Ethnic Cleansing and Other Regrets

A Monday morning of regrets

Before We Begin, Our President Just Proposed a Crime Against Humanity

…the Commission confirms its earlier view that “ethnic cleansing” is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas. To a large extent, it is carried out in the name of misguided nationalism, historic grievances and a powerful driving sense of revenge. This purpose appears to be the occupation of territory to the exclusion of the purged group or groups.

— United Nations report on ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia, May 1994

As I type this on Sunday, President of the United States Donald Trump proposed the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip. From the Associated Press:

“I’d like Egypt to take people, and I’d like Jordan to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, we just clean out that whole thing.” (emphasis added)

In case you missed the point, Trump repeated it.

Trump said he complimented Jordan for having successfully accepted Palestinian refugees and that he told the king, “I’d love for you to take on more, cause I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess. It’s a real mess.”

Such a drastic displacement of people would openly contradict Palestinian identity and deep connection to Gaza. Still, Trump said the part of the world that encompasses Gaza, has “had many, many conflicts” over centuries. He said resettling “could be temporary or long term.”

“Something has to happen,” Trump said. “But it’s literally a demolition site right now. Almost everything’s demolished, and people are dying there.” He added: “So, I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change.”

Who or what does Trump think could occupy the Gaza Strip instead?

”Gaza is interesting. It’s a phenomenal location, on the sea. The best weather, you know, everything is good. It’s like, some beautiful things could be done with it, but it’s very interesting.”

Arab Trump Supporter Has Regrets

Not surprising, Arab Americans who supported Trump might have a few regrets after the president’s remarks on Sunday. From the Times of Israel:

The chairman of a group that lobbied Arab and Muslim Americans to vote for Donald Trump in the recent election came out strongly on Sunday against the US president’s call for Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians from war-torn Gaza.

“We categorically reject the president’s suggestion that the Palestinians in Gaza be moved — apparently forcefully — to either Egypt or Jordan,” Arab Americans for Trump chairman Bishara Bahbah told The Times of Israel.

“What the Palestinians need right now is a continuation of the ceasefire, more aid, a reconstruction plan and for the Palestinian Authority to take over the Gaza Strip,” he said.

Apparently they didn’t mean “Arab free” when they chanted “from the river to the sea.”

South Carolina Man Has Regrets

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) has some regrets, but they’ll be short-lived. Graham thinks President Donald Trump made a mistake with his pardons of the January 6 insurrectionists. From NBC News:

“Pardoning the people who went into the Capitol and beat up a police officer violently I think was a mistake, because it seems to suggest that’s an OK thing to do,” Graham told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

Graham tied Trump’s decision to pardon violent offenders with former President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon several of his family members during his last few hours in office last week.

“You know, Biden pardoned half his family going out the door. I think most Americans, if this continues ... will revisit the pardon power of the president, if this continues,” Graham told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker.

He added, “As to pardoning violent people who beat up cops, I think that’s a mistake.”

Later in the same interview, Graham also questioned Trump’s immigration policies.

“We talk about doing this, but we don’t have the resources – we haven't given the Trump team the resources." Graham said.

Don’t worry. He’ll get over it.

Florida Woman Has Regrets

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) is hoping President Donald Trump doesn’t mean it about deporting all illegal aliens and asylum seekers, according to The Hill.

The South Florida Congresswoman asked the acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman to continue “protecting” Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans and Nicaraguans who do not have criminal records and were permitted to enter and work in the U.S. under former President Biden’s “humanitarian parole” program.

“I strongly urge you to ensure that all Cubans paroled in under the CHNV program eligible for or with pending applications for the Cuban Adjustment Act are protected from deportation until their cases are fully resolved,” Salazar wrote in a Friday letter to Huffman.

“Additionally, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians who arrived under the CHNV program, have no criminal record, and have applied for asylum through the proper legal channels, should also be protected until their cases are fully resolved,” she added.

The answer from the Trump Administration is, um, yep, everyone, according to The Bradenton Herald:

More than a million migrants who were allowed to enter the United States during the Biden administration may have their temporary stays revoked and be rapidly deported, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement document that became public Friday.

That includes hundreds of thousands of nationals from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti who came under a temporary humanitarian parole program set up by the Biden administration that allowed them to legally live and work in the U.S. for two years.

When the president is (falsely) claiming that immigrants from South America are the result of countries emptying their prisons and mental health institutions, and congressmen like Salazar keep silent when Trump is making these types of statements, why should she be surprised when Trump follows through on his mass deportation promise?

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Kentucky Man Has Regrets

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was one of three Republican senators to vote against the confirmation of Pete Hegseth as the Secretary of Defense. McConnell issued a lengthy statement explaining his vote, just as he did when he criticized President Donald Trump after January 6 following his vote to not convict the president during the impeachment trial.

Just a crazy thought here, but if McConnell didn’t want people like Hegseth in responsible national security positions, the time to have done something about it was in 2021. Or during the 2020 election. Or during the first impeachment trial. Or during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Crypto Coin Man Has Regrets

President Donald Trump is making cryptocurrencies look bad. No, really.

At 9 p.m. on Jan. 17, with the festivities in full swing, Mr. Trump announced on social media that he was launching a new cryptocurrency — a so-called memecoin known simply as $Trump.

The surprise disclosure raised fresh ethics and legal concerns about the ways in which Mr. Trump continues to cash in on his power and fame, in this case by marketing a digital asset in an inherently volatile and speculative market to millions of his followers.

And it set off a wave of criticism from inside the industry that he says he wants to champion.

Crypto executives criticized the move as a cash grab, saying that Mr. Trump had undercut the industry’s credibility at the very moment when proponents were seeking a more prominent place for digital currencies in mainstream finance and business.

His venture, they said, created a brief and highly publicized bubble that partly deflated within a few days even as Mr. Trump’s family and its business partners collected millions of dollars from fees on purchases and sales of the coin.

“It makes it all look corrupt and self-interested,” said Nic Carter, a vocal supporter of Mr. Trump who runs the crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures and was at the Crypto Ball as the new $Trump coin was announced.

I swear on a Trump Bible that even a graduate of Trump University could see this one coming.

ADL Has Regrets

Elon Musk has decided to not let the Nazi-like salute controversy end. Musk decided to make it even harder to defend him with a post on Twitter (X):

From the Daily Beast:

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), founded to directly combat antisemitism, was ripped by social media commentators over its initial response to Musk’s hand gesture.

In a tweet Monday evening, the organization declared that it was “not a Nazi salute” but an “awkward” gesture in a “moment of enthusiasm.”

“In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead,” the organization added in a tweet.

But after Musk’s jokes Thursday, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt seemed to have enough of it all. In a statement directly addressing Musk, he wrote:

“We’ve said it hundreds of times before and we will say it again: the Holocaust was a singularly evil event, and it is inappropriate and offensive to make light of it ... @elonmusk, the Holocaust is not a joke.”

In addition to his social media posts, Musk is supporting the far-right AfD Party in Germany, and even urged them not to feel guilty about the country’s past.

WDJT-TV in Milwaukee, the CBS affiliate, fired meteorologist Sam Kuffel for criticizing Musk’s Nazi-like wave or salute at President Donald Trump’s inauguration on her private Facebook page.

As Charlie Sykes pointed out, Kuffel’s accuser Dan O’Donnell of WISN-AM, supposedly outraged that Kuffel would use foul language and call Musk a Nazi, was hardly in a position to throw stones.

I’ll just add that O’Donnell, who was recently promoted to the afternoon drive-time slot, is a conspiracy theorist who told his listeners the 2020 presidential election was stolen as well as the 2018 Wisconsin gubernatorial election. One of his on-air colleagues, Vicki McKenna, called for vigilantes to arm themselves and go to Kenosha to violently stop the riots there. McKenna is also a conspiracy theorist who recently promoted the idea that the 2024 US Senate race in Wisconsin was stolen by the Democrats. They still have jobs.

As Tom Homan would say, maybe WISN-AM “ought to stick to their on-air lineup and fix that. That's a mess.”

But now that Musk is behaving like a Nazi, where does Kuffel go to get her reputation, and her job, back?

Schedule Note:

Barring a last-minute change, I will be on “the Political Power Hour” with Steve Scaffidi on 620 WTMJ-AM on Tuesday at 9:06 AM.