This should’ve been bigger news.
First, to be clear: Washington State Representative Adam Smith is truly one of the more vile creatures on the Democrat side of the aisle. He can always be counted on to spew the most despicable Democrat lies and lines. He’s vermin, make no mistake.
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But he deserves our solidarity — for this one narrow, specific thing:
Congressman Smith was the victim of left-wing terrorism. Terrorism so bad it caused him to change a vote. It actually doesn’t matter on what, as a matter of principle, though happened to be on Israel. Rep. Smith abandoned — dare I say betrayed — Israel, a complete reversal of his previous, long-standing support.
So yeah, if you are a Zionist like me, this vote makes it hard to stand in solidarity with him, but the “why” matters. And on this very narrow, specific item, his and his neighbors’ security at their private residences, we should stand with him.
So what was the vote on?
It was on an amendment to fund Israel, or should I say not fund Israel. This amendment would’ve denied them every single penny, zeroed them out. Even money for their self-defense — the Iron Dome, was zeroed out.
Adam Smith voted in support of zeroing them out.
How much do we give Israel very year?
$3.8 billion.
Let’s put that in perspective:
The United States federal government spends approximately $7.01 trillion annually (based on finalized Fiscal Year 2025 data from the U.S. Treasury), and an amount of $3.8 billion is approximately 0.054% of that total budget.
0.054%.That’s not even one percent. Heck, it’s not even one tenth of one percent.
And for that proportionally paltry amount we get “intelligence cooperation, military innovation, technological development, strategic access, and shared security interests.” Their innovations in technology alone are worth the price of admission. The fact that they shoulder so much of the burden in the Middle East relieves some of our enormous national security costs and gives us more room to focus on other threats, such as China.
But back to Adam Smith.
City Journal explains the situation well:
[Rep. Smith] put out a statement explaining why he had voted the day before to cut American aid to Israel. “My family and I have had our home vandalized, a fire has been set in my driveway, my neighbors’ lives have been disrupted by demonstrations in the middle of the night, town halls meant to be forums for dialogue have been shut down, and a staff member has been physically assaulted.”
This is a remarkable admission. A member of Congress has admitted that he cast an important vote … because he had been targeted by lawless anti-Israel fanatics. … They figured that he would eventually conclude that harboring views at odds with theirs … was not worth the trouble, the threats, the danger. And they were right.
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There is room for debate about his fortitude, to be sure, and no doubt the comments here at American Thinker will reflect it, but there can be no debate about the wrongness of it all.
We are grateful to have robust First Amendment protections to protest our government for redress of grievances, but terrorizing legislators at home? Perhaps that’s a boundary we need to set. We have laws to protect members of the judiciary at home, specifically 18 U.S. Code § 1507 – Picketing or parading:
Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent uses any sound-truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Now, obviously, we don’t want to prohibit protest of our elected representatives at public buildings. That’s fundamental. But perhaps it’s time for Congress to get to work on a making it a felony to protest them at their private residences — and we on the right side of the aisle should support them.
There are plenty of ways to make your voice heard. One needn’t terrorize a legislator’s loved ones and neighbors to do it.
We used to be a high trust society, observing basic civility in all spheres of life. We’ve been seeing these rules of the road crumbling. This is now a very dark turn and it should be arrested, quite literally, before someone gets hurt.
We shouldn’t live in a country where our elected representatives and those close to them have to live in fear.
M. Walter blogs at www.mwalterwriter.com where you can find The Lunatic Left Series, a daily snapshot of Democrat words and deeds so you can see what they’re up to without having to go hip-deep in their toxic brew. You’re welcome 😉
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