March 8, 2019

Here’s Why Liz Cheney Voted Against the Anti-Semitism Resolution

Alex Edelman/CNP via ZUMA

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On Thursday the House finally took up its resolution oppposing anti-semitism, and it passed unanimously among Democrats. However, 23 Republicans voted against it. Here is Rep. Liz Cheney explaining her vote:

Today’s resolution vote was a sham put forward by Democrats to avoid condemning one of their own and denouncing vile anti-Semitism…. Rep. Omar’s comments were wrong and she has proven multiple times that she embodies a vile, hate-filled, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel bigotry. She deserves to be rebuked, by name, and removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee so that there is no mistake about the values and priorities that the House stands for.

You see, the original draft of the resolution was aimed solely at anti-semitism, and although Rep. Ilhan Omar was not identified by name, it was very plainly all about her. The final draft, however, also included language about Islamaphobia and white supremacism. Over at National Review, John McCormack comments:

You might still disagree with how Zeldin and Cheney voted, but after reading and listening to their explanations it’s hard to see how anyone could think their opposition to the resolution — not the defenses of Omar made by  Nancy Pelosi, Jim Clyburn, and  2020 Democrats; nor Omar’s anti-Semitism itself — is the real scandal here.

Quite so. Cheney made it clear that unless the resolution was specifically aimed at a Democrat, it wasn’t worth voting for. It’s hard to see why anyone wouldn’t see this as the principled stand that it is.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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