Fetterman on pager attack in Lebanon: 'If anything, I love it'

[tritsofme]

Sen. John Fetterman said he supports Israel’s recent pager attack on Hezbollah, adding that “if anything,” he loves it.

“I want to be very clear, I thought what Israel chose to do about blowing up the pagers and walkie talkies and after targeting and eliminating membership and leadership of Hezbollah, I absolutely support that,” Fetterman (D-Pa.) said. “In fact, if anything, I love it.”

Israel detonated Hezbollah walkie talkies and pagers last week in remote attacks that killed at least 32 people and injured more than 3,000. Hezbollah on Sunday launched dozens of rockets at an Israeli airbase. U.S. officials said the pager attacks were likely to escalate tensions — and could even cause an all-out war.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has been a strong critic of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza, recently said of the attacks on the Senate floor that Netanyahu was sabotaging a cease-fire deal with the pager attack….

When asked if he agreed with anything the Vermont senator said in the clip, Fetterman said, “No, not at all.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/22/fetterman-israel-pagers-hezbollah-00180393

Fetterman has quickly become my favorite senator over the last few years!

Incredibly proud to have his voice in the Senate.

He also happens to be 100% correct here, no surprise.

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. He continues to alienate me.

[cyndensco]

13. I had a problem with him

when he held a gun on a black man jogging through his neighborhood.

Glad he beat dr oz, but he continues to disappoint.

[Susan Calvin]

54. Me too. nt

[KPN]

57. Agree.

[Xavier Breath]

118. Exactly.

[hlthe2b]

2. Who will say that when terrorist groups adopt the technology to cell phones to use here and throughout the West?

Some can't think beyond the tip of their nose. I have liked Fetterman, but this is a very short-sighted comment.

[Think. Again.]

4. I guess we'll probably never get a count of...

...the innocent, non-hezbollah bystanders killed or injured by those things, but innocent lives don't seem to matter much anymore.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

20. From Hizbollah themselves

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pager-explosions-injure-hundreds-hezbollah-145122110.html

Pager explosions injure hundreds of Hezbollah members in alleged cyberattack

Hundreds of Hezbollah members in Lebanon were injured after multiple pagers, a form of low tech personal wireless communication device, exploded Tuesday, a member of Hezbollah’s media office said.

Hezbollah, an Iran and Hamas-aligned militia and the strongest political party in Lebanon, alleged the pagers were targeted in a cyberattack.

Hezbollah later issued a statement that alleged Israel was responsible for the attack, and vowed retaliation.

At least 2,750 were injured, according to the country’s health ministry, and at least one child was killed.

And to add to this:

The pagers were the latest model brought in by Hezbollah in recent months, security sources told Reuters

This was a targeted strike on Hizbollah's C&C to disrupt and create chaos within the ranks while trying to minimize civilian casualties, and while the deaths of a few civilians is tragic, it was a highly successful strike that even Hizbollah admits to.

Unlike Hizbollah, Israel tried and succeeded in very few civilian casualties while crippling their Command and Control.

I'm with Sen. Fetterman here, I LOVE IT and hope to see more of this targeting of Hizbollah's C&C.
Great job Israel, that's the way to do it.

[Think. Again.]

28. Well, I certainly don't "love" an attack that killed innocent lives.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

29. Stop trying to put words in my mouth that I didn't say, I've no idea where those words have been,

I never said I, or he for that matter, love civilians being killed and you know that Fetterman, and I, meant that we love terrorists being injured or killed.

[Think. Again.]

31. The clear implication is that you, and Fetterman, "love" the attack that has killied and maimed numerous innocent people

...."targetted" my ass.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

34. Numerous innocent people?

Now Hizbollah are innocent people?

This from the same article:

Three people — including one child — were killed, Hezbollah said in a statement, adding that the cause of the explosions was unknown as of yet

.

You count 3 people as numerous?

[Think. Again.]

41. You count a child as hezbollah?

Other reports are saying thousands have been injured and 47 killed, including 2 children.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

46. Thousands injured and 47 killed?

The vast majority of those injured and killed were Hizbollah, very, very few civilians were injured or killed in this brilliantly planned and executed operation and my hats off to Israel, or whom ever did this for minimizing the civilian casualties.

[Think. Again.]

48. Peppering mini bombs into the general population ...

...wouldn't be my idea of how to minimize civilian casualties.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

51. Then maybe Hizbollah should think twice about launching rockets and missiles

against innocent Israeli civilians in N. Israel.
Think maybe if Hizbollah stopped doing that, Israel would stop targeting Hizbollah?

[Think. Again.]

56. Yes, look what they made Israel do.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

58. LOL.

Now it's reached the ridiculous phase of this conversation.
Have a great Sunday and forthcoming week.
I'm out.

[Think. Again.]

60. Have a great week!

[Dorian Gray]

86. So... a country has every right to defend itself against terroristic bomb and rocket lobbing

I appreciate that Israel didn't return the rockets in kind, especially bc with their advanced technology, they would have killed way more than THREE people with rockets.

We have seen the response in Gaza, and it's devastating.

We can even appreciate that this attack actually minimized collateral damage, something Hamas and Hezbollah don't give a shit about.

Having said that, gleefully celebrating an attack (like Fetterman did) where one innocent life was taken is callous. I 100% agree with that. Celebrating war is ugly. Celebrating death is ugly. (That celebration isn't just on one side, but the condemnation of such celebration SURE SEEMS ONE-SIDED.).

[Dorian Gray]

87. The pager attack:

I appreciate that Israel didn't return the rockets in kind, especially bc with their advanced technology, they would have killed way more than THREE people with rockets.

We have seen the response in Gaza, and it's devastating.

We can even appreciate that this attack actually minimized collateral damage, something Hamas and Hezbollah don't give a shit about.

Having said that, gleefully celebrating an attack (like Fetterman did) where one innocent life was taken is callous. I 100% agree with that. Celebrating war is ugly. Celebrating death is ugly. (That celebration isn't just on one side, but the condemnation of such celebration SURE SEEMS ONE-SIDED.).

[FBaggins]

83. Then please tell us what your idea would be

Disabling thousands of terrorist combatants while keeping civilian casualties to a minimum.

By all means.. . regale us with what your better idea would be?

And why the dishonest "peppering" as though this were a cluster munition?

[Think. Again.]

84. I'm not a military strategist...

...so I wouldn't attempt to offer ideas about killing people, but I DO think that "peppering" is a very good, discriptive word to use to describe, well, peppering things.

[yagotme]

94. They weren't "peppered" into the general population...

They were ordered, received by, and distributed to Hezbollah members. Nearly all the damage was done to Hezbollah. Perhaps you would prefer the Gaza strategy to be used?

[Think. Again.]

97. Yeah, they were peppered into the population.

Planting mobile mini-bombs that were destined to mingle into the general population in civilian locations before being detonated, instead of targetting specific known hezbollah-only location sites can be expected to kill and injure non-hezbollah civilians.

[yagotme]

98. Hezbollah population, yes. General, no.

A very small amount of explosive was used, anyone more than a few feet away would have little effect. More of a "contact charge" than anything. Or , perhaps, a 2,000 pound bomb dropped on them would have been more preferable to you?

[Think. Again.]

99. Why are you so defensive?

The President of Israel claims Israel didn't do it.

Probably just a problem with those pesky Lithium batteries, right?

[yagotme]

104. Everyone here seems to think they did it, rightly or wrongly.

And, defensive about what? You don't like the concept of someone using small, directly associated bombs being used, to absolutely minimize civilian casualties, in an attack against a terrorist organization, so I am curious as to what YOU would consider to be "OK" for a victim of rocket attacks to use...

[Think. Again.]

106. I'm not a military strategist...

...so I wouldn't even know where to start to suggest types of killing equipment, but as I think I've made clear, I would suggest closely targetting only the known enemy.

[yagotme]

107. Which, is what, "whoever" did.

Other than walking up to the person, asking for their Hezbollah ID, and then shooting them, this is about as close to a precision, individualized attack, that you can get.

[Think. Again.]

108. Well, I know enough to know that's nonsense.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

123. Well, I know enough to know that what you just said is nonsense.

And, believe me, I know what I'm talking about, as do others here, what's painfully true is that you obviously don't.

[Think. Again.]

125. Sorry, I'm not buying it...

...pre-loading a large shipment of individual devices that you can only hope eventually end up on the bodies of several dozen individual targets at some point in time is hardly "as close to a precision, individualized attack, that you can get."

[MarineCombatEngineer]

126. I'm not selling anything,

I'm just telling you like it is.

[FBaggins]

128. Can only hope?

They knew that the pagers were for C3 between Hezbollah command and their combatants to create a communications chain that Israel couldn't track. The pagers served no other purpose. It isn't a as though someone in Hezbollah's high command said "you know what? Johnny's soccer team can never seem to get together on time... let's give them each a pager"

"I'm not a military strategist" can't dodge the simple truth. If you "don't buy" that it's as close to a precision attack as you can get... why can't you think of a single better alternative?

[FBaggins]

109. That much is abundantly clear

Pagers are not used by the general population - they're antiquated outside a very narrow range of uses as with hospitals that have their own internal paging network or remote oil rigs and mines.

Israel did not "pepper" them throughout the population. They infiltrated a supply chain that was specifically delivering devices to terrorist - and it is thought that they even knew which terrorists had each pager.

It is not possible to come any closer to "closely targeting only the known enemy" than that... those devices had no civilian purpose and no reason to believe that anyone other than the target would handle them... and every indication was that it was an overwhelming success. Moreover... note the tiny size of the explosives involved. They hit thousands of targets and killed hardly anyone. They were obviously aiming to disable, not kill.

It also had the (significant) collateral benefit of forcing other Iran-backed terrorist groups to drop their own communication options. For those who spend little time learning military strategy... C3 is too often misunderstood as a critical factor. Damaging that all across the region is a massive win.

Let's not forget the comparison that you're implicitly ignoring. 3-4 grams of explosives times ~3,000 devices is on the close order of one tenth of the explosive force of a single Hezbollah rocket like the ones they "pepper" constantly into the Israeli civilian population

[Think. Again.]

114. I disagree...

By planting these mini-bombs onto people who would undoubtedly and expectedly be mingling among the civilian population, and then detonating these mini-bombs without knowledge of whether or not any civilians were within harming distance of the mini-bomb, whomever is responsible for planting these roaming mini-bombs had indeed peppered the civilian population with them.

[FBaggins]

115. Yet they were able to disable thousands with almost no civilian impact

That’s near miraculous considering the enemy mixes with the civilian population

As hinted by the answer you keep dodging… nobody has been able to come up with anything even plausibly close.

There is no obligation to refrain from an attack unless you can guarantee zero civilian impact. The obligation is to minimize that impact in proportion to the military objective.

And they succeeded better than any other like scenario you could possibly name (even were you a military strategist)

[MarineCombatEngineer]

127. You can disagree all you like that's your perogative,

but what FBaggins has said is 100% true and all your disagreements aren't going to change that, like I said, it's painfully obvious that you have no clue as to what you think you know.

[Butterflylady]

47. So, there are some that enjoy the killing of children and innocents.

As far as this PA citizen is, I support Bernie Sanders.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

49. BS!!!

He, nor I, ever said that nor enjoy that.

[betsuni]

142. ...

[BigDemVoter]

26. Right?

I saw a YouTube video that showed one exploding in a supermarket…. Who knows who was hurt or killed there?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

30. Nobody but the terrorist was injured,

the video clearly shows that only the terrorist being injured while bystanders scattered without any apparent injury.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AI5xT0F8qRQ

[Butterflylady]

50. Wow, you are so wrong.

Thank goodness the administrators gave us a trash button.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

52. I'm so wrong?

Prove it.
Thank god the Admin. gave us the ignore function, I would urge you to use it.

[tritsofme]

5. That seems a pretty poor reason to oppose how Israel targeted Hezbollah.

Whether or not a terrorist group has the means and ability to wage such a hypothetical attack has nothing to do with Israel’s action against Hezbollah.

[former9thward]

6. Terrorists don't need Fetterman's approval to use technology.

If they could do it years ago or now they happily would have. If they can do it in the future they will. Which is why we must stay ahead of them as Israel as done.

[Think. Again.]

10. Showing them the way?

[former9thward]

18. Israel has been using this ability for decades.

Several of the 1972 Olympic murderers were killed by exploding phones. So if someone is showing somebody "the way" it has been going on a long time.

[markpkessinger]

110. Implanting explosives into devices is not new, BUT . . .

. . . implanting them by intercepting them, en masse, in the supply chain IS new. This is a war crime. Israel had no idea who might be injured by those remotely detonated explosions, or who might be in close proximity to them.

[FBaggins]

113. That's ridiculously wrong

They didn't intercept a bunch of pagers headed all over the place. They created a pager manufacturing company and "fulfilled" only terrorist orders with exploding pagers.

It's wildly wrong to say they had no idea who might hold those pagers. In fact - the speculation was that they knew exactly which terrorists had which pagers and detonated them individually.

"Close proximity" might mean something if we were talking about grenade-sized explosives... but we're talking a tiny fraction of that amount. They knew that even the person with the pager on his hip was likely to only be disabled.

[markpkessinger]

120. They still didn't have any way of knowing who might be injured by them . . .

. . . and that is what makes the pager attacks indiscriminate -- and a war crime. So no, it's not "ridiculously wrong."

[FBaggins]

124. Of course they did - not that they need to

Let's not pretend that "war crime" has now devolved to "you cannot pull the trigger unless you are 100% certain that no civilian will be harmed - anything less is a war crime". This was as far from indiscriminate as an attack on 3,000 targets has ever been in history.

And let's all have a laugh at the crew that can't seem to bring themselves to comment on endless rockets fired into civilian towns (each of which carries ten times the explosives of all of the pagers combined) while straining at this gnat.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

130. JFC, the misinformation here is astounding,

claiming that intercepting a shipment of pagers ordered by Hizbollah to be used by Hizbollah and planting a minimal amount of PETN inside is a war crime is just beyond belief.

[FBaggins]

134. And frankly telling

Still can't seem to get a reply on how thousands of times as much explosive (in each warhead) lobbed regularly into Israeli cities somehow doesn't get "war crimes!" labels.

It appears that to some - Israel's very existence is the unacceptable crime that must be corrected.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

135. I've asked that question also, usually just get this sound.

[hlthe2b]

12. What a ridiculous thing to say.

Honestly. Not even worth my time.

[former9thward]

17. Yet you took your time to post it is not worth your time.

Interesting philosophy.

[Big Blue Marble]

21. And not just terrorists, NYT's article today suggested that more and more

this type of sabotage will be employed by nation-states against other nations. It is easily obtained
technology driven by more and more compromised supply chains, making us all vulnerable
as electronics are in nearly every appliance, device, and vehicle, we have.

[former9thward]

55. Well I think our total reliance on electronics and technology will be our doom.

But that is another subject.

[Rebl2]

75. Agree

[Ponietz]

77. They could put lead in our cinnamon -- very short-sighted

[Renew Deal]

79. Agree

If this is the direction the world is going, we are all in big trouble.

[Think. Again.]

3. I was so glad when he got the Lt. Gov. position....

...but people do change I guess.

[Disaffected]

7. I love it too,

when innocent people are maimed and killed.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

24. ....

[Disaffected]

33. I hope the

doesn't mean what it appears to.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

35. It's exactly what it appears to be,

a thumbs down gesture.

[Disaffected]

37. Yeah,

war is heck.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

38. War is not heck,

war is hell, ask me how I know this.
Maybe if Hizbollah would stop firing rockets and missiles into N. Israel this would stop?

[Skittles]

61. we're supposed to cheer

depending on "what side" it is

get with the program!

[Disaffected]

62. Yes, I got with the program once

and regretted it later. Older and wiser I guess..........

[Skittles]

63. war is absolutely digusting

ALL OF IT

[Mysterian]

121. It sure is and it's absolutely necessary

as long as there are evil people in this world who refuse to live in peace.

[Fiendish Thingy]

8. I only have one concern, and one Question regarding Fetterman:

Does he support killing the filibuster, yes or no?

If yes, then he can say whatever he wants, as long we have 50 votes in the senate for Harris' agenda.

[Think. Again.]

11. I disagree...

The killing of innocents is not a price I'm willing to pay for a Senate majority.

[Fiendish Thingy]

14. I said he could "say" whatever he wants

Come January, the pressure must be on the new administration to halt the killing of innocents by the corrupt Netanyahu regime, using all available tools, including the suspension of military aid.

Senators who obstruct the Harris agenda, or ending the war in Gaza, May find themselves with primary opponents.

[Think. Again.]

15. I absolutely agree with that.

[PufPuf23]

9. Israel President Isaac Herzog says, "Israel had 'no connection' with exploding pager attack"

Israel had ‘no connection’ with exploding pager attack, president claims

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israel-had-no-connection-with-exploding-pager-attack-president-claims/ar-AA1qZonU?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=0dde738a61584b94941eb1d67d24275b&ei=212

[AloeVera]

72. Thanks. I needed that comic relief. N/T

[EastBayGuy]

16. Fetterman's off-base and I disagree with your three assertions, truly repugnant.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

27. Who care what you agree with, all that counts

is that Israel is doing what it needs to do to protect the nation, something we would do also.

[Think. Again.]

36. (Not so) Funny thing...

Israel doesn't accept responsibility for it....

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israel-had-no-connection-with-exploding-pager-attack-president-claims/ar-AA1qZonU?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=0dde738a61584b94941eb1d67d24275b&ei=212

[MarineCombatEngineer]

40. Well, there you go,

Israel didn't do it, so, If Israel didn't do it, who did?

[Think. Again.]

42. Yeah, you know how glitchy these new tech gadgets can be.

[PufPuf23]

74. Israel is no longer waging a war of self-defense but a war of aggression.

Netanyahu recently said Israel plans to re-make the Middle East.

[Mountainguy]

88. Maybe they should

The whole region is a shit show

[yagotme]

95. So, all those rockets Hezbollah is firing into Israel are just toys for the children? nt

[PufPuf23]

100. Last hour reports from Israel Realtime

Lots more pre-emptive ordinance headed to Lebanon and Syria, now and in the past,

My main concern is that the USA be drawn into the war.

26m ago
🔴 LEBANON WAR updates - Monday afternoon - events from Israel
ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime
⚠️HOME FRONT COMMAND - no changes from previous instructions.
⚠️IRAQ - Enemy report of drone swarm launching towards Israel around 18:30 (flight time 1 hour+).
▪️PM NETANYAHU SAYS.. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "For those who have not yet understood, I want to clarify Israel's policy - we do not wait for a threat, we anticipate it. Anywhere, in any arena, at any time. We eliminate senior officials, eliminate terrorists, eliminate missiles - and our hands are raised. Whoever tries to hurt us, we hurt him even more...
We are facing complex days. I ask you, citizens of Israel, for two things: first, to obey the directives of the Home Front Command, it saves lives; And secondly, to stand together with determination, responsibility and, of course, patience.”
▪️REALLY? Representatives of Turkey and Qatar will arrive in Lebanon tomorrow in order to prevent war.
▪️CLOSED AIR SPACE NORTH OF HADERA.. until the end of September. including personal drones, with the exception of security, emergency and rescue services.
▪️FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS.. Foreign Minister Israel Katz: Hezbollah leader Nasrallah deploys Hezbollah's missiles in the homes of Lebanese residents and uses the civilian population as human shields. Any (Lebanese) citizen who has a Hezbollah rocket in his home should immediately leave the house for his own protection.
♦️IRAN.. An explosion at an oil facility near Tehran.
♦️SYRIA.. Syrian opposition sources report an Israeli attack on a joint post of Hezbollah and the Assad army in the area of the village of Beit Tima in western Damascus.
♦️PORT BEIRUT.. Reports of explosions are FAKE.
♦️CURRENT ATTACKS.. Lebanon: Very violent attacks in Baalbek now, assaults on the Yaat plain, attacks on al-Kavch/Harmel.
⭕ROCKET BARRAGE hits SAMARIA, explosion heard in Elad, Arabs report casualties in Jenin and Tulkarm and a hit close to Kalkilya and Ramallah (did Hezbollah hit or target Palestinian cities?)
.. A Hezbollah missile fell in the area of the Arab village of Salfit in Samaria - the Palestinians were stunned.
⭕120 KM.. Reporter of the Lebanese Almanar channel (Hezbollah-affiliated): Rockets were launched at a range of 120 km deep into Israel.
⭕BEN GURION AIRPORT.. During the rocket fire at Samaria, a civilian plane that was in the landing stages took off to go around, and landed a short time ago. There are currently no changes to the flight schedule (but when aircraft have been put at risk, the airlines will almost certainly stop flying there - except El Al).
⭕AIRCRAFT RE-ROUTE? Reuters reports: Israeli aircraft make emergency landing in Cyprus after Hezbollah targets runways. (This would seem to be commercial civilian aircraft, as Israel has multiple military airports further south.)
🔥BIRIYA FOREST.. forest fires started by rocket fall.
🔸TIBERIAS.. by order of the Home Front Command, the light rail in the city of Tiberias will be suspended until further notice.
🔹THEM.. A report in the Lebanese newspaper L'orient-Le Jour: Hezbollah members began knocking on the doors of the houses of residents in Nabatia district and asking them to evacuate their homes immediately.
🔹Hezbollah channels: "The enemy has gone mad.”

about an hour ago

⚠️ IDF STRIKES APPROXIMATELY 800 HEZBOLLAH TARGETS IN LEBANON ⚠️
The IDF have launched extensive and proactive aerial strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. According to an IDF spokesperson, these operations, based on precise intelligence, have targeted approximately 800 Hezbollah sites since this morning. These strikes focused on southern Lebanon and the Beqaa region deep within Lebanese territory. Among the targets were facilities where Hezbollah stored rockets, missiles, launchers, UAVs, and other terrorist infrastructure.
The goal of these strikes is to eliminate threats to Israeli civilians and weaken Hezbollah's infrastructure and operational capabilities.

Join ISRAEL REALTIME 🎗️ "Connecting the World to Israel in Realtime"
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https://t.me/Israel_Realtime_Updates
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https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558471625976
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[yagotme]

105. Pre-emptive ordinance to stop another possible attack,

like the attacks that HAVE been made in the past, because attacks made in the past were made, they need to stop future attacks from happening, preemptively stopping them, so the attacks of the future won't be the attacks of the past, because the attackers have/have vowed to keep attacking, so possible future attacks from them would succeed, unless they are preemptively stopped by the attack-ee, who now becomes the attack-er, so they don't get attacked AGAIN, because the original attacker won't stop attacking, and...

[Sympthsical]

19. Fetterman has been articulating something very important

At least something I've considered very important.

Progressive and Leftist are not synonymous terms. Just because one is a progressive - and I consider myself such - does not mean I have to buy into every bit of dumb that comes from radical activism, oppression theory, and the lazy regressive and reactionary anti-Westernism that's forever leaking portside.

Fetterman is a progressive who resists the dumb. And he's one of my favorite senators on account. Sometimes people get into this position where they feel like they have to placate or pay tribute to every bit of imagined grievance mustered or else be forever labeled a sinner.

Well, I rejected religious thinking when I dropped Christianity. Why would I substitute dumb ideology for it?

Fetterman's a gem.

[Hekate]

67. I agree with you

[Oopsie Daisy]

101. Agreed, he has a lot to offer and contribute *

* I just wish he'd stop with the f-bombs and such.

[rollin74]

117. well stated

I feel the same way

[betsuni]

119. "Progressive" has been weaponized, used to divide -- liberal Democrats as corrupt evil establishment Them and

progressives as pure good anti-establishment Us. A simplistic black-or-white, good-or-evil, moral-or-immoral ideology. How terrorists can be seen as freedom fighters, they've been put in the Us binder so must be good and moral and right.

"It was not the first time the term 'establishment' was weaponized, but never so effectively, to just the right people at just the right time. And as 'establishment' became the blood-sucking vampire, 'progressive' became the magic talisman of defense. Since then, despite all the talk of needing to 'unify' and 'heal divisions,' the branding of Democrats into 'progressive' and 'establishment' (and sometimes 'centrist') has come to dominate how candidates are identified -- and often self-identify. I think it's time to seriously ask ourselves: just what good is this relic of a disastrous election doing? Not only doesn't it accurately represent the diversity among Democrats, but it clearly fosters fragmentation and resentment -- and feeds a media that is always hungry to report strife among us. ... But surely, we can give up the old incantations, the old revolutionary/sell-out discourse." Susan Bordo

[MarineCombatEngineer]

22. I'm in 100% agreement with Sen. Fetterman.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

69. Damn, missed that one.

I would've liked to have read it.

[BigDemVoter]

23. Ugh..

The more he talks, the less I like him.

[Eko]

25. He continues to dissapoint me.

I will happily vote for someone better in the next election. I have no problem with what Israel did, they killed terrorists that deserved to be killed and they did it far better than they have been doing in Gaza with far less collateral damage. But to say that you love it? Whatever the fuck that mindset is does not deserve to represent my state at all.

[mvd]

68. I was almost as much of a fan of him as AOC and Bernie

Now though I’ll vote for him but consider the other Democrat if one runs against him next time. He’s overcome a lot - but I just don’t agree with his approach sometimes. He also doesn’t like Shapiro, our popular governor.

[Oopsie Daisy]

32. He continues to win me over *

* in spite of his F-💣's

[jcgoldie]

39. he says some stupid shit sometimes

have to take the the bad with the good i suppose.

[BeyondGeography]

43. Just a recklessly stupid thing to say

Going out of your way to piss people off who have the means to retaliate not to mention a history of doing so. Why not just paint a target on your back, John? Or ours?

[BlueTsunami2018]

44. Yeah, those were some brilliant attacks.

I don’t see anything to disagree with here.

[Kaleva]

65. I agree

[alarimer]

45. The more I hear of this guy, the less I like him.

I pretty much fucking hate him at this point. Just a completely embarrassing person.

[Richard D]

59. I love it to

Fetterman rocks.

[Intractable]

66. What a poor choice of words -- implying that war is something to "love."

[WhiskeyGrinder]

70. horrifying tbh

[Disaffected]

71. "Oh to be in England

now that war is here."

[AloeVera]

73. There's so much to love about terrorizing a country and blowing people's eyes out.

Yeeehaaww!!

[TheKentuckian]

81. So sad that they will struggle to target rockets to terrorize going forward.

Maybe Iran will include Braille instructions on the next murder rocket shipment for the poor dears.

[madaboutharry]

76. Israel's duty is to protect Israelis from Jihadist terrorists.

Last edited Sun Sep 22, 2024, 11:07 PM - Edit history (1)

There are many people who would like to pass a new law of the universe. It goes something like this: "Jews are forbidden to defend themselves against terrorists who plot the murder of Jews."

Advice for terrorist: If you don't want the people you care about and others to be in harm's way when you are targeted because of your status as a terrorist, then don't become a terrorist.

[XRubicon]

78. Nice wedge!

Keep up the good work!

[TheKentuckian]

80. Wow, it almost seems like some where considering a Freedom Fighter Network Alert System device themselves.

[betsuni]

82. "When asked if he agreed with anything the Vermont senator said ... Fetterman said, 'No, not at all.'"

[tritsofme]

89. I got a big kick out of that one too! An incredibly wise man!

[Dorian Gray]

85. I have mixed emotions

I actually like his unequivocal support of Israel. I am down with that. What rubs me the wrong way is the absolute glee in the deaths of others.

And while the pager attacks were targeted to Hezbollah militants, and I don't give a shit about them, we do know of one child who died... and I can not take glee in an operation where innocents are killed.

[wnylib]

133. I felt gleeful when I heard the news that we had killed Bin Laden.

I was home in my kitchen with the radio on. As soon as I heard, I raised my fist and said, "Yay! Good job."

I think that's how many Israelis feel about the pager attacks killing Hezbollah terrorists.

Yes, it is tragic that a child was killed by an exploding pager. That's what makes war so terrible, the loss of innocent lives. But a nation has to fight back to protect and defend its citizens from terrorist attacks. It is good that Israel devised a way to target the terrorists directly.

I strongly opposed the US/UK invasion of Iraq. I protested in DC with a crowd of around 300,000 people from across the country. I protested again at Buffalo with people in my region. There was no justification for attacking Iraq.

But I did not oppose the US led NATO invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban was harboring Al Qaida. I did not like how the war devolved into a cash cow for military contractors, and the handling of prisoners. The initial goal to get Al Qaida and OBL was right, but considering how the war was handled, I wonder if that ever was the real goal.

Israel has been attacked by two terrorist groups, both of them backed by Iran. Since those groups have launched war on Israel, then Israel has the right and the necessity fight back in self defense.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

137. +100.

[Dorian Gray]

139. In my very humble opinion

I agree with you fully that Israel has the right to self defense. I didn't deny that in my original post.

I do think the optics of being gleeful about it from a US Senator isn't great, tho.

I also think signing the bombs (Ala Shapiro) isn't great.

There can be a callousness about the weight of war. I don't love seeing people that I respect being callous about it.

[wnylib]

143. Signing bombs is not a new practice. It happened often in WWII.

I think that when people are under attack from a vicious enemy in a situation that is kill or be killed, emotions run outside the realm of normal daily life.

I can understand how that happens in war time.

[Deminpenn]

90. Fetterman really doesn't have a filter

and he seems unable to consider all sides of an issue. The fact that he can ignore Bernie Sanders, an actual Jew born just at WWII began, says a lot. Fetterman has an opinion, does what he does and doesn't care what anyone else thinks and that's that. Sometimes I just think to myself, "grow up!".

Back in June, the New Yorker did a profile on Fetterman. It's worth the read.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/07/01/john-fettermans-war

[tritsofme]

91. I think recognizing Bernie should be ignored is a major sign of wisdom for Fetterman, especially in this case.

He is a fast learner!

[Deminpenn]

92. Ignoring someone with a different perspective,

that's the ticket.

[tritsofme]

93. Nope, just heard all the nonsense I need to make a judgement.

[Oopsie Daisy]

102. Amen.

[RobinA]

96. This Guy

is getting on my nerves. I voted for him, but I'm not sure I would in another primary. Something about that car accident where he plowed his tank into a woman who wasn't driving fast enough for him rubbed me the wrong way.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

103. Because killing and maiming innocent civilians

is always good, right? Maybe 100% good?

[markpkessinger]

111. There are no words to express how appalled I am by this post n/t

[tritsofme]

112. I'm sure you tried your best.

[alarimer]

116. Whoever did this is a monster, as are those cheering it.

Fetterman needs to be primaries. He is simply unfit for office, a loose cannon, metaphorically speaking.

[krawhitham]

122. I'm old enough to remember when killing innocents via collateral damage ways frowned upon, not cheered for

[former9thward]

136. Are you old enough to have read the history of WW II?

What should we have done differently?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

138. What war has there ever been zero civilian casualties?

What the hell, I'll answer it, there is no war in history that there haven't been civilian casualties, in WWII, there were more civilian casualties than military casualties.

And this bolded part of your post is pure BS:

I'm old enough to remember when killing innocents via collateral damage ways frowned upon, not cheered for

Nobody here is cheering the very few civilians injured or killed, that's just plain nonsense.

[RandiFan1290]

140. This is the same crowd that lectured us about invading Iraq.

They also called us "antisemitic" for being against the invasion.

[samsingh]

129. i don't love it.

[apcalc]

131. Fetterman supports elimination of Hezbollah, as do I.

[apcalc]

132. Fetterman knows how to shut up the R's in Pa.

[Elessar Zappa]

141. I don't "love it" but it needed to be done.

Hezbollah needs to be taken down.