Q&A of the Day – BDS & the implications of banning members of Congress from Israel
Each day I’ll feature a listener question that’s been submitted by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
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Today’s entry...
Listening to@brianmuddradioon@marklevinshowlast night, and it was one of those rare times I found myself shouting back at the radio. I'm so sick of nonsense pontificating. It's not up for debate. Israel banning Talib and Omar wasn't an attack on America's 1st Amd.
Bottom Line: There was a little reconfiguring of my plans last Thursday as Ashley and I made our way back from Budapest and Vienna. The Great One was ill and I was called on to assist. A little more than three hours after touching down, I was back on the air teeing up this topic among many others on Mark Levin’s show. My question was this...do you agree with President Trump personally pushing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ban the visitation of Representatives Omar and Talib? My point was/is this. We tend to go along with whatever we agree or don’t agree with, without consideration for the implications of the decision. In this case, yes – I think the BDS movement supported by Omar and Talib is reprehensible. Without additional consideration I’d be inclined to support the travel ban advocated by President Trump. But what if the shoe were on the other foot?
There have been numerous efforts over the years to silence voices on the right. Whole organizations, like Media Matters, have been funded by George Soros and allies to try to eliminate our voices. Interest groups like CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), has done the same when I’ve spoken about the truth of Islam under Sharia law. The time will come when someone you strongly disagree with politically will become president. What then? What if they advocated with foreign leaders for the banning of all registered Republicans for example? Sounds silly now but then again even ten years ago did you think we’d have two members of Congress who openly support and have proposed BDS before Congress? Did you think Nancy Pelosi would be among the more conservative members of her caucus because Democrats have generally moved so far to the left? Did you think Donald Trump would be President?
One of life’s greatest irony’s is that the more we learn, the more we realize we don’t know. Only 20 of the world’s 195 countries have freedom of expression that’s protected. Israel did pass a law in 2017 citing the ability to ban travel from anyone supporting the BDS movement. You’re right, this isn’t about our first amendment, it’s about the implications of supporting positions rather than the process. While I’m completely supportive of President Trump’s position on BDS and Reps Omar and Talib, I question the decision for a president to use the position of influence and power to pressure outcomes based on expression in other countries. I know what it’s like to have outside pressure attempting to silence me or to attempt coarse me into supporting something I don’t. Back to the premise. If the premise of anything is false, anything built on it will be too.