Al Mariam’s Commentaries By almariam On June 16, 2022
Senator Booker sheds crocodile tears for victims of human rights violations in Africa. But what has he done to deal with human rights violations of African Americans in New Jersey?
“Booker’s New Jersey has an incarceration rate of 341 per 100,000 people and locks up a higher percentage of its people than almost any democracy on earth. New Jersey continues to have the highest rate of racial disparities in its prison population in the country, with Black residents incarcerated at a rate of 12.5 times that of whites.”
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Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) is the third member of the “N.J. Triad of Evil” plotting to destroy Ethiopia by crippling sanctions.
The other Triad members include the indicted criminal Senator Robert Menendez and Human Rights Watch’s “mole” in Congress Representative Tomasz Malinowski.
I exposed mendacious Menendez’s conspiracy to destroy Ethiopia in my April 8, 2022 commentary, “Robert “Teflon Don” Menendez and the Mugging of Ethiopia in the U.S. Senate.”
On April 21, 2022, I exposed Tomasz Malinowski’s plot in my commentary, “Malicious Malinowski, Human Rights Watch’s “Puppet/Mole” in the U.S. House Gunning for Ethiopia!”
Booker, the third member of the Triad, is the first African-American U.S. Senator from New Jersey who won a special election in 2013.
Booker was Mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013.
Booker has been wind bagging and dogging Ethiopia since the terrorist TPLF declared war on Ethiopia and attacked the Ethiopian Northern Command on November 3, 2020.
On November 16, 2020, barely 2 weeks after the TPLF terrorist attack, Booker tweeted:
The continuing violence in Ethiopia threatens to engulf the entire region. The TPLF and @AbiyAhmedAli must de-escalate tensions, use all diplomatic means to end the crisis without delay, and refrain from drawing in regional governments.
Booker said absolutely nothing to condemn the TPLF terrorist attack nor did he bother to check the facts with the State Department before he jumped into the limelight to present himself as a human rights hero.
Almost two weeks after the terrorist attack, Booker had not even bothered to find out what the State Department’s position was on the terrorist attack.
Had Booker exercised elementary due diligence befitting a U.S. Senator, he would have learned the U.S. government had already taken a clear and unambiguous position on the terrorist TPLF attack.
On November 4, 2020, twelve days before Booker posted his tweet, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had made clear the U.S. position on the terrorist TPLF attack:
The United States is deeply concerned by reports that the Tigray People’s Liberation Front carried out attacks on Ethiopian National Defense Force bases in Ethiopia’s Tigray region on November 3… The United States stands with the people of Ethiopia and will work with all who are committed to peace, prosperity, democracy, and the rule of law.
Pompeo and the Trump administration were demonstrably principled and unequivocal. The US stands with the people and government of Ethiopia.
On November 15, 2020, a day before Booker posted his tweet, US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Tibor Nagy had tweeted,
The United States strongly condemns the TPLF’s unjustifiable attacks against Eritrea on November 14 and its efforts to internationalize the conflict in Tigray.
But incredibly, Booker, without even checking with the State Department, was ignorantly blathering and bloviating about violence engulfing the Horn region.
On December 18, 2020, barely 6 weeks after the terrorist TPLF attack, Booker joined in a statement urging “targeted sanctions on any political or military officials found responsible for human rights violations.”
Again, the willfully ignorant and lazy Booker urged sanctions without a clue about the facts on the ground.
Indeed, by definition, the “targeting of political and military officials” could apply only to Ethiopian government officials and not the TPLF terrorists.
Booker blindly or with willful ignorance sought to sanction Ethiopia while remaining conveniently oblivious of the criminal terrorist TPLF attack which had resulted in the deaths and maiming of tens of thousands of Ethiopian federal soldiers.
The statement Booker co-signed
1) completely and dismissively overlooked the central and critical fact the terrorist TPLF solely caused the war by its attack and subsequent deaths and destruction;
2) pins the entire blame for the war on the Ethiopian government with utmost fairness;
3) sought to presumptively impose sanctions on Ethiopian officials without any factfinding whatsoever; and
4) absolved the terrorist TPLF of any accountability for its terrorist crimes.
Two months later, Booker co-sponsored S.Res.97.
S.Res.97 reads like one of the acts of the British Parliament imposed on the New England colonies of North America.
S.R. 97 is distinctive for its hubris, audacity, imperiousness and heavy-handedness.
S.R. 97 flagrantly disregards
1) Ethiopian sovereignty;
2) undermines Ethiopian judicial process;
3) creates moral equivalency between the legitimate government of Ethiopia and the terrorist TPLF;
4) commands Ethiopia how to run its internal affairs by dictating terms of national consensus, and
5) demands Ethiopia surrender its political independence and autonomy by subordinating itself to foreign investigators.
Specifically, S.Res 97 orders the Ethiopian government to
1) remove Eritrean forces from Ethiopian soil (while the US keeps troops in South Korea, Germany, etc.);
2) “release all opposition leaders, supporters, and activists detained on the basis of their political activity and views as well as journalists detained on the basis of their reporting, and respect the rights of all Ethiopians to free,” (in complete disregard of Ethiopian judicial process which is adjudicating the criminal cases);
3) “convene a credible and countrywide process of national dialogue and reconciliation inclusive of all nonviolent political parties” (directing Ethiopia how to run its internal affairs);
4) guarantee unfettered and immediate humanitarian access for personnel and supplies (to facilitate covert shipment of arms to the TPLF under the guise on humanitarian aid as it was done in the early 1980s [as I have extensively documented US role in installing TPLF to power], and
5) “cooperate with, independent and transparent investigations of any alleged human rights abuses committed in the course of the conflict in the Tigray Region and other conflicts across Ethiopia and hold perpetrators to account in a credible process.” (Contrast that with how the US has rejected accountability before the International Criminal Court) and indeed imposed sanctions on the ICC for merely seeking to undertake investigations into US human rights violations in Afghanistan and elsewhere.)
On January 18, 2021, Booker issued a statement:
Despite these positive developments, much work remains to be done, and I strongly urge the Ethiopian government to make good on its commitment to allow unfettered access for humanitarian efforts. More must be done to ensure that human rights are protected throughout Ethiopia; thousands of political prisoners remain imprisoned and must be released.
What evidence does Booker have to make his claim of the Ethiopian government failing in its commitments?
None.
Booker’s depraved disregard for facts having to do with Ethiopia borders on the morbid. He would rather blather based on stories cooked up by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
In January 2021, during the confirmation hearing for Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Booker specifically called for the State Department to create the position of Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa.
In a joint letter to Special Envoy Jeffrey Feltman (a/k/a TPLFeltman) dated April 29, 2021, Markey stated:
We encourage you to use all diplomatic tools available to ensure that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed fulfills his commitments to provide unfettered humanitarian access to the region, to secure the withdrawal of Eritrean and non-state troops from Tigray, to allow independent investigations into human rights violations, and to hold perpetrators accountable.
By “diplomatic tools” Booker and Co., meant threats or deployment of sanctions and other punitive actions against Ethiopia, and nothing else.
Indeed, before travelling to the Horn, TPLFeltman fired a shot across the bow with stunning accusations, “Authoritarian leaders in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia draw closer at the expense of the wider collective.”
Are insults, invectives and vilifications diplomatic tools?
“Authoritarian” is a kinder, gentler word for “dictator.” U.S. officials use “authoritarian” to demonize and ostracize leaders that do not kowtow to them.
Booker thought he was sending America’s new sheriff to Ethiopia.
Suffice it to say, despite Feltman’s boast and bluster about crushing the leaders and government of Ethiopia and bringing them to their knees and beg mercy from the terrorist TPLF, he resigned in absolute disgrace and failure.
I am proud of the role I played in sending the “ugly American” to pasture with his tail between his legs!
Does Booker have the moral authority to lecture Ethiopia on human rights, good governance and the rule of law?
Booker has as much moral legitimacy to preach human rights to Ethiopia as Jimmy Swaggart has preaching the Gospel.
Booker is another corrupt politician from the “haven of corruption.” New Jersey has long been known as the “corruption capital of America.”
The “ugly truth” about Booker as mayor of Newark, N.J., is that he is as crooked as a dog’s hind legs.
Booker had a fantastic scam going with his former law firm as mayor.
All the while, from 2006 to 2011, Booker was still receiving annual payments, which totaled close to $700,000, from his former law firm—Trenk, DiPasquale, Webster—from which he had resigned once elected mayor to avoid “the appearance of impropriety.
As Booker was getting his cut from the law firm, they were in turn “profiting from Newark: over $2 million in work for Newark’s Housing Authority, the Watershed Conservation Development Corporation, and a wastewater agency.”
There is also evidence “Booker’s allies and others squandered millions of dollars in public money at the nonprofit through kickbacks and embezzlement, bogus contracts, risky investments and excessive pay, according to investigations, criminal trials and federal testimony.”
Newark, N.J. remains one of the tragic American cities afflicted by multiple social ills.
During Booker’s mayorship in Newark, murder, violent crime, unemployment, and taxes all rose dramatically.
Between 2007 and 2012, violent crime increased in Newark with Booker as mayor.
In 2019, Joe Biden called the Newark Police Department under Booker corrupt.
What has Booker done for the people and State of New Jersey?
On his website, Booker brags, “he believes that the American dream isn’t real for anyone unless it’s within reach of everyone. Cory has dedicated his life to fighting for those who have been left out, left behind, or left without a voice.”
What has Booker, who pretends to care about black Africans 10 thousand miles away, done for African Americans right there in in New Jersey?
Let’s review the evidence on what Booker has done for the huddled masses of New Jersey.
Booker has been in the Senate since 2013.
Booker introduced/sponsored 95 bills in the 117th Congress in 2021-22.
Not one of them had a doggone thing to do with the people or the State of New Jersey.
Passed=O
Sen. Booker introduced/sponsored 123 bills in the 116th Congress in 2019-20.
Not one of them had a doggone thing to do with the people or the State of New Jersey.
Passed=O
Sen. Booker introduced/sponsored 75 bills in the 115th Congress in 2017-18.
Not one of them had a doggone thing to do with the people or the State of New Jersey.
Passed=O
Sen. Booker introduced/sponsored 47 bills in the 114th Congress 2015-16.
Not one of them had a doggone thing to do with the people or the State of New Jersey.
Passed=O
Sen. Booker introduced/sponsored 14 bills in the 113th Congress (2013-14).
Not one of them had a doggone thing to do with the people or the State of New Jersey.
Passed=O
On May 27, 2021, Booker introduced S.1888 ‘‘Law Enforcement Officers Equity Act’’. It is a bill that provides “retirement benefits for our brave federal officers.”
On June 2, 2020, Booker delivered a speech in the Senate about the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman.
Booker talked about how he felt hurt, frustrated and horrified by the Floyd murder. Booker talked and talked and talked some more.
Six days later, Booker introduced a 134-page bill S.3912 “Justice in Policing Act of 2020’’.
What happened to S.3912?
It was “read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.” “Read” means only the title of the bill was pronounced before referring it to committee.
The was the end of the story of Booker’s 134-page bill.
Booker did his showboating and grandstanding with his 134-page bill and skipped to the latest and greatest human rights issue of the day.
For Booker , human rights is a simple case of shoot and scoot! Issue a statement, introduce a bill, make headlines and then find another human rights photo op.
On June 25, 2020, Booker issued a statement on House Passage of George Floyd Justice in Policing Act declaring,
The only path toward preventing more black people from being killed by the very people who are sworn to protect them is to implement meaningful accountability, transparency, and reform of police practices like what’s included in the Justice in Policing Act. Anything short of that is a failure.
Million dollar question: What has Booker, who pretends to care about black African victims of human rights violations 10 thousand miles away, done for Black people right there in in New Jersey?
New Jersey has an incarceration rate of 341 per 100,000 people (including prisons, jails, immigration detention, and juvenile justice facilities), meaning that it locks up a higher percentage of its people than almost any democracy on earth.
In October 2021, the American Civil Liberties Union reported:
New Jersey continues to have the highest rate of racial disparities in its prison population in the country, with Black residents incarcerated at a rate of 12.5 times that of whites.
New Jersey has a population of 8,712,974. The number of those in poverty in NJ is 798,262.
Poverty among African Americans is 15.6%; Asian American 5.6%; Latino 15.8%; Native Americans 11.9%, and White 5.6%.
What has Booker done to help African Americans in poverty in NJ?
Booker sheds crocodile tears for Ethiopians dying of starvation.
What is he doing about the people of New Jersey facing hunger every day?
About 800,000 people in New Jersey face hunger every day. 200,000 of them are children. When they don’t have enough food to eat, they can suffer direct and dramatic effects on their physical development and mental well-being.
Not a doggone thing!
The fact is Booker will talk black but will not walk black!
On February 1, 2021, Booker issued a statement extolling Samantha Power before she became USAID boss:
Ambassador Power is eminently qualified to serve as USAID Administrator and that her experience, expertise, and leadership will help to restore America’s standing on the world’s stage and our role as a leader in responding to crises – from COVID-19 to conflict – and to development challenges the world over.
Power “restore America’s standing on the world’s stage and our role as a leader”?
That is Tweddle Dee testifying for Tweddle Dum.
Power is a foreign policy fly weight whose incompetence is only exceeded by the weight of the White Woman’s Burden she carries o save the “half devil, half child” black Africans.
Power is a shallow human rights shill!
Cory Booker does not give a rat’s ass about Black Ethiopians, Black Africans or Black people in NJ!
Booker does not care about Ethiopia or Africa.
Booker has been a member of the Senate Subcommittee On Africa and Global Health Policy since 2013.
On April 23, 2021, Booker issued a statement declaring the sky is falling on Ethiopia:
The ongoing conflict in Ethiopia has created a humanitarian disaster, with tens of thousands of civilians killed, over a million people displaced, millions in need of humanitarian assistance, and no end in sight. There are credible reports of mass killings, rape being used as a weapon of war, and other atrocities committed by all sides to the conflict. There is a heightened and serious risk of famine if the conflict does not stop… [which] spread into a wider regional conflict.
How many times has Booker visited Africa since he became senator?
Only once!
Booker and three other senators visited Niger, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso for a week in April 2018.
How many times has Senator Booker who sheds a river of crocodile tears over Ethiopia — the ground zero of “humanitarian disaster, mass killings, mass displacement, millions in need of humanitarian assistance, and no end in sight” — visited Ethiopia to find out what is really going on there?
Booker has never visited Ethiopia, the cradle of mankind, the land of origins.
Booker has never visited Ethiopia, the only African country that has never been colonized by whites.
Booker has never visited Ethiopia, the only black African country that was the founding member of the United Nations.
Booker has never visited the people of Ethiopia whose forefather and foremothers defeated a mighty white European colonial army twice.
Booker has never visited Ethiopia, the “capital” of Africa, the headquarters of the African Union.
Booker has never visited Ethiopia, the first civilization anywhere to use the cross of Christ on its coins around 330 CE, long before the Romans.
Booker has never visited Ethiopia, the destination of the First Hijra where the the Prophet Muhammad directed his persecuted followers “to leave Makkah and seek sanctuary in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) ruled by a Christian king, well-known for being a just and God-fearing man.”
Booker has never visited Ethiopia, one of the few countries in the world where Christians and Muslims have lived side by side with mutual respect and appreciation for hundreds of years.
Booker has never visited Ethiopia, the Land of the River Ghion (“Nile”) named in Genesis 2:13, a/k/a Land of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Booker has never visited Ethiopia, the land where the oldest and most complete bible on earth written in the ancient language of Ge’ez which is still used today in liturgies.
Booker has never visited Ethiopia, the blessed land mentioned at least 38 times in the Bible.
Booker has never visited Ethiopia, the land of mentioned in the Book of Psalms 68:31, “Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.”
Booker has never visited Ethiopia, the land of the churches of Lalibela built in the 13th-century as the “New Jerusalem” described as a marvel of human ingenuity.
Booker has never visited Ethiopia, the land where Ethiopian kings practiced the rule of law in the Fetha Nagast in 1240, 547 years before the U.S. Constitution was written (1787).
And on and on.
For a U.S. Senator of African ancestry who sits on the US Senate Africa Subcommittee having NEVER visited Ethiopia is a SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
Yet shamelessly, Booker sitting in his posh office in the Capitol moans, groans and sheds crocodile tears about famine, civilian deaths and human rights violations in Ethiopia.
Booker can talk the talk about human rights violation in Ethiopia but he has not and will not talk the walk by walking into Ethiopia and talking to the leaders and the people.
But wait a minute!!!
There is another US Senator who talks the talk and walks the talk of Ethiopia who can teach Booker and 98 other senators a thing or two about Ethiopia.
So, I will let our brother Senator Jim Inhofe, a conservative Republican from the State of Oklahoma, give a 2-minute lecture on Ethiopia to “Brother” Booker!
How many times has Senator Inhofe visited Ethiopia? Watch the video below and surprise yourself! (Full video here.)
Video Player
Jim will retire in January 2023, and Ethiopia will lose her stalwart defender in the US Senate against the NJ Triad gunning for Ethiopia.
In the interest of full disclosure, Jim Inhofe has a special relationship with Ethiopia.
Jim has an Ethiopian granddaughter, but he is Ethiopia’s American son and our real brother.
Jim’s special place is in Ethiopia holding hands with his wife Kay!
Thanks, Bro. Jim!
For your love of Ethiopia.
For your love of the Ethiopian people.
For your deep appreciation of Ethiopian history and culture.
For your confidence in Ethiopia’s commitment to peace and diplomacy.
Ethiopians love and honor you for standing with Ethiopia in her darkest hour against the Forces of Darkness!
THANK YOU!