MARINA LEVINE Worthy of salute, subjected to slander
Remember when immigrants became disloyal Americans? No? Me neither.
But leadership and media keep saying it. Nary a batted eye in sight. Did former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy just claim on CNN that U.S. Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman has questioned loyalty to the United States for corroborating Trump’s controversial and treasonous Ukrainian call because he is a Ukrainian/Soviet Jew? Did Laura Ingram and Jesse Waters do the exact same thing on Fox News?
Lt. Vindman describes his immigration to the United States as such; “My family fled the Soviet Union when I was threeandahalfyears old. Upon arriving in New York City in 1979, my father worked multiple jobs to support us, all the while learning English at night.”
With minor variations in age and year, my personal Soviet Jewish immigration story is exactly the same. I wouldn’t be surprised if we crossed paths as kids in our respective RussianJewish immigrant communities in Queens or Brooklyn.
For years the GOP and Trump have been banging the drum of bigotry against immigrants and minorities. With an absence of national support, why do local representatives and leaders feign shock when we reach out to them for some sort of assurance that they do not share these frightening ideals?
Lt. Col. Vindman is a Purple Heart decorated veteran who has solemnly taken a lifetime oath of loyalty to the country. Besides the preposterousness of this claim, is also so ignorant. Only a shallow Google search is needed to learn that we fled the former Soviet Union because of dire economic conditions and near constant violent antiSemitism. Another fun fact about any socalled loyalty to a Soviet homeland can be quickly debunked by the fact that Soviet Jews were not allowed to be called Russians or Soviets or Ukrainians. Our passport label was so perfunctory in its hatred of us. It said nationality: JEW. We view our birthhomeland with complete disdain and with about the same amount of loyalty as Trump’s marital vows.
The sad thing is that these U.S. bornandbred GOP leaders have not bothered to ask why immigrants oppose the Trump narrative so much? Very simple. He sounds just like the birthhomeland leadership we fled. I am an activist and proud resistor. Quick to jump to the defense of “the other.” I never felt I was a mainstream target of Trump hate ... until this takedown of Lt. Vindman. This one hurt.
How could it be OK to drag someone like Lt. Co. Vindman through the mud and not OK to condemn and remove the people who do the dragging or stand by and watch it happen? This constant silence by GOP at every level of government is so dark, scurrilous and stupid. Imagine the next gen “Vindman” thinking of enlisting and then remembering how half the country stood by to slander him. Good luck finding good people willing to take a bullet, as Vindman did.
The sad thing is that these U.S. bornandbred GOP leaders have not bothered to ask why immigrants oppose the Trump narrative so much? Very simple. He sounds just like the birthhomeland leadership we fled.