Originally published in the Tompkins Weekly on January 15, 2025
November’s election led to the welcome political demise of Republican Marc Molinaro, a representative not of the people of his district, but of the military-industrial complex, of the billionaire class, of the foreign governments of Israel and Ukraine. I am glad to see the back of this vile politician who also stoked the fires of xenophobia for attempted political gain. In his place, Democrat Josh Riley has taken office. Josh ran as a working-class Democrat promising to always fight for the left-behind and counted-out, saying, “Neighborhoods like the one I grew up in have been sold out by corrupt politicians and greedy corporations. I’m fighting back.”
I wanted to give this new guy, with a blank-slate voting record, every benefit of the doubt. Sadly, in the very first days of his term, Josh has stunningly revealed himself as a representative of the worst and most morally bankrupt elements of our politics.
On January 9, the House passed H.R. 23: Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, with the help of Josh’s “Yea” vote. This bill condemns the arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). It imposes sanctions against: “any foreign person the President determines—(A) has directly engaged in or otherwise aided any effort by the International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected person”.
Netanyahu and Gallant have been charged by the ICC of crimes against humanity and war crimes. In the words of Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the ICC, they are being charged with “the crimes of causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, [and] deliberately targeting civilians in conflict”. B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories wrote: “For over a year, Israel has been intentionally starving more than two million Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them children: blocking entry of food and medical supplies, preventing access to water, destroying farmland, neutralizing humanitarian organizations and ignoring the theft of supplies in a territory under its full control.” Amnesty International found “sufficient basis to conclude that Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip”.
Josh Riley has shamefully joined the effort to protect these war criminals by voting for this bill.
This outrageous action came only two days after Josh voted “Yea” on the racist Laken Riley act. This bill, penned by the white supremacist Republican representative from Georgia, Mike Collins, cynically exploits the tragic case of Laken Riley to advance an anti-immigrant agenda. This bill would cause any alien accused (even if not convicted) of the pettiest of misdeeds to be delivered to the clutches of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for likely deportation. As Sarah Mehta, of the American Civil Liberties Union, warns: “it will strengthen President-elect Trump’s hand in unleashing mass deportations on our communities. It will force immigration authorities to detain individuals accused of nonviolent theft offenses like shoplifting regardless of whether or not law enforcement even deems them as a threat. Mandating mass detention will make us less safe, sapping resources and diverting taxpayer money away from addressing public safety needs. Detaining a mother who admits to shoplifting diapers for her baby, or elderly individuals who admit to nonviolent theft when they were teenagers, is wasteful, cruel, and unnecessary.”
Mehta continued: “this unprecedented and likely unconstitutional bill would result in a significant spike of racial profiling of longtime residents. Additionally, the bill would expand mandatory detention, potentially sweeping thousands of people into jails and detention centers — at enormous taxpayer expense and diverting law enforcement resources — even when an immigration judge or immigration agent doesn’t think they pose a threat to the community or flight risk.”
A remarkable start to a term in Congress: shredding international law, the US Constitution, and basic decency.
Josh Riley, the Green Party and the Green View column will continue to watch you closely and report back to your constituents!