He and Abdul El-Sayed are showcasing the kind of aggressive spirit Democrats need to adopt in the new Congress.
Victory speeches from winning candidates usually follow a similar script: Thank the family, staff and volunteers; riff on how inspiring the campaign was; remind people of the hard work ahead; and extend good wishes to the defeated rival, in the spirit of generosity.
But not all Democratic winners did that on Tuesday night. In Michigan, Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed was not going to let bygones be bygones. Addressing his opponent, Mike Rogers, he said, “So, Mike, enjoy your retirement. I know you got a house in Florida and two yachts. See, you chose hate, and Michigan chose hope. May we never have to see the likes of you in this state again.”
El-Sayed wasn’t done. He moved on to Vice President JD Vance, who had described the Democrat as a “psychopath” and “very, very evil.”
“Habibi,” El-Sayed said with a smile, using an Arabic term of endearment. “There is this delicious irony in the fact that you’re constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January.”
Down in Georgia, Sen. Jon Ossoff didn’t even bother mentioning his opponent, Rep. Mike Collins — though he did say that “the American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption and incompetence of the failed lame-duck president, Donald J. Trump.”
Who would have thought that if a politician is not in the pocket of oligarchs but only to the people, they can have backbones?
Too bad Ossoff doesn’t have enough of a backbone to stand up to Israel
He voted to fund defensive munitions, ie air to air missile/drone interceptor, and he voted against providing more offensive weapons in 2024. He continued to vote against the sales of rifles, bulldozers, and 1,000 pound bombs in 2025 and 2026.
He refused in debate to call the conflict in Gaza a genocide, instead he listed off war crimes being committed in Gaza and said he would refer to the international court’s determinations. Specifically he said "There is no doubt in my mind that Israeli forces prosecuting the war in Gaza violated the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law.”
Seems like ideologically he is opposed to the genocide in Gaza and has blocked material support for Israel. I think he’s toeing the line of calling it what it is since he represents Georgia. Georgia the first time was a hard win for him, the conservatives held that state for nearly 20 years before he and Warnock took the Senate.
Of those the media have called as possible 2028 presidential candidates, he’s definitely not the worst. If he moves to the national statge I hope he’s brave enough to call it what it is, but even if he toes the line his record shows he will decrease funding and support to Israel.
Overall not my ideal, but pragmatically not the worst option.
defensive munitions,
If those munitions are so defensive why don’t we give them to the Palestinians and Iranians and Yemeni and Somali and etc.? Also, any aid we’re giving them is freeing up money they’d otherwise have to spend on those things to spend on offensive genocidal weapons instead
He refused in debate to call the conflict in Gaza a genocide
Yep, and this is a massive tell. He’s controlled by people who won’t let him say that. They’ll let him ramble out a convoluted meaningless cop-out sentence that everybody can hear what they want to hear in (e.g. the left can hear him saying “violated the law” and think he’s going to try to do something about it, but genocide supporters hear “Israeli forces” and can tell themselves it’s just a few bad apples and they were justified anyway because they were “prosecuting a war” and not just genocidally shooting fish in a barrel), but he can’t just say “genocide” like everyone else does because the point is to disrupt and disorganized resistance to Israel’s genocide.
So it actually seems like ideologically he is totally OK with the genocide in Gaza and has worked to disguise the material support he’s provided for Israel to make that material support more politically durable.
I think he’s toeing the line of calling it what it is since he represents Georgia.
Yeah, I’m sure conservatives in Georgia just love spending money on foreign wars on behalf of a Jewish state /s
Supporting Israel is about not pissing off donors or ending up on the bad side of the national security state, who can and will do opposition research and counter messaging against politicians who threaten their interests. Voter preferences aren’t part of the equation.
If those munitions are so defensive why don’t we give them to the Palestinians and Iranians and Yemeni and Somali and etc.?
Well that’s fucking easy. It takes a multi-billion dollar system that we also maintain for them. We shouldn’t be giving it out to anyone the cost is outrageous. But those missiles can only be fired at incoming projectiles from said system.
Yep, and this is a massive tell.
I mean deferring to the international court does mean you will agree to call it a genocide eventually. Like I said not perfect.
Yeah, I’m sure conservatives in Georgia just love spending money on foreign wars on behalf of a Jewish state /s
No literally, remove the /s. There’s an unfunny number of people that support Israel for religious reasons. Even the cooler more moderate sects that are fine with abortion and homosexuality also often support Israel. It’s nuts, but that’s the South
Supporting Israel is about not pissing off donors
And yet he has managed to do just that.
I swear people like you are the enemy of good. His actions and votes prove that if he wins the presidency it would result in less money for Israeli war crimes. Does he go as far as I want? No, but he’s done a lot more than many democrats.
I need people to be reminded that Jon Ossoff opposed taxing the wealthy as recently as like 2022.
He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing as far as I’m concerned. He’s another Jefferies. Y’all remember when Jefferies pooped his pants during a 24 hr filibuster?
Truth and integrity, and liberty and justice for all, are parts of the high-road. Truth welcomes questions and withstands scrutiny. Proven policies that improve lives and reduce stress and chronic illness are what, We The People want, and the reps better work for us and pass those bills. Let orange veto them, another example how he failed the people.
Never forget, they serve The People, like all public servants are supposed to anyway. Get to work!
Ossoff is pro israel though
AIPAC actively opposes him.
He supports defense, not offense. And not offensive weapons sales, or the war in Gaza. He’s also against the illegal settlements.
He wants to cut sales of bulldozers and arms to Israel, with the exception of things like defensive weapons systems that shoot down in-bound missiles.
That all sounds like perfunctionary opposal to be fair.
Would you give or sell defensive weapons to Nazi Germany? The bill do not even block all offensive weapons just specific ones . What actually actions not empty rhetoric did he push to stop the colonies in the West Bank. He is also backed by a smarter Israeli lobby called J-Streets
Basically he’s supporting anything that stops Israel and Hamas / Iran from being able to effectively attack each other. He wants to cut off their ability to get offensive munitions, and he wants to cut off the ability for any offensive munitions to be effective.
So you are one of those who both side the occupiers and occupied ? Would you have talked about how both the slaves and slave owners was bad after Nat Turner revolt?
I am asking about concrete actions that he back to stop the colonies building and you are answering with vague words that are meanless and both side thr conflict
Block the bomb act do not end all offensive weapons either. With what they would be allowed they can finish the genocide since most of the infrastructure is destroyed and also israel block food at will to kill palestinians
Also answer the question would you give nazi Germany or Russia defensive weapons
I’m more in the camp of someone like AOC. No aid at all if they’re continuing to be aggressor. Defensive aid can’t be unconditional.
That said, a large portion of my family is Jewish, and I know a lot of people who simultaneously want to protect family and friends over there, while also wanting to halt the genocide, apartheid, and authoritarianism over there.
I don’t know if you can do the latter while still having unconditional iron dome defense aid. If defense isn’t free, then they have less money to dump into offense.
That said, I’d rather elect politicians who agree on the problem and have disagreements on the solution. We’ve had years of politicians that were too afraid to acknowledge the state as aggressor.
Many Germans wanted their family safe from the allies bombing which many of them was literally attack targeting civilians that make Hamas atrocities during October 7 like just a slap to someone else face . With your logic you would be ok with Nazi Germany getting defensive weapons or Russia buying defensive weapons for any country. There was also Germans during Nazi Germany who wanted the holocaust to end and was powerless, at least Israelis have fair elections yet they still vote for genocide…
You know what is better than letting them spend on defensive weapons? Imposing sanctions and a blockade to prohibit Israel from acquiring the material necessary to maintain the colonization .
The hypocrite you are defending here is lying and is allowing Israel to continue genocide. I bet you that if you ask 99.9% of the democrats about the form of the two state solution they will tell you Palestinians will not have the right to an army to defend itself which is an right under international laws and wouldn’t even have full sovereignty on the land like it is already to case with Oslo accords
The J Street that supports a two state solution?
You are that naive? Politicians and lobbies been lying about it for decades.
One of those huh?
I have been hearing about the two state bs for my entire life while israel is allowed to ethnically cleansing palestinians
His voting record on Israel the past two years is actually pretty mixed, so while he’s not a straight up anti-Zionist he did get better.
Not everybody is going to be on board with 100% of your issues.
He should pick something else to be wrong about. Israel must end.
It just colonization and genocide. Not a big issue right?
It is also cancellation of the first amendment in the US, that will then be applied across the board. Fuck Israel, they are the devil. I am sure Ossof sucks them off to some degree. Better like covid to ebola. That said I voted for covid!
It’s a significantly complicated issue that has a lot of gray area.
He already won. Why are you bringing voting?
The vote already happened, and we still can’t recognize the deficiencies in our candidates in your estimation?
I will not pretend the dems are good, they aren’t, except my man El Sayed. And bullying people into pretending they are good is why we fucking lose.
When the deficiencies are so serious , it should be called out and politicians should be forced to abide to international laws and morality .
And does not support Medicare for all. Dude is just Haley Stevens with charisma and better PR.
After Obama signed the 38 billions mou to give money to israel , they called Obama the worst ally of Israel . Congrats you felt into Israel fake outrage
