Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, right, initially told CNN’s Jake Tapper she’s “not going to get in the middle” of a dispute between Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, left, and the state’s Attorney General Dana Nessel over prosecution of pro-Palestinian protesters. Later, however, she released a more forceful statement condemning the attacks on Nessel. (Jemal Countess / Getty Images; John Nacion / Getty Images)
By Michael Schwarz September 24, 2024 at 11:24am
When prominent Democrats squabble, the prudent thing to do is not to choose sides, but rather to cheer for disharmony.
After all, nothing could better serve the cause of freedom than to watch America’s worst tyrants tear each other apart.
Monday on the social media platform X, CNN’s Jake Tapper posted a statement from Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan blasting Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, a daughter of Palestinian immigrants, for what Whitmer characterized as “antisemitic” comments that Tlaib directed toward Dana Nessel, the state’s Jewish Democratic attorney general.
“We must all use our platform and voices to call out hateful rhetoric and racist tropes,” Whitmer’s statement read.
The statement came one day after Whitmer, in an appearance Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” told Tapper that she would not get involved in the Tlaib-Nessel controversy.
“I’m not going to get in the middle of this argument that they’re having,” Whitmer said in a clip posted to X.
Why the governor reversed herself a day later remains unclear.
Gov Whitmer statement just now: https://t.co/CUOg7fIclH pic.twitter.com/EgIkoF93CV
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 23, 2024
The controversy stems from comments Tlaib made earlier this month.
According to the Detroit Metro-Times, on Sept. 12 Nessel filed charges against pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Michigan.
Tlaib then hinted that Nessel’s support for Israel helped influence that decision.
“We’ve had the right to dissent, the right to protest,” the Palestinian congresswoman said. “We’ve done it for climate, the immigrant rights movement, for Black lives, and even around issues of injustice among water shutoffs. But it seems that the attorney general decided if the issue was Palestine, she was going to treat it differently, and that alone speaks volumes about possible biases within the agency she runs.”
Tlaib’s comment prompted a rebuttal from Nessel and a rebuke from others.
On X, the Michigan attorney general called that comment “anti-Semitic and wrong.”
Rashida’s religion should not be used in a cartoon to imply that she’s a terrorist. It’s Islamophobic and wrong.
Just as Rashida should not use my religion to imply I cannot perform my job fairly as Attorney General. It’s anti-Semitic and wrong.
— Dana Nessel (@dananessel) September 20, 2024
Meanwhile, Michigan Senate President Pro Tem Jeremy Moss called it a “disgusting charge of dual loyalty.”
This is a disgusting charge of dual loyalty — Jews in America cannot fully uphold American ideals because we are fundamentally biased in favor of our religion over our citizenship. https://t.co/qEzLHE0kct
Rep. Tlaib continues to divide us into ‘good’ Jews she accepts & bad Jews. https://t.co/UlclOyBiE0 pic.twitter.com/NDfCut58zx
— Senator Jeremy Moss (@JeremyAllenMoss) September 14, 2024
On Sunday, in a post that was later deleted, Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League accused Whitmer of empty words unless she proved “willing to use your bully pulpit to speak out unequivocally on antisemitism and support holding people accountable for violating the law when it affects Jews.”
To be clear, this story involves terrible human beings all around.
In fact, watching a race-baiting fanatic like Tlaib engaged in a rhetorical fight with diabolical tyrants like Whitmer and Nessel should remind us of the clash between Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union during World War II. Perhaps someone must win, but it would be better for the world if all involved simply disappeared from public life.
Here, for instance, is a 2022 clip of Nessel making the case for drag queens in schools:
Attorney General @dananessel thinks putting a Drag Queen in every school will “lift kids up who are having emotional issues” #FireNessel pic.twitter.com/BjCVz1kU9e
— Tori Sachs (@Tori_Sachs) November 5, 2022
Saturday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Tucker Carlson accused Nessel of deliberately fostering hatred.
“Inspiring people to hate each other is the definition of evil. There is no clearer sign,” Carlson said.
“And, by the way, that is so unnatural that it’s supernatural. That’s exactly what that is: you are acting on behalf of unnatural forces if you are convincing the people you lead to hate each other, and that’s exactly what your governor, and particularly your attorney general, Dana Nessel, are doing in this state,” he added.
Carlson’s comments began at the 19:40 mark of the video below.
Tucker Carlson Live Tour in Grand Rapids, MI
Kid Rock: What Donald Trump is really like.
Includes paid partnerships. pic.twitter.com/7cgOSCmR9s
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) September 21, 2024
Nessel has also supported a tyrannical government “registry” of homeschoolers in Michigan.
In other words, readers should waste no sympathy on Nessel simply because she now finds herself at odds with Tlaib.
In the bigger picture, of course, Democrats’ internecine conflict in Michigan could serve the cause of freedom.
Keep in mind, for instance, that the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Holocaust-style Oct. 7 attack on Israel approaches.
That anniversary comes four weeks and one day before the 2024 presidential election on Nov. 5.
In the projected swing state of Michigan, where many members of the large Muslim population have withheld their support from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over what those voters perceive as the administration’s enabling of Israel’s war in Gaza, keeping the situation in the Middle East front and center should work to the advantage of former President Donald Trump, whose presidency marked a period of relative peace in that troubled region, and who recently secured an important endorsement from Democratic Mayor Amer Ghalib in the Muslim-majority Detroit suburb of Hamtramck.
Thus, we must hope that the repellent Michigan Democrats maintain their present public dispute.
Michael Schwarz holds a Ph.D. in History and has taught at multiple colleges and universities. He has published one book and numerous essays on Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Early U.S. Republic. He loves dogs, baseball, and freedom. After meandering spiritually through most of early adulthood, he has rediscovered his faith in midlife and is eager to continue learning about it from the great Christian thinkers.
Michael Schwarz holds a Ph.D. in History and has taught at multiple colleges and universities. He has published one book and numerous essays on Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Early U.S. Republic. He loves dogs, baseball, and freedom. After meandering spiritually through most of early adulthood, he has rediscovered his faith in midlife and is eager to continue learning about it from the great Christian thinkers.
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