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Promoted from the diaries by streiff. Promotion does not imply endorsement.
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Well, it looks like Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has made yet another public anti-Semitic comment, which means she has managed to express her anti-Jewish views three times in four weeks. Quite an accomplishment, right? Not even Louis Farrakhan — who recently praised the young lawmaker — has achieved this feat. But it appears Omar is looking to take anti-Jewish bigotry to another level.
After her first two gaffes, the representative gave a quasi-apology at the behest of the Pelosi mafia, and everyone was expected to move on. But it didn’t take too long for her to step in it again. During an event at a restaurant with some of her colleagues, a member of the audience shouted “It’s all about the Benjamins,” referencing an anti-Semitic tweet Omar had posted implying that pro-Israel
In response, Omar said, “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country.” The lawmaker has repeated the same bigoted sentiment on numerous occasions. At first glance, it may not seem like an anti-Jewish statement to many. But the notion that American Jews are secretly more loyal to Israel than to the United States is a well-known anti-Jewish trope that Omar and her ilk peddle as a way to demonize their opposition.
In response to Omar’s comment, House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) tweeted her disapproval:
Lawmakers must be able to debate w/o prejudice or bigotry. I am saddened that Rep. Omar continues to mischaracterize support for Israel. I urge her to retract this statement and engage in further dialogue with the Jewish community on why these comments are so hurtful.
— Nita Lowey (@NitaLowey) March 2, 2019
Omar reacted with her own tweet:
Our democracy is built on debate, Congresswoman! I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress or serve on committee. The people of the 5th elected me to serve their interest. I am sure we agree on that! https://t.co/gglAS4FVJW
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 3, 2019
Well, it appears there will be no apology this time. Try not to be too surprised. Omar’s proud anti-Jewish bigotry is already bad enough, but it is not the worst part of this entire situation.
The representative has earned criticism from both popular Republicans and Democrats. But despite the fact that Omar has publicly expressed anti-Jewish attitudes on multiple occasions, the Democratic Party has not done much in response.
After her second anti-Semitic comment this month, the Democrats passed a resolution condemning bigotry against Jews. While it did not single out Omar by name, it addressed the overall nature of her remarks. Now, the party is expected to adopt another similar resolution. Apparently, they seem to believe that harshly-worded criticism is enough of a punishment, but for some left-leaning politicians, even the criticism leveled at Omar is too much.
Several Democratic lawmakers, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) jumped to Omar’s defense, claiming that she should not be criticized for her comments. Indeed, Ocasio-Cortez posted a series of tweets complaining about how bigotry is supposedly accepted when it is expressed by white male Republican. Nothing like a healthy dose of whataboutism to spice up a debate, right?
But Ocasio-Cortez brought up an interesting question: What would happen if a white male made bigoted comments. If you’re on the right, you can already see the glaring problem with this argument. Remember Rep. Steve King (R-IA)? Earlier this year, he was slammed for supposedly questioning why the term “white supremacy” was offensive in an interview with The New York Times.
So how did the GOP respond? By passing a resolution criticizing his comments? By clutching their pearls? Not quite. They removed him from each committee on which he served and many sent donations to the campaign of the candidate who will challenge him in Iowa’s primaries in the next election cycle.
It appears that Ocasio-Cortez has her answer — although she will likely ignore it. The Democrats have dominated the conversation on bigotry for decades, and have positioned themselves as the party that opposes racism, sexism, homophobia, and the rest of the ‘ists and ‘phobe that they have manufactured. But incidents such as these reveal how many in their camp truly view bigotry: It’s only wrong when it involves conservatives.
If you love or hate my take let me know on Twitter: @JeffOnTheRight
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