Last night as I contemplated the uproar surrounding Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN-5) 9/11 comments, something struck me:

Beyond the NY Post‘s brutal front page response to Omar, beyond Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY-14) hypocritical attempts at silencing the opposition by citing “dangerous rhetoric”, and beyond her routine use of the “Woman of Color” victim card to try and shut down debate, what stands out the most to me is that in defending Rep. Omar, AOC is again turning her back on her fellow New Yorkers.

The first time was when she used her Twitter bullhorn to stir up opposition to the Amazon deal that would have brought 25,000 jobs to New York. When Amazon backed out of the deal, she arrogantly portrayed herself as a selfless defender of the less fortunate.

In essence, AOC said she was protecting the people “left behind” by … ensuring that the ones in New York couldn’t work for Amazon to provide for their families. It was truly a bizarre and troubling moment in her young political history.

A recent poll indicates that her actions to shut down the deal have not gone over well with her constituents.

Inarguably worse than that was her defense of Rep. Omar’s describing of 9/11 as “Some people did something”, as though the terrorist attack that killed nearly 3,000 innocent people was no big deal in the scheme of things.

As resilient a state New York is, the memory of 9/11 and all of the horrors of that day – and the funerals, and the recovery and clean up efforts that came after – must still be very raw, and unimaginably painful to remember.

I am not trying to speak for New Yorkers, but am speaking as someone who was in New York City on 9/11. Though I wasn’t at Ground Zero, I am still triggered by imagery from that day, and still suffer from survivor’s guilt. If I, all the way down here in North Carolina, still have those feelings almost 18 years after it happened, I know they do.

To have an elected official refer to a devastating, catastrophic attack on our country in such a casual, NBD manner is absolutely unconscionable and unacceptable.

New York City also has a high percentage of Jewish people, the largest in America. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez has continuously defended Omar’s inarguable anti-Semitism, which is another slap in the face to her Jewish NY-14 constituents.

In opposing the Amazon deal, and unequivocally standing with and defending Omar – and Rep. Tlaib’s (D-MI-13) anti-Semitism and hateful rhetoric, too – it would appear AOC has chosen a side, and that side appears to be in direct conflict with the interests of her Congressional district.

Ultimately voters will decide her Congressional future. Hopefully they’ll keep these things in mind. If any Democrats have been considering a primary challenge, now might be a good time to throw their hats into the ring.

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—Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–