By Timothy D. Naegele[1]
We were part of his diehard supporters, whose cheering for him began when he and Melania came down the escalator at Trump Tower, and commenced their quest for the presidency. Some of us are Independent voters, and have been for decades.
Yes, we knew he was a supporter of the Apartheid state of Israel. The Abraham Accords, and moving our embassy to Jerusalem, underscored that. And his kinship with the butcher Benjamin Netanyahu spoke volumes.
But when Trump took the next step, of cutting off the free speech rights of those in opposition, that turned the tide. If anything, he should state emphatically that free speech is guaranteed; and that it should never be denied or abridged.
American Jews are Americans, not Israelis. They and others should be encouraged to speak out, not impeded. While there is other "heavy-handedness" with which we disagree, supporting the Israeli butchery crosses the line, and is unforgivable—certainly when it denies fundamental freedoms to others.[2]
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© 2025, Timothy D. Naegele
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[1] Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6 and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/ He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at The Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams. He can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com
[2] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2025/03/08/trump-cuts-off-free-speech/ ("Trump Cuts Off Free Speech") and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2025/03/06/has-trump-lost-his-marbles/ ("Has Trump Lost His Marbles?") and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2024/07/08/ban-openweb-where-the-truth-goes-to-die/ ("Ban OpenWeb, Where The Truth Goes To Die") and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2023/10/31/americas-jews-are-americans/ ("America’s Jews Are Americans")
