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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 29, 2024

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Can we pause to appreciate how fucking insane it is that an AMERICAN high school has its students volunteering for a foreign army as a "project?" And that Jews expect NOBODY to breath a word about this or hold them accountable for their OBVIOUS loyalties to a foreign state and their own international community?

They volunteered on a kibbutz and it turned out that one of the things the kibbutz did was support a local military base in some capacity. I don’t think it’s surprising that a religious Jewish school might engage in an overseas project with an institution in a country where the great majority of religious Jews live.

But again, how much criticism did Paul Ryan get for his own ethnic identity when he attempted to allow essentially unlimited immigration from Ireland to the US (something that no Jewish-American politicians have succeeded in doing for Israelis, I might add)?

But again, how much criticism did Paul Ryan get for his own ethnic identity when he attempted to allow essentially unlimited immigration from Ireland to the US (something that no Jewish-American politicians have succeeded in doing for Israelis, I might add)?

Not to defend Paul Ryan or his immigration policies, but no part of his proposed policy could be construed as allowing "essentially unlimited immigration from Ireland" - what he was trying to do was give Irish nationals access to E3 work visas, which are currently reserved for Australians, and which have an annual cap of 10,500 recipients. At best there'd be a few thousand more Irish visa holders in the US per year, and realistically less than that - the E3's annual cap is never met because Australians prefer to remain in Australia than move to the US, and I doubt it would be any different for the Irish given that they have free access to both the UK and the EU.

More importantly Paul Ryan has never served in the Irish army, or paraded around Congress in the uniform of a foreign military, which is something we're supposed to just pretend is normal when IDF members do it.

I had to go back because I don't remember that particular controversy. It turns out your memory is faulty, as the controversy surrounded giving thousands of additional work visas each year to Irish immigrant workers in a bilateral agreement- not "essentially unlimited immigration from Ireland":

The Senate is slated to vote on a bill supported by the Wisconsin Republican that cleared the House in November, which provides Irish applicants thousands of unused E-3 visas typically allocated to Australian citizens working in “speciality occupations” in the US.

But what you are even more wrong about is that Paul Ryan received no criticism for his own ethnic identity in supporting this policy. In fact, he was criticized for it in every single article I read about this controversy, with wording like:

House Speaker Paul Ryan is pushing a proposal that would greatly expand access to work visas for Irish nationals — a nod to his ancestral heritage — and drawing backlash from both sides of the political aisle.

...

Because he is Irish, Paul Ryan is promoting a bill that could provide Irish nationals with thousands of additional work visas each year. I’d love to see this included in the next op-ed from a white writer lamenting “identity politics,” but I know better.

...

The outgoing speaker, whose ancestors came to America from Ireland to escape famine in the 1850s, has always had a soft spot for the country. He even said he hopes to one day become to U.S. ambassador to Ireland.

In contrast, with Biden's almost-entirely Jewish cabinet which has pushed unprecedented policy initiatives in favor of Jewish NGOs and combatting antisemitism, with sweeping policy coming out of the Jewish-run DHS, Secretary of State Office, and so-on, there is actually no criticism of these Jewish officials using their power for the benefit of Jews in the same way that Ryan received criticism for his Irish heritage regarding his support for that bill.

Your example is just proving my point. The Paul Ryan example is 0.0000000001% the level of Jews supporting Jewish groups domestically and internationally, and the state of Israel, within the United States policy apparatus. And that 0.0000000001% draws criticism and complaint of ethnocentrism by the media whereas the elephant in the room does not.

A Jewish-run Department of State adding Israel to the Visa Wavier Program, despite there being very good reason for Israel to not be included in this program, drew no criticism or suggestion that the move was "a nod to Blinken's ancestry", of course except from the Dissident Right:

Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas, in consultation with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, announced the designation of Israel into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). By November 30, 2023, the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) will be updated to allow citizens and nationals of Israel to apply to travel to the United States for tourism or business purposes for up to 90 days without first obtaining a U.S. visa

So (Jewish) head of DHS Mayorkas and (Jewish) of Secretary of State Blinken add Israel to the program and not a whisper of a "nod to their heritage".