support to Israel's war crimes until the day he left office.
For another, foreign policy and domestic policy are now and always have been intrinsically linked, especially when concerning Israel. It's to the point when opinions about Israel are a defining feature of even local races, like the recent Democratic mayoral primary in NYC. AIPAC is one of the single biggest lobbying groups in Congress, and they regularly focus on domestic issues as a tactic to attack pro-Palestinian leaders. OF course, many of AIPAC's biggest clients are Democrats.
Plus, the attacks on free speech in this country are always the most aggressive against those who support Palestinian rights, under both Biden and Trump. There really is no comparison to any other topic. People are expelled, fired, doxxed and deplatformed constantly in the US for speaking out against Israel.
It is pure hypocrisy to claim to care about the brutality of immigrants in this country, while turning a blind eye, or even openly supporting, even worse brutality fully supported and made possible by the US.
The US and Israel commonly share police and military tactics, trainings and technology. They are close deep partners with financial, cultural, political and military ties.
This is also directly related to the topic of this article. The continuing US support for Israel, which at this point is a pariah, rogue state, has been a big factor in the sinking opinion around the world of the US as a whole, which impacts travel, diplomacy and all other foreign relations.
But past all that, there should be no need to explain why this issue requires immediate, loud, and sustained protest and action right now, by everyone. Saying it in passing isn't enough.
I am one who has family heritage in the founding of Israel (my father's cousin was involved in it, and lived out his life there), but I cannot support Israel as it is, and believe that our complicity with them is wrong. I am anti-genocide and anti-cruelty, and by being complicit with Israel we are proving that we are not who we say we are as a country. I believe that the Palestinians have as much right to life and respect as anyone else, and I want to see our country show that it cares about the Palestinians' right to exist.
So, Jason, I see that you blame Biden and Democrats. Are you one of those who withheld your vote for Harris and therefore put Trump into office? If so, i don’t blame Democrats. I blame you and others like you who caused Harris to lose. You caused Trump as much as Fox News.
But here are some questions for you - what have you done to protest this horrible crime against humanity? Do you think the support given by Democrats is ok, as long as they tepidly fight Trump's other actions? Do you think Democrats should be accountable, or should we just blindly support them because they are not Republicans?
No, I wasn't.
Not that Biden or Harris aren't just as culpable, if not more so, than Trump. They had 15 months (really, 4 years) to do anything to stop the Israeli massacre apartheid machine, and didn't. There is no possible way to excuse Biden and Harris (as well as many congressional Democrats) for the unflinching support of Israel's war crimes.
Biden and Harris's loss of support from people horrified by genocide is entirely on them...and on people like you that blame them rather than blaming those who supported and enabled genocide. These votes were tiny in comparison to the number of people who didn't vote for other reason or former non voters who voted for Trump.
And of course, there are many other reason the Democrats lost the election that is entirely the fault of Biden and the party.
But no, I still voted for Harris, knowing that Trump would be terrible in lots of other ways.
Any other dumb questions or weak misinformed accusations?
Also, if you bothered to read what I wrote, I do not only blame Democrats.
I agree with your last 2 sentences. I find the rest unpersuasive about the logic of having to support Gaza in order to save democracy in the US.
"Having to support" Gaza in order to save democracy in the US is much more basic that a political issue: it's an issue of humanity and protecting humanity wherever it is threatened.
If students being expelled and green card holders being detained and deported for speaking out about Gaza is not related to democracy, what is?
The connections between local Islamophobia and xenophobia against immigrants and treatment of Muslim refugees in occupied lands should be clear.
Regardless, if The Contrarian can have a piece about an HBO show on its front page today, it can probably find time to say something about one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern times, one that the US has a direct and crucial role in creating.
The notion that The Contrarian is so 'focused on saving democracy' that it can't comment on this atrocity is ridiculous.
Every day The Contrarian publishes articles that are not ' focused on saving democracy' and it also often publishes articles abut foreign policy issues.
Rubin is a big time supporters of Israel, and is now a 'centrist' Democrat who is always reluctant to criticize Democrats. Its as simple as that.
100%
As with everything else, the Republican President could care less. Starvation and attacks on civilians in Gaza, he could care less. People in Africa dying of starvation and disease, he could care less. Five hundred tons of expiring food for world relief, "Burn it! I could care less!" How did we elect such a sorry excuse for a human being?
Actually, he could NOT care less.
Let's hear it for pet peeves!
Frankly, I believe they say the same thing.
No, they don’t. If you COULD care less, then you DO care more than the minimum amount and that care could be reduced. If you could NOT care less, then you have the least and irreducible amount of care.
Thank you, thank you!! I remember wrestling with that pair of expressions for literally years, and finally came to realize that what you point out is absolutely correct.
This is true, Trump is of course a uniquely horrible President and human being. He and his cabal are an absolute disgrace.
But the blame isn't just on him. The support for Israel's genocide and use of starvation as a weapon has had full bipartisan support all along, as has the sanctioning of world governing bodies and officials that have tried to stop it.
This would not be happening if Biden , Harris and the Democrats, when they still had some power, did anything to stop it. Instead, they helped to make this what it is now. Both Democrats and the GOP need to be held accountable for this unconscionable horror.
I'm in complete agreement with you.
Finally, someone gives the standard 'noun + verb + Hamas' excuse for genocide.
The IDF hasn't even bothered with its weak excuses in recent months.
Is Hamas the reason US mercenaries and IDF soldiers are killing anywhere from dozens to hundreds of starving people every day, shooting them as the try to get meager scraps of aid?
Is Hamas responsible for Israel blocking aid trucks with everything from food to baby formula from even entering Gaza, so that people are literally dying on their feet, and babies are dying every single day?
Is Hamas responsible for the increasing terror in the West Bank, where Hamas has never has any power of any sort... where the IDF and vigilante ' terrorist' settlers' have killed over 1000 people in the past 20 months, and land is stolen daily? Is Hamas responsible for an American who was beaten to death by crazed racist 'settlers' just last week, with no arrests or punishment at all for those responsible?
Is the fact that virtually every genocide scholar in the world and every international human rights organization has labelled Israel's actions 'genocide' and a flagrant, brutal violation of international law?
Was Israeli-American Omer Bartov, professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University, writing on behalf of Hamas when he unequivocally said that Israel is committing genocide in the NY Times just last week?
Is Hamas to blame for Israel's generations of brutality and apartheid that began decades before Hamas existed?
Are you against genocide, or not? Is Israel killing children every single hour of every day, or not?
Is intentionally starving an entire population a horrible war crime, or not?
If you only respond, 'yeah, but', then you are part of the problem.
My memory is that prior to the October 2023 attack by Hamas, Israel was letting food and other supplies into Gaza. Did I miss something or miss remember?
hamas is responsible as is isrile, who knew about the raid ahead of time and took HOURS to reach the isrile citizens hiding and waiting for them...crack IDF...or genocide set up troops ??
trump doesn't talk about the starving babies...he talks about building a hotel in Gaza....you shit poor lousy "christian" white jerks need to go away
I am past tired of hearing these comments about the 'focus' of The Contrarian.
The Contrarian has published many articles about the US involvement in the Ukraine/Russia war.It has also published several articles about Mahmoud Khalil and others who were detained or threatened with deportation for their views on Palestinian rights, although The Contrarian is always careful to sidestep what they were actually prot4sting about.
This IS an issue of democracy in the US. It is about US policy, US budget, the standing of the US in the world, US, free speech in the US... It is also a bipartisan issue, Biden is just as complicit (actually more so) than Trump in this...which is likely another reason The Contrarian dodges the topic.
Democrats in Congress have power to call this out and loudly protest this right now. Instead, many Democrats like Charles Schumer pose for fun pictures next to the indicted war criminal Netanyahu, who is more responsible than anyone for this ongoing genocide.
These comments are just as much for the 'centrist' readers of this outlet. "Moderate' Democrats have largely either been on the fence or outright support Israel's crimes. That needs to change. This would not be happening if it wasn't for Biden, Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and most elected national Democrats.
That also includes Jennifer Rubin herself, who has long been a vocal supporter of Israel and reluctant to criticize its actions.
When we bring up an ongoing atrocity that the US is actively supporting and participating in , the answer shouldn't be "yeah, but"...The response should be "what can we do about it? what is the best approach to stop this?"
Harm to the travel industry by Trump is important for many people and it is a real problem. It is nowhere nearly as important as stopping this real-time, intentional starvation and massacre of an entire population, which the US could stop if it wanted to.
Do people really not see the connection between the support for brutalizing a population in another country and brutalizing immigrant populations here? The US and Israel share training, weapons, tactics, technology...
Well actually Biden did criticize Netanyahu and tried to find ways to get more aid into Gaza. The failed pier effort was just one such effort.
https://www.newsweek.com/bidens-criticism-israel-ignites-backlash-republicans-1888738
The Contrarian can probably do both. At least help keep the Gaza catastrophe in the news even if their focus is on saving democracy in the US.
Absolutely.
This excuse I keep seeing is just so weak. The Contrarian prints dozens of pieces every day about a wide range of subjects, including sports, culture and other human interest type issues...which is fine, but it also disproves the notion that The Contrarian has a singular focus that can't include comment on one of the worst human disasters in modern times, one that the US has a pivotal role in creating.
Today, there is a front page story about an HBO show in this outlet.
How can people keep a straight face and say 'The Contrarian has other focuses'?
I'm very grateful that Gazans have you in their corner, Jason. Where are your Congressional counterparts?
Teump could make it crystal clear to Netanyahu that continuing the war in Gaza NOW. If Netanyahu says no, thrn turn off the spigot of funds and arms NOW.
Netanyahu could not continue this policy without U.S. funding.
Unfortunately …
Trump loves his right-wing, bullying, genocidal counterpart in Israel, Netanyahu. Trump is never going to tell Netanyahu to stop the war.
That may be, but Gaza has fallen off the news map, despite the horrors there. I would really like to see somebody put it back on the map. I believe if Gaza was on people's radar, that might contribute to saving our democracy, because people would raise a furor over it.
This comment annoyed me even more the second time I read it.
What happened when democracy was still 'saved' under the last 15 months of Biden's administration?
Biden actively supported the Israeli massacre machine without a pause, as did most Democrats.
The support for Israel's genocide and apartheid from Democrats is worse that the support coming from the GOP really. Democrats cloak their support for mass murder in the veil of caring about 'democracy' and 'equality' like you do here. We expect more from them.
Instead, under Biden, students were suspended ,arrested and expelled, journalists were fired..all while the democracy-loving Democrats made the genocide in Gaza possible (as well as the increased attacks in the West Bank by Israel) and kept the money and arms flowing, and kept vetoing resolutions in the UN and condemning any world governing body that tried to stop this.
This is bigger than Trump, or Biden.
Agree 100 percent. Israel has absolutely no justification to block aid, and to continue to attack civilians. This is a completely preventable humanitarian catastrophe.
I'd say it's more than preventable (although that is true) - it is entirely intentional.
I absolutely agree. This is a huge disaster. Imagine living there even if food were plentiful. The Israelis are continuing to turn remaining structures into rubble. There is no shelter from heat, storms, cold, the sun, and all the while being grindingly hungry and thirsty. What could be more hellish? We are looking at what will surely be called, for all time, “the Gaza Holocaust”, and the United States will be cited with standing by and watching. as the world did for so long with Nazi Germany. The Israelis seem to be trying
to do to Gazans what Nazi Germany did to The Jews of Europe with arguably worse cruelty. If this isn’t genocide I don’t know what is.
We are saddled with the most non-empathetic government in our history. They are hell-bent on making our lives worse, while they make the rich richer. We can expect no help from them to stop the killing or the suffering in Gaza.
All that is true.
It is still important to call our representatives and tell them this, especially the Democrats IMO.
There needs to be a constant drumbeat of protest and urgent calls for action from all angles.
I’m doing my best.
Agreed. The Contrarian needs to call for an immediate end to all US military assistance to Israel. Otherwise any lamentations about the horrors taking place in Gaza ring empty.
I hope that everyone here that agrees with me calls their representatives and also leaves their own comments here.
These comments are just as much for Contrarian readers as for the outlet itself.
And you can save your 'Yeah, but' and "It's not the focus' comments for someone else. I am sick of that weak argument. This is an outrageous, appalling, nightmarish emergency of the highest scale, and a bipartisan consensus of our own leadership is directly responsible.
This also isn't just about Trump. Biden is equally complicit, if not more so. So are most Democrats in Congress, with a few notable exceptions. Americans are regularly fired and deplatformed for even speaking about this, while green card holders are detained or worse.
No more excuses. You are either loudly and constantly condemning genocide, or you aren't.
How is Biden 'complicit'? He's retired and has been out of the picture since the latest horror show started in January. Responsibility falls upon those currently in office.
Um, you do know that Israel's genocidal attacks in Gaza (and the West Bank too, for that matter) well into high gear while Biden was president, right?
Or did you not read the news for the last 15 months he was in office.
Not to mention the support for Israeli apartheid and violence by Biden and Democrats even before October 2023. Do you know who Shireen Abu Akleh is? If not, look her up.
This is entirely a bipartisan issue. It's didn't start under Trump.
I have to say both GOP and DEM. Are to blame for far too long anything that the government of Israel has done had the backing of the United States. Are tax dollars are providing the weapons used to kill. I stand with the people but not their government. The Palestinian people should have a safe place to call home as should the Jewish community.
You don't remember Biden's embrace of Netanyahu while saying he (Biden) was also a Zionist?
True that, though it is up to the current individuals serving in leadership positions who can do anything about the war and inhumane treatment. Trump isn't disposed to do much to help, nor is the GOP in Congress. The profit of the politico-military industrial complex comes before humanitarian concerns. This has been clearly evident.
This isn't just about the GOP, or Trump. There is bipartisan support for Israel's genocide, and the US has been an active participant under both Biden and Trump.
Just last week, 7 Democrats and 7 GOP leaders from the Senate took a chummy photo with the indicted war criminal Netanyahu, all while children were starving to death under his orders, with US support, and US mercenaries were shooting starving civilians trying to get food.
Netanyahu should have been arrested as soon as he touched US soil. Instead, both Dems and GOP posed for fun photos with him.
Not two days later, a Palestinian American, 20-year-old Florida native Sayfollah Musallet, was beaten to death by 'settler' terrorists, much like the lynch mobs of the Jim Crow South. None of the Senators said a word.
This is just one of a hundred examples. From AIPAC clients Booker and Hakeem Jeffries to most of the rest of the Democrats, they have been fully in support of Israel's genocidal slaughter all along.
These were the Dem Senators btw:
Adam Schiff (D-California)
Chuck Schumer (D-New York)
Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada)
Maria Cantwell (D-Washington)
Chris Coons (D-Delaware)
Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota)
Cory Booker (D-New Jersey)
We seem still to be atoning for our silence in the early years of the Holocaust by remaining silent in the face of the current Holocaust in Gaza. This is not the way to honor the victims of the Nazi Holocaust.
Yes! Well put.
Have you heard about what the Syrians are doing to the Druze in Syria? Would you call what the Syrians are doing to the Druze an appalling human catastrophe? Let's shed some light on what Islamists are doing to innocents in many countries. Or is Gaza your only concern?
Some classic whataboutism.
Is the US sending billions of dollars in weapons and aid to the Syrian government and deporting green card holders who speak out against it? Are US Senators posing for pictures with those responsible? Has this been going on for most of living memory the way Israel has brutalized the Palestinian refugees that lived under its apartheid, military rule?
Are thousands of children starving to death as a direct result of US policy in Syria?
Are US mercenaries massacring starving people as they try to get food in Syria? Are there truckloads full of rotting aid at the border? Has Syria been targeting and assassinating journalists, doctors, UN staff and aid workers for the past two years with the full support of the US government and media? Has Syria leveled an entire region populated by millions of people and is now planning to shove the survivors all into 'camps'?
Are genocide scholars and human rights groups around the world labeling this as 'genocide'?
And since you mention Syria, how many people has Israel killed there too? How many more civilians will be killed by Israel in Syria, in Lebanon, in Iran, in Yemen...?
Yes, great point, there are other bad things happening in the world, so we should shut up about this unless we mention all of those too (as if you know what else I comment about other places).
The response to "Israel is committing genocide" is "yeah, but what about...?" is as bad as just outright supporting Israel's war crimes. The false equivalence is worse than ridiculous.
Are you aware that it is the Hamas agenda to kill Jews worldwide? The fact that they can't do it does not change the fact that the genocide of Jews is their goal.
I'm wondering why you don't blame Hamas for this tragedy. Are they your buddies? How come you haven't mentioned what happened on October 7 and that Hamas murdered, tortured, mutilated and captured Israeli hostages? Here's a whataboutism: Due to Hamas's actions 1,195 people were killed(including 36 children), 79 foreign nationals, and 379 members of the security forces. Three hundred sixty four civilians were killed and many more wounded while attending the Nova music festival. About 250 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip. Dozens of cases of rape and sexual assault reportedly occurred.
Why does Hamas use Gazans as human shields, steal and stockpile the food meant for the Gazans? Why does Hamas operate out of hospitals, schools, apartment buildings and other places where civilians exist?
How many wars against Israel have been started by the surrounding Arab countries? How many Israelis have the Islamists murdered in Israel and around the world? And tell me again who started this cycle of tragedy. Or do you give Hamas a pass?
Complete agreement.
This is reported this morning by Zeteo, for all the 'yea, but' responses:
'The healthcare system in Gaza is not simply collapsing – it is being dismantled by design through targeted killing, abduction, and imprisonment of Palestinian doctors, nurses, and first responders.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli authorities have abducted more than 400 Palestinian medical professionals – a systematic erasure of those tasked with preserving life. Some remain in custody. Some have been released and recount harrowing abuse. Others have not survived.
Just this Monday, Israeli forces seized Dr. Marwan al-Hummas, the director of Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah. That same day, they raided the World Health Organization's staff residence in Deir al-Balah, mistreating and detaining WHO staff and family members. One staff member is still being held, the WHO chief said on Wednesday.
These are not isolated war crimes. Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system are part of a broader strategy to render the territory unlivable for Palestinians – a campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide.'
Just as there is a MAGA bloc that will never see any evil in anything DJT does, there is a bloc of supporters-of-Israel who will never be critical of anything the State of Israel does. Today my local NPR station had an interview with Prof. MENACHEM Z. ROSENSAFT of Cornell Law Schoo, who engaged in all sorts of verbal and intellectual gymnastics trying to refute the position that Israel's actions in Gaza are genocidal.
Yes, lots of "verbal gymnastics" are required to defend Israel's war crimes, or to pretend they aren't happening.
Some of those acrobatic moves include the 'yeah, but, this other thing..." and "but, Hamas!" type responses found in this thread.
As individuals we can contribute to organizations who are supporting the people of Gaza. It may be all we can do at this time.
So, Jason, I see that you blame Biden and Democrats. Are you one of those who withheld your vote for Harris and therefore put Trump into office? If so, i don’t blame Democrats. I blame you and others like you who caused Harris to lose. You caused Trump as much as Fox News.
Since you posted the same comment twice, here is my response, again:
No, I wasn't.
Not that Biden or Harris aren't just as culpable, if not more so, than Trump. They had 15 months (really, 4 years) to do anything to stop the Israeli massacre apartheid machine, and didn't. There is no possible way to excuse Biden and Harris (as well as many congressional Democrats) for the unflinching support of Israel's war crimes.
Biden and Harris's loss of support from people horrified by genocide is entirely on them...and on people like you that blame them rather than blaming those who supported and enabled genocide. These votes were tiny in comparison to the number of people who didn't vote for other reason or former non voters who voted for Trump.
And of course, there are many other reason the Democrats lost the election that is entirely the fault of Biden and the party.
But no, I still voted for Harris, knowing that Trump would be terrible in lots of other ways.
Any other dumb questions or weak misinformed accusations?
Also, if you bothered to read what I wrote, I do not only blame Democrats.
But here are some questions for you - what have you done to protest this horrible crime against humanity? Do you think the support given by Democrats is ok, as long as they tepidly fight Trump's other actions? Do you think Democrats should be accountable, or should we just blindly support them because they are not Republicans?
The Canadians we know have sold or are selling their 2nd homes. One family who always travels back and forth with their pets was stopped by border patrol who ask them why they were traveling with "live stock". The family replied, these are our pets, we always bring them with us. The border patrol agents insisted that their 2 cats were "live stock" and told them that they could not bring them to the US. This is pure stupidity and humiliation. They sold their house in upstate NY.
Unfortunately Trump has given the border patrol permission to use their authority to badger visitors simply because they can.
It feels like we have become a country of petty tyrants both big and small.
I live in Seacoast, New Hampshire and I drove up route one towards Wells, Maine a few weeks ago. I was amazed at the number of vacancy signs and all of the hotels and lodges on that route. By the end of June, traffic is horrendous, and there are no vacancy signs in every hotel and lodge. Canadians typically come down to the sea coast of Maine and New Hampshire, but they’re not here this year.
Was on my bucket list to visit Nova Scotia one day! Easy trip on the ferry from Portland. But I’m not heading anywhere for the next few years!
Who the hell would WANT to come to America during a raging shitstorm caused by the mismanagement and incompetence of a demented, criminal, pedophile sadist and his out-of-control klusterphuck cabal of jerks who get off arresting foreigners?
I am amazed that the World Cup has not been yanked from the United States. Maybe it still could be. We don’t deserve it.
The FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, is known to be as greedy and corrupt as Felon Trump.
And he just moved FIFA to an office in Trump Tower.
I grew up in Michigan, 40 miles from Windsor-Detroit, but my real Canadian experience came in what is now called middle school. I learned the hard way not to mistake Canadians' reputed politeness for weakness. This regime will find out the hard way, too, if it persists. Which it probably will.
If the hardship hits me or anyone close to me, I won't blame Canada one bit. It's all on this illegitimate regime. No country is all saints, nor are any all bad. But I know where I stand.
Interesting perspective on foreign tourism but what continues to concern me most about the current immigration issue is what is stated early in this column, i.e., the US talent drain. Immigration brings in thousands of low skilled laborers who do the most menial jobs but it also brings in highly educated and talented people who transform our economy. A hundred plus years ago thousands of uneducated peasants from eastern and southern Europe immigrated to the US and helped build our manufacturing base. Among these immigrants were Tesla and Marconi who transformed our technology. Immigration is what made and can continue to make the US great. We shouldn't ever shut it down!
I'm 61 and am sad to know I will never see our country recover from the damage Trump and his GOP cohorts have inflicted on all of us. It will take generations to get back to where we used to be. And we may never regain the trust of other countries.
The damage that Trump's administration is doing will be long lasting,I fear.
A friend who works at USDA received word today that that department will be closing offices. That means job loss and the loss of institutional memory.
I think things will improve as soon as trump is gone
Patrick, that's right...americans are idiots
Your piece is so timely for me this morning. Last night I read a report by the ACLU that stated a county popular for its tourist attractions in my state is actively working with ICE to round up people and imprison them. The county receives a per diem stipend for each prisoner plus transportation costs. I wrote to the county board and told them we are boycotting every business in that county, canceling all travel in and through that county, and letting everyone we know what they are doing to aid this horrid regime.
You should have identified the state and county, and perhaps some of the attractions. Can’t avoid if I don’t know. Thanks.
Thank you! Wisconsin Dells.
That is appalling. My parents live near Madison. I'm sure the Dells tourist attractions employ an awful lot of J1 visa holders, like just about every tourist town in the US.
Jennifer Rubin is of course correct in stating that Trump is wrecking the travel industry, but it is only one of the casualties of this ruinous administration. It can be more simply stated that Trump is effectively wrecking America. Never have we had one president so intent in inflicting upon us so much damage in so many ways.
If you're not a regular reader of Rubin's columns, I highly recommend you become one. I think you will be gratified (as well as well-informed.) She has been beating the drums about ALL the ways Trump is wrecking democracy and Americans' and others' well-being and security for years, both here and at her old job as a Washington Post columnist. The fact that today she focused on the tourism industry is not an indication that she ignores everything else.
I have been a paid-up member of The Contrarian since Jennifer Rubin left the Washington Post and read her work on the Post for years before. I was not criticising her for her focus today on the tourist trade and apologise if you got that impression. What I hoped to point out is that tourism is but one casualty of what Trump is doing to America on the whole, and I thought that I did just that.
I’m a Tucson resident for half the year. Many Canadians who own homes or winter here are selling and/or not returning. It is a big blow to our economy and community.
Everything Trump touches, dies. Canadians have second homes as far south as Florida and Arizona. Why would they keep them now?
I have friends in Florida with Canadian neighbors who are only coming this year to sell their property and leave for good.
We’ll reap what we’ve sown via our collective ballot box xenophobia and insularity . Sad but the burden will fall most heavily on working class and poor. A friend of ours teaches graduate students at a prestigious university- says for the first time, he has NO foreign grad students…
I know Washington is way over here on the west, however we have been impacted, understandably, by the loss of the Vancouver, BC to Bellingham and Seattle tourism as well. Please include states from the Great Pacific NW in discussions.
Often, all the chatter originating from folks on the east coast seems to either ignore us or confuse Washington State, a gorgeous, entirely blue state, with Washington DC, another nice place however not our state. It's a bit dismissive.
By the way, every federal position in Washington, as well as every head of our state (governor, secretary of state, treasurer, etc.) is held by a democrat. We are a true blue wall and I am proud of both our politics and our rugged beauty, from the islands in the west to the rolling hills of the Palouse in the east.