It was another busy week in politics. From mounting pressure facing President Joe Biden over a deadly Israeli air strike that killed aid workers in Gaza to controversial comments by a Maine lawmaker about Nazi training camps, our analysts weigh in.
Biden faces pressure over Israel
President Joe Biden is facing increasing pressure after an Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen in Gaza. This week, he had a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu where he reiterated calls for a cease-fire and assurances that Israeli forces will not target civilians and aid workers. But some say the president isn't taking strong enough action.
ZACH: "Should the president be taking a stronger stance here?"
RAY: "No, I don't think so. Benjamin Netanyahu came out and said that it wasn't intentional. This is what happens sometimes, war is awful, and unfortunately, innocent people die. I do want to remind everyone that we would not have this going on if Hamas had not brutally attacked the Israelis, killing 1,406 people on October 7th. Tony Blinken just spoke out as secretary of state saying there could be a change in our policy. Yet yesterday Admiral Kirby said there was no change in the policy. Peter Doocy questioned him about the president's comments and he said both things can be true at the same time. It seems like the administration is exactly sure what their position is. Do we support Israel unequivocally or will we change our policy on Israel?"
ZACH: "Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree released a statement on this week saying in part, 'an immediate cease-fire is absolutely necessary. There can be no more excuses.' Will this issue hurt the president among progressive voters who are already struggling to back Biden?"
KEN: "It certainly will. If there's not a cease-fire. Continued war hurts Joe Biden, but I agree with what the president did. I think your point is well taken. Hamas started this. But what people don't understand, I used to say this on the radio again, very criticized where Hamas views themselves not as terrorists, but as freedom fighters. Now, I don't agree with their tactics. And freedom fighters shouldn't be raping women and beheading babies. It's horrible what they did. And Israel has a right to defend themselves, but better that Netanyahu is using this as an excuse to continue to remain in power. He's a corrupt person. He shouldn't be in office. And he's doing this to consolidate power. So it's political for him. Joe Biden is taking a stand that's getting criticized by both sides. That probably means what he's doing is right."
Maine lawmaker's comments on Nazis
Maine Democrats are seizing on comments from Republican State Representative Laurel Libby this week on a bill to ban paramilitary training in the state. It comes after a rise of neo-Nazi groups, including one man's plans to establish a training center in Springfield. There were also demonstrations in Portland and at the state house. The bill is aimed at preventing civil unrest. So "Let's talk about the Nazis, Libby said. "I would like to know, although I'm not posing a question through the chair, I would like to know what they did that was illegal."
ZACH: "Ken, she's talking about First and Second Amendment rights in much of her remarks. Even the ACLU has defended the rights of Nazis to demonstrate. But did Representative Libby go too far here?"
KEN: "I don't believe so. I agree with her 100%. She's not saying she's in favor of Naziism. She's saying, what did they do illegal? This is America. We take pride in being America, having freedoms in the First and Second Amendment. And now we're trying to curtail the freedom to gather in a legal way. I don't like what the Nazi philosophy is. I think they're hateful. I think white supremacy should be wiped out. But by legal means, by people ostracizing them, not by establishing laws prohibiting their free speech and the free gathering."
ZACH: "But I think some Democrats are saying Representative Libby didn't say that part. You know, she didn't acknowledge that hatefulness."
RAY: "Yeah. And I actually Laurel was on my show, I think the day that it happened. She's fiery. I like her a lot because she's fiery. I think it was implied, though, that basically, she's asking, what did they do to violate the law? Look, I am anti-Nazi, just so we're clear. But the Supreme Court held in, I think it was 69 that the Nazis could march in Skokie, Illinois, which was a very strong Jewish community at the time. So, again, free speech. I'm an advocate for free speech. I don't want to curtail free speech. I do think when you're invoking Nazi imagery, it gets very dicey politically. But I understand what she was trying to do. I think I would have maybe found a different way to do it."
National popular vote
Also up for debate in Augusta this week: legislation surrounding the popular vote narrowly passed the House and Senate. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact currently has 16 states and the District of Columbia. In the movement, 11 other states, including Maine, are considering making the switch. If the bill becomes law and the compact gets the support it needs, whichever candidate wins the overall popular vote would then get all four of Maine's delegates.
ZACH: "Right now, Governor Mills has not shared if she supports this, but is this the right move?"
RAY: "Is my face as red as my tie? I can barely speak about this civilly. This is the Maine legislature denying the people of Maine their right to cast their vote for the presidency. And what really irks me about it is, is that this is a cheap way to do it. It's lazy. You want a national popular vote, amend the Constitution, and then we would have Washington running all of our elections. You can't do it this way. There is no national popular vote. Either ignorant people or lazy people say that this is an aggregate of state votes because some states allow certain people to vote. Some other states don't. Some states have photo ID, some don't. Some have different ballot eligibility. You would have to nationalize the election to make every vote equal. This is a really, really, really ignorant argument."
ZACH: "But Ken, the Constitution largely says it's up to the states."
KEN: "This is a great idea. I love it. And let me tell you why the Electoral College was invented because our founding fathers wanted to make sure we didn't get some Yahoo! Voted to be president is a way for them to overrule bad decisions. And by the way, our Electoral College now we have you get you know, if you win the state, you get all the electoral votes. So we have now five or six states that determine our election every year. And that's not the way it should be. Maine has no say into it because we're not a swing state. "
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