Message from Maung Zarni
Dear Friends,
A few items today:
1) Fox News host Mark Levin puts his arm around
President Trump during a White House Hanukkah reception, calling him “the first
Jewish president”
Watch it here:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/878921011493267/
=========================================================
2) Trump orders 'blockade' of sanctioned oil tankers leaving,
entering Venezuela
By Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, Shariq Khan and Marianna
Parraga
December 17, 20256:01 AM GMTUpdated 2 hours ago
Watch Carlson shred decades of deceit and lies Israel and
its supporters have spread to control the United States policy towards
West Asia (Middle East). in the first 45 minutes.
His interview with Francesca Albanase begins at 46
minutes mark.
The entire episode is 1 hr and 30 minutes.
===========================================
UN Reports on Israel's genocide by Francesca Albanese:
Anatomy of
a genocide : report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights
in the Palestinian Territories Occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese
https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4060409?v=pdf
Genocide as colonial erasure
https://www.un.org/unispal/document/genocide-as-colonial-erasure-report-francesca-albanese-01oct24/
From economy of occupation to economy of genocide - Report of the Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
occupied since 1967
======================================================
Meet Randy Fine, America’s Most Racist Congressman
The Florida lawmaker says
'destroy' mainstream Muslims. Who is he and where did he come from?
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Randy Fine on July 15, 2025. Photo by Tom
Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
“Throw rocks, get shot. One less #MuslimTerrorist. #FireAway.”
“‘Palestinian’ is just another word for demon.”
“Gaza must be destroyed.”
“I’m not going to jack (expletive) where that whore is at.”
“I don’t know how you make peace with [Mainstream Muslims], I
think you destroy them first.”
Meet Randy Fine. In a Congress full of racist, pro-war
Islamophobes, he may be the worst. His presence embodies every nefarious,
violent asymmetry in US politics. He’s hated by Democrats – and, at least
privately, by members of his own party.
Yet, he’s still a fixture on cable news, and despite some
less-than-enthusiastic denouncements and calls for apologies, he’s still in
perfectly good standing.
The Trump-endorsed Republican’s aggression has reached a zenith
in recent months. Calling prominent politicians “Muslim
terrorists” and calling to “destroy”
what he labels “Mainstream Muslims” is just a sample. He’s tag-teamed with
conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer (who went from being banned by Medium, Uber,
Lyft, Twitter, PayPal, GoFundMe, Venmo, Meta, and Clubhouse to helping direct
US policy) to advance his “No Sharia Act.” And much more.
Since I first began this piece, Fine’s behavior has gotten worse
and worse, and yet he continues to be welcomed on CNN, and has faced no
consequences for any of his actions.
Despite it all, Fine is still a sitting member of Congress. But
many who have crossed paths with him – on all sides of the aisle – find
consensus around the idea that he is a vicious, angry, and unpleasant person.
And in speaking with some of them, we’ve gotten a deeper insight
into the psychology that drives all the fury, and perhaps, the insecurity.
A Scandal-Riddled Beginning
Fine, a Florida Republican, was elected to the House in April,
with the help of Donald Trump’s enthusiastic
endorsement. He came to Congress after nine years in local politics
and years before that working in consulting and as a gambling executive. Now,
in the House, the militantly pro-Israel representative works on the House
Committees on Foreign Affairs and on Education and the Workforce, and is a member of
the “Judea and Samaria” Caucus.
Born in Arizona and raised in Kentucky, Fine’s resume of scandal
stretches back to his time as an undergraduate at Harvard in the 1990s. While
there, he was accused of
“bribing” students in exchange for votes in the student Republican club
election. (He had been anonymously accused of paying club fees for eight
students who voted for him; he called the accusations “slander” and not
credible). As a member of the student government, Fine allegedly used
the council as a vehicle to obtain an $8,000 grant from the Environmental
Protection Agency, repeatedly attempting to have the check made out to himself.
(He later reportedly said it
was actually for $24,000, and that he did spend it, though he did not say on
what.)
One of Fine’s classmates at the time, Adam Feldman, who was also
in student government, tweeted that
Fine “was a laughing stock: not just a pompous prig, but also outrageously
corrupt.”
Feldman told Zeteo that
he hardly remembers anyone from the time – except Fine. Fine struck him as
someone trying to make a name and a place for himself, someone who was oddly
“tainted by scandal on multiple occasions,” and someone also who “people just
rolled their eyes at.”
While never-ending scandals could hinder one’s career ambitions,
for Fine, the opposite has happened. “He clearly has an enormous personal
ambition and drive that he’s always had,” Feldman said. “What I would speculate
is that the scandals reflect that drive.”
Asked about claims made about Fine, and many of his own comments
targeting other public officials and millions of Americans, Fine’s deputy chief
of staff, Marie Rogerson, said their office is busy serving their constituents.
“If you would like a response from our office, perhaps send questions that have
not already been asked and answered. A simple Google search and some reading
would provide you with the correct facts around much of what you have sent,”
she said.
After graduating, Fine stayed at Harvard to get his MBA. He
would go on to work at McKinsey & Company and as a teaching fellow at
Harvard. He then climbed the ladder in the gambling industry, serving as an executive
for various companies, including Carl Icahn’s casino company and
Harrah’s Entertainment, which is now Caesars Entertainment. At 31, Fine founded
a consulting and management company that advised casino operators across the
country. In 2006, he reportedly moved to
Florida. He was later made the CEO of a Detroit casino.
In 2015, Fine explored running for Senate before opting to run
successfully for the Florida state legislature, where he served until joining
Congress this past year.
And during his time in the state legislature, the scandals and
mayhem only continued. Some episodes are milder than others, but each adds upon
one another to paint the picture of a man characterized by aggrievement,
racism, and reactionary fervor.
The Bully
“Randy Fine is both a bully and has been bullied. The dichotomy
of that is what defines his public persona,” Peter Schorsch, publisher of FloridaPolitics.com, tweeted after
Fine won the Florida special election to fill Mike Waltz’s seat last April.
Fine has spoken at length in the past of being bullied as a child.
But for some, that makes his behavior all the more puzzling.
Jen Cousins, a Florida mom who has sought to defend the rights
of LGBTQ people in Florida and fight against censorship of books in Florida
public schools, told Zeteo that
Fine cites his own experience being bullied as a shield when confronted about
his own behavior. “Well,
if you were bullied, then why wouldn’t you be a better person, right? Like, why
wouldn’t you strive to not treat people that shitty?”
Indeed, Fine has racked up a string of episodes that range from
odd to vindictive to abusive. In May 2021, the Florida Republican drew scrutiny for
his response to a Democratic colleague, who asked why school districts were
being forced to apply for state grants to obtain money from the American Rescue
Plan, when such funds were supposed to go to districts directly.
“Because we can,” Fine shot back, with no other explanation.
|
|
Then-State Rep. Randy Fine, flanked by members of Moms
for Liberty, speaks at a press conference in Palm Bay Friday morning. Photo via
Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today/Imagn Content Services, LLC via Reuters
In April 2022, Fine reportedly
lashed out, threatening to pull Special Olympics funding due to the
fact that a school board official, Jennifer Jenkins, was invited to participate
in a fundraising event for the organization by a local police department, but
he wasn’t.
“Jenkins just put your project and special Olympics funding on
the veto list,” Fine wrote in a text message to a local city official. That
official tried to invite Fine to the event.
“I’m not going to jack (expletive) where that whore is at,” Fine
wrote back, referring to Jenkins. According to Florida
Today, Fine denied making any threats to cut the funding
or that he spoke about firing a city official.
“I think he’s a grown man haunted by childhood bullying, and he
became a bully himself. I think he is insecure and takes it out on other
people. I’ve always said he lives in a thinly-paned glass house, and throws
stones from it,” Jenkins, who is now running for US Senate, told Zeteo.
In March 2023, Fine withdrew a
funding request for a local zoo after it announced it may stop hosting
political campaign events. The zoo had attracted controversy for hosting Fine,
who had been generating criticism for his stance on transgender rights and his
push to ban therapies for transgender kids. According to Florida
Today, Fine claimed the decision related to the zoo was
made because he was under pressure to cut down on funding requests. “The
decision to ax the zoo’s request had more to do with priorities than politics,
Fine said,” the newspaper wrote.
The next month, in April, Fine vigorously defended a
bill banning anyone under the age of 18 from being able to attend a drag show.
“If it means erasing a community because you have to target children, then,
damn right, we ought to do it!” he said at the time.
Ironically, later that month, Fine’s wife, who was defending a
bill to police “adult live performances,” hosted a
“sultry” performance to raise money for a children’s autism charity. Past
performances involved women dancing in lingerie, including one who appeared to
be Fine’s wife, according to NBC
News. Fine was a primary sponsor of the event. (He claimed at the
time, he had been to the event “several” times and couldn’t remember a child
being there. It “isn’t billed as family-friendly,” he told Business
Insider.)
In the summer of 2023, Fine and his wife reportedly demanded that
an LGBTQ staff member of their synagogue be fired, threatening to “burn it to
the ground.”
A few months later, in December, Fine was seen on video hiding behind
the desk of his office, allegedly attempting to evade a subpoena served by
Jenkins, the school board member he called a “whore.”
Fine claimed he was following safety protocols established due to his support
of Israel’s war on Gaza after the October 7 attacks in Israel.
Jenkins pushed back, telling Zeteo, “He tried to
play that he was scared that, you know, Hamas was coming to get him.” But, she
said, “the truth is, he knew damn well we were coming, because my lawyer had
called him and left a message, and the process server had just left his house
and spoke to his wife, and his wife was on the phone with him, so, yeah, he was
hiding from a process server on purpose.”
A year later, in October 2024, a judge held Fine in contempt of
court after he was caught on camera appearing to give the middle finger during
a virtual hearing.
“For at least 33 minutes during the hearing, Mr. Fine was making
those gestures and mouthing those words, which included ‘Eff You,’” the judge said in
his ruling, directing Fine to complete eight hours of anger management courses.
Fine denied the gestures, claiming without evidence that the images of him
doing them may have been “doctored.”
“He is a not well man,” Cousins, the mother defending LGBTQ
civil rights and fighting against censorship in Florida, said. “There’s
definitely something very, very wrong with him, and I don’t know who hurt him.
It definitely wasn’t a drag queen at some point in his life, but somebody did,
and it wasn’t one of us. I know that much.”
#BombsAway
Outside of local politics, Fine has repeatedly made racist and
Islamophobic comments, especially on Israel-Palestine.
Khurrum Wahid, Florida lawyer and national chairperson of
Muslim-American advocacy group Emgage Action, said it plainly. “He never missed
an opportunity to be the most racist guy in the moment if he could.”
In 2018, Fine sought to
have Lorde’s concerts in Miami and Tampa scrapped after the globally-renowned
musical artist canceled a Tel Aviv performance earlier that year. (Lorde had
canceled after receiving a letter from
two Jewish and Palestinian fans asking her not to lend support to the Israeli
government’s abuse of Palestinians.) Fine appealed to a recently passed state
law that prohibited state or local governments from conducting business
exceeding $1 million with any organization engaged in a boycott of Israel. Her
shows went on as planned.
In 2019, Fine called a
Jewish organizer of a multi-faith panel on Israel-Palestine a “Judenrat,” or
Nazi collaborator.
In June 2021, in the wake of Israel’s violent campaign spurred
by evictions in
the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah and Israeli forces’ raids of
Al-Aqsa Mosque, one user tweeted at Fine: “Supporting killing innocent ppl and
babies and smearing voices that fight against genocide for some AIPAC money
says a lot about your character! You should be ashamed of yourself! How do you
sleep at night??”
Attached to the tweet was a photo of a baby covered in rubble.
“Quite well, actually! Thanks for the pic!” Fine responded.
In October 2023, after Hamas’s attack on Israel, Fine posted a
photo of Israeli bombs with “Regards from Randy Fine” written on them. “Special
delivery from me to Hamas,” Fine wrote.
(Later, Fine told Jewish
Currents that he had gotten two more artillery shells inscribed – one with the
name of his son, who he said was dealing with antisemitic bullying. “I said [to
my son], ‘Look, next time you get hassled, show the kids a picture of this and
say, be careful.’”)
|
|
Screenshot of a post on Randy Fine’s Facebook page on Oct. 10, 2023.
The next month, Fine tweeted in support of Islamophobia, saying that “While
many Muslims are not terrorists, they are the radicals, not the mainstream.”
Come September 2024, in the wake of Israeli forces killing
26-year-old American peace activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, Fine tweeted:
“Throw rocks, get shot. One less #MuslimTerror ist. #FireAway”
The Florida congressman’s celebration of a foreign government
killing Americans was not uncharacteristic. Fine, who recently joined the
House Foreign Affairs Committee alongside fellow Florida Republican Brian Mast
(who once wore his
Israeli military uniform to Congress), told Jewish
Telegraphic Agency in December 2024 that he was fully prepared to move his
family to Israel if Kamala Harris won the presidential election.
In March 2025, Fine referred to
someone wearing a keffiyeh during a hearing as wearing a “terrorist rag.” When
people began protesting, he threatened to empty the room.
“I’m the chairman, I can say what I want,” he said.
“If you don’t like it, you can leave.”
He then doubled down, telling local
media that anyone who wears a keffiyeh supports terrorism.
All that led to this summer, when Fine called Reps. Rashida
Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, as well as Zohran Mamdani, “Muslim
terrorists.”
|
|
Shortly after, in August, Fine applauded the Trump
administration for halting visas to children from Gaza in need of medical care.
Fine, in his glee, gave “massive
credit” to far-right influencer and Islamophobe Laura Loomer for her concerted
efforts to rally his and other officials’ support to make the ban happen.
And Fine’s rampage has continued. Last month, he introduced the “No
Shari’a Act,” a fearmongering bill that would prohibit US courts and
agencies from enforcing or recognizing Sharia law.
Omar spokesperson Jackie Rogers told Zeteo that Fine
is an active danger to people around him and in his district. “Since arriving
in Congress, Randy Fine has focused all his attention on advocating for nuking
Gaza, celebrating the death of children, trying to pass legislation
to run
over Muslims on the streets, and calling anyone who disagrees with
his genocidal mindset a terrorist,” Rogers said. “His hateful rhetoric and
incitement of violence not only threaten his Muslim colleagues but also put a
target on all Muslims across the country, including in his district. This
dangerous and xenophobic man does not deserve to be in Congress and is an utter
disgrace to the institution.”
Fine’s behavior is so brash that it’s even landed him a primary
challenger: Aaron Baker, a Florida construction contractor.
Baker’s only past political experience involved running in the
special primary election against Fine last year. He told Zeteo he was
prompted to try challenging Fine after seeing what he saw was a “horrible
candidate” put forward by the party. “I really felt like I had to stand up to
the bully,” Baker said. “I think he is a bully, that he will do anything and
he’ll say anything to keep the spotlight on him, and to try to further his
cause in any way, shape, form or fashion.”
Baker pointed to Fine’s string of scandals, including flashing
the middle finger during court (earning court-ordered anger management classes)
and calling Jenkins a “whore,” and echoed similar concerns others had
expressed. “Mr. Fine is anything but the gold standard. I mean, I wouldn’t
trust him to carry a paper straw across the street. I just don’t think that he
has any moral clarity – or any concern about, you know, basic human dignity,
basic human life.”
Baker – who told Zeteo that
the American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a “foreign lobbyist” that
should be registered as such, and that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza –
said that when he has gone out and talked to voters, they seem refreshed.
(AIPAC did not respond to a request for comment.)
“People are like…’yeah, you don’t want kids to starve to death,
do you?’ I’m like ‘no, I don’t want kids to starve to death.’ And ‘you don’t
want to drop nuclear bombs on Gaza?’ No, I don’t want to drop nuclear bombs on
Gaza. They’re like, ‘okay, well, why does the other guy, you know, why is he
the boisterous buffoon?’”
Baker added that Fine’s approach to politics is also oriented
around the desire for attention, regardless of whether it’s good or bad.
“He just wants to be in the news, for example, taking on Black
Lives Matter flags, Gay Pride flags, Palestinian flags. He proposed a bill in
the state legislature to not
allow specific flags in any government building. At the same
time, ‘Dipstick,’ as I call him, Dipstick has an Israeli flag behind his desk
in his office. Well, how are you saying that you can’t have this flag, but you
can have this flag. I mean, the man has no regard for the Constitution at all.”
Some of Fine’s other legislative priorities have included urging
government officials to “suspend
contact & outreach activities” with the Council on
American-Islamic Relations; funding the Florida-Israel
Business Accelerator; adopting “Israel
Day at the Capitol”; and opposing a
2016 United Nations Security Council Resolution that condemned Israeli
settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Fine’s brashness has piled up. In July, Fine responded to
an ABC News article about malnutrition in Gaza by saying “starve away,” while
also saying the starvation was “all a lie anyway.” His tweet earned mass backlash.
|
|
After the tweet, Fine, who once said he
was AIPAC’s “fastest-ever endorsement,” was soon missing from AIPAC’s website.
Rep. Greene responded to
the development by condemning Fine, saying that “calling for the continued
starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful.”
AIPAC responded by saying that
the allegation they had dropped Fine was “based on an unsourced speculative
piece” and that consideration for Fine’s endorsement “will take place later in
the cycle.”
Sure enough, as of publishing, Fine is back on
AIPAC’s online list of endorsees.
Also in July, the Brevard Republican Executive Committee voted 110
to 14
Comments
Post a Comment