OMB nominee called out during confirmation hearing for her GOP hate tweets

It didn't take long into her confirmation hearing that Neera Tanden was confronted with her hostile and rather disgusting tweets she posted against several GOP lawmakers. Tanden is President Biden's nominee for the position of director of Office of Management and Budget.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) was the first Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee to question her and he immediately brought up the hater's posts, many of which she deleted last year to cover up what she really thinks about half the country's voters. 

"I believe that the tone, the content and the aggressive partisanship of some of your public statements have added to the troubling trend of more incivility and division in our public life, and in your case I'm concerned that your personal attacks about specific senators will make it more difficult for you to work with them," Sen. Portman said, noting that OMB directors must be able to work in a bipartisan fashion and she doesn't appear to make the cut.

Portman gave examples of "a few of the thousands of negative public statements" the hate-filled Tanden has made. She called Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) "the worst," and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) a "fraud," and even said that "vampires have more heart than Ted Cruz." And when it comes to vampires, Tanden ought to know. She referred to then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as "Moscow Mitch" and "Voldemort," a Harry Potter villain.

The cowardly piece of work thought she was smart enough by deleting her tweets, but even so, Portman said that there were still nine pages of acrimonious posts still online. Evidently, she didn't think they were all that bad that it might present a problem for her in the future because, after all, the Democrats were in power and they had the media on their side.

"I wonder, specifically, how do you plan to mend fences and build relationships with members of Congress you have attacked through your public statements?" Portman asked of the leftist nominee.

"I recognize the concern," Tanden replied unconvincingly. "I deeply regret and apologize for my language — some of my past language. I recognize that this role is a bipartisan role, and I know I have to earn the trust of senators across the board. I will work very aggressively to meet that concern," she said in her most convincing voice, so much so that even M&Ms wouldn't melt in her mouth.

Tanden claimed that she hopes to work "in a bipartisan and nonpartisan manner," while acknowledging that "it’s upon me to prove that to this committee and to members." 

Yeah, sure.

Tanden eventually offered a direct apology for her caustic and highly inflammatory remarks.

"For those concerned about my rhetoric and my language, you know, I'm sorry and I'm sorry for any hurt that they've caused," she lied.

Portman referred to a report that Tanden had deleted thousands, yes thousands of tweets and he asked if she did it because she knew about the impending job possibility she might be offered. 

"I deleted tweets because I regretted my tone and I've deleted tweets over many months," Tanden said because she had to. She did not say she removed the posts with a job in mind.

But if that is true, why then did Tanden leave up nine pages of hate posts?

She'll get confirmed because the left doesn't care that she posted hateful anti-Republican rhetoric. In fact, they probably chuckle over it in private.

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U.S. warns E.U. against "warning labels" for Jewish-made products

Leading U.S. lawmakers are warning the European Union that if they issue a mandate requiring Jewish products made in areas of Israel that are contested to carry consumer warning labels, this could trigger American anti-boycott laws and effectively jeopardize our trade with Europe, where anti-Semitism is becoming increasingly more overt.

The European Court of Justice (CJEU), a veritable oxymoron to the tune of 'jumbo shrimp', is expected to issue an opinion this week on a long-running case brought forth by an Israeli winery challenging a requirement that Israeli-made products be labeled as coming from "settlements" and "Israeli colonies."

The decision, according to the Washington Free Beacon, is expected to be issued early Tuesday and follows a recent opinion by the EU court's advocate general stipulating that European law requires these Jewish-made products to be labeled. Critics said the law is reminiscent of Nazi-era boycotts of Jewish products and have viewed such requirements as a win for the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, or BDS. 

Question: If the EU wants to boycott Israeli products, why aren't they also boycotting Turkish, Venezuelan, Iranian and Jordanian products, just for starters?

Answer: Because the BDS movement is an anti-Semitic, Palestinian-led movement co-founded by Omar Baghouti, a man who has  called for a one state solution and the dismantling of Israel, the only Jewish state on the planet. 

Barghouti attended Tel Aviv University but was overtly anti-Semitic. The school wanted to throw him out but it never happened and he ended up receiving a masters degree in philosophy.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) petitioned EU ambassador to the United States Stavros Lambrinidis to raise concerns about a possible ruling in favor of the warning labels. The Senator said that if the mandate succeeded, it could create policy tension with the United States.

Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA) sent a letter to U.S. ambassador to the E.U., Gordon Sondland warning that the ruling would lead to discrimination against Israel, but of course, that's exactly the intention.

Sens. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) sent a similar letter to U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer expressing concerns that the ruling holds Israel to a standard no other country is subjected to, as mentioned above.

The lawmakers also said such a ruling could trigger multiple U.S. anti-boycott laws and damage the nearly $1.3 trillion in trade between America and the E.U.

"The regulation in question is problematic for a number of reasons, including because it targets specific businesses based on the ethnicity and national origin of their owners," Menendez wrote in the letter he sent to Lambrinidis.

"I am deeply concerned that if the CJEU decision empowers the EU to require or allow its Member States to label Israeli and Palestinian products in the manner proposed, it will allow and encourage the politicization of EU rules of origin labeling with potential adverse unintended consequences, including by opening the door to near-unlimited use of ‘ethical considerations' in food labeling which would enable Member State protectionism and nationalism, and be unhelpful for the EU single market," Menendez wrote.

"Additionally, it could facilitate Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) tactics and de facto boycotts and discrimination against Israel, and its products, and potentially lead to discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion and nationality, contrary to existing EU policies and laws against BDS campaigns, Israel boycotts and discrimination," the letter states.

A decision mandating the labeling of Jewish goods also would be seen as an effort by the E.U. to interfere in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

"The U.S. Federal Government and many U.S. states have enacted strong anti-boycott provisions that impose severe penalties and restrictions on companies that participate in boycotts or other economic pressure campaigns against Israel," Menendez wrote. "If the CJEU decision empowers the EU to mandate or allow Member States to implement such labels which target Israeli businesses and exports there will be serious and far-reaching implications and unintended consequences."

So we will find out soon enough about the decision the EU is expected to make, but with the endemic problem of hatred for the Jews, don't bet on a good outcome.



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Otto Warmbier dead! Trump has harsh words

President Trump condemned North Korea's horribly "brutal regime" Monday after learning of the death of college student Otto Warmbier. He spent 17 months in a North Korean prison for allegedly taking a communist propaganda poster as he was preparing to return to the US.

Warmbier was released by the hermit nation last week and appeared to be incoherent.

"Lots of bad things happened," Trump said at a meeting with technology CEOs, "but at least we got him home to be with his parents."

He died at University of Cincinnati Medical Center, near where he was raised in suburban Wyoming.

In a typical written statement, sounding as if it were written by someone else, Trump said that "Otto's fate deepens my Administration's determination to prevent such tragedies from befalling innocent people at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency."

Warmbier's family said in a statement that "the awful torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans" meant that "no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today."

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) said North Korea should be "universally condemned for its abhorrent behavior." He said the family "had to endure more than any family should have to bear."

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said the North Korean's "despicable actions . . . must be condemned."

I would add: "in the strongest possible terms . . . and let's kill Kim and his generals while we're at it."

Enough with the words of condemnation--let's do something real.


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