Ilhan Omar and the victimhood competition
Here’s Sebastian Gorka on Ilhan Omar and some other freshman Democrats in the House:
Behold the face of the Democratic Party: minority, young, and racist. This is the fruit of identity politics. Be it Omar, who is on the cover of the current issue of Newsweek, Rashida Talib (D-Mich.) who signaled the need to obliterate Israel on her first day in office, or the leader of the pack, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.), a proud supporter of the anti-Israel BDS movement, the “new faces” of the DNC constitute a united front in their hatred for our Semitic brethren.
And no matter what Pelosi says, Omar will not be reined in.
Let me add that I think it is no accident that these faces are for the most part young, minority, female, and attractive. No, I am not saying those characteristics are necessary in order to be anti-Semitic and/or leftist, because that’s not the least bit true. What I am saying, or trying to say, is that those characteristics make the message more palatable, the person more electable, and facilitate the speaker’s wrapping herself in the cloak of sainted victimhood protectiveness.
More:
To call Stephen Miller a “white nationalist” [which Omar did] is more than simply obnoxious, given that white nationalism is an ideology which targets those of color generally, and Jews specifically.
Now, Jews are not people of color, unless they are Ethiopian Jews or other Jews who actually are also people of color. But white nationalists are certainly anti-Semites, and it is just another example of the knife-twisting in which Omar likes to indulge (with a pretty smile) to call Stephen Miller a white nationalist.
But Omar keeps going:
…[A]a disturbing video surfaced on social media in which the congresswoman casually described the mass murder of 2,977 people by jihadists on September 11, 2001 as an event where “some people did something.” This was before she used 9/11 as the justification for the establishment of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Hamas-front founded in 1994. A federal court in 2008 designated CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorist-financing trial in American history. The FBI had to sever all ties with the group exactly because of its ties to the Holy Land Foundation and its leaders who were convicted in that trial for sending $12.4 million to Hamas from the United States.
Gorka’s last paragraph is a clarion call:
Freedom of speech is a right of all Americans. But so is our choice to denounce, call out, and recall racists. Ilhan Omar is the most flagrantly racist figure in politics today. Every day her vile beliefs and words are tolerated by Nancy Pelosi and her fellow partisans is a day that proves just how morally bankrupt and devoid of any legitimacy the Democrats have become.
Omar has a huge number of fans, as you can see if you go to this YouTube video of her appearance on Steven Colbert’s show and read the comments there.
In all the brouhaha from the right about Omar’s describing 9/11 as “some people did something”—a neutral, non-judgmental refusal to characterize the attack in any pejorative way—it’s often been lost that the main thrust of her mentioning it at all was to talk about how Muslims faced a backlash as a result. So not only did she fail to name the perpetrators as radical Muslims, or to say it was a heinous terrorist attack, but she focused on Muslims as the ultimate victims. And, as Jonathan S. Tobin points out, for the most part such a backlash failed to occur [emphasis mine]:
…[T]hose who have rallied to [Omar’s] defense have resurrected the myth of a post-9/11 backlash against Muslims. That has shifted the narrative of that trauma from one of an Islamist terror war against the West into one that focused on the victimization of Muslims. But the ability of Omar and her defenders to use it to effectively deflect charges of anti-Semitism and to essentially legitimize her as a public figure is something that out to alarm everyone, no matter what your politics or religious beliefs…
Omar refused to back down [for her earlier anti-Semitic remarks for which Congress was initially set to criticize her] and found herself the object of much public sympathy for what supporters claimed was an attempt to single her out solely because she was black, Muslim and an immigrant. Omar emerged triumphant from that fiasco. If there was any doubt about that, it was removed by the way Democrats instinctively moved to protect her from criticisms of her 9/11 remarks, and instead condemned the Post and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) as racists for calling her out.
In one sense, the kerfuffle is a typical inside-the-Beltway absurdity, with AOC asking Crenshaw—a decorated former Navy SEAL who lost an eye fighting in Afghanistan—what he has ever done to fight terrorism. But this is more than just the usual political tit-for-tat on Twitter.
In her speech to CAIR, Omar claimed that the group had been founded after 9/11 in order to defend Muslims against a backlash after the attacks. This is patently false. CAIR was founded in 1994 as a political front for the Holy Land Foundation, a group that raised funds for the Hamas terror group that was eventually shut down by the Treasury Department. Her support for CAIR is consistent with her backing for the anti-Semitic BDS movement.
But the broader point to be made here is the way the effort to shift the discussion about 9/11 from a seminal moment in the long struggle against Islamist terror to a mere excuse to discriminate against Muslims is now being used to downplay Omar’s anti-Semitism.
The debate about this mythical backlash has been going on for a decade, especially during the controversy over an abortive attempt to build an Islamic center within the shadow of the fallen World Trade Center towers. At that time, I wrote in Commentary magazine about the way false fears were being used to make Muslims appear to be the true victims of the slaughter. The mainstream media had accepted as truth the claims that Muslims had been the subjects of a wave of discrimination after 9/11, even though there was no objective proof to back up that assertion.
(Please see NOTE below for some further discussion of that issue.]
As Omar herself indicates here, she has an enormous intersectionality advantage due to her membership in several victimhood groups:
If you haven’t watched Omar before, please note her great charm. It’s an illustration of the Shakespeare quote: “That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”
[NOTE: On the issue of whether there really was a widespread backlash to 9/11, I want to point out that there were indeed a couple of extremely serious incidents post-9/11 in which Muslims were the intended victims, but these were few and far-between (please see this and this). I say “intended victims,” because, in a strange irony, two of the three people killed in these two crimes were a Hindu and a Sikh. The third was a Pakistani Muslim, and one other person wounded and left partially blind in one eye was a Muslim from Bangladesh named Rais Bhuiyan, who opposed his would-be murderer Stroman’s death penalty:
A year after the killings, [the murderer] Stroman expressed no remorse for his crimes. He wrote on his blog that what he did was not a crime of hate but an act of passion and patriotism. Up until his date of execution, Bhuiyan protested Stroman’s death sentence, believing he did not deserve to be executed. Bhuiyan sued and tried to stop the execution but was unsuccessful. Bhuiyan argued that his Muslim beliefs told him to forgive Stroman and that killing him was not the solution. The courts denied his requests.
In his later years of imprisonment, Stroman expressed remorse for his crimes. After learning that a surviving victim of his shooting spree was appealing to save his life, Stroman changed his views, and described Bhuiyan as “an inspiring soul”. His racist views were reportedly altered. He eventually spoke to Bhuiyan and thanked him for his compassion.
Stroman was executed in 2011.]
The interesting thing about Omar, aside from her obnoxious views, is her role in the flood of foreign and often hostile countries jockeying for position in the bribery bazaar that is DC.
For example,
In an indictment that seized the attention of the capital’s K Street lobbying corridor, Gregory B. Craig, a White House counsel in the Obama administration, was charged on Thursday with lying to the Justice Department and concealing information about work he did in 2012 for the government of Ukraine.
But that is not the end of it.
It’s not just companies. Ever since Sept 11, 2001, there’s been a growing fear that religious organizations can act like “foreign powers.” The Islamic Association of North America (IANA) “formally joined the USCMO, in effect, the U.S. branch of Erdogan’s pro-Muslim Brotherhood Justice and Development Party … just months after Ilhan Omar, state representative of Minnesota” met with Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York.
Maybe she needs to register with FARA. Except I think she cannot be an employee of the federal government. That’s what tripped up Greg Craig. Can an elected member of the House be a FARA registree ?
Two things about her interview with Colbert struck me. One is that Colbert says he has said the same thing about Miller, which is meant to minimize her statement, and make it seem like racism is what’s driving the criticism of her comments. The fact that one is a sitting US Congress member, and the other is an idiot comedian is lost on Colbert. The second is that she’s says she’s “As American as anyone”. I beg to differ ma’am, I was born in the United States, YOU were born in Somalia!
Your characterization of Ilhan Omar as “black, Muslim and an immigrant” is interesting in that certain groups on the African continent do not identify as black, and go out of their way (in Africa) to distinguish themselves from blacks. Among those I have known to so identify are Ethiopians, Somalis, Fulanis and pygmies. The first three groups point to their thin nose as a crucial distinguishing characteristic, while the pygmies point to a number of distinguishing physical characteristics beyond just their body size. In all four cases I have mentioned above, there is (or was, as of 1995, when I left Africa for the last time) very limited intermarriage.
Other groups on the African continent, mainly with Nilotic roots, also distinguish themselves from Bantus. These include various tribes in Kenya and Sudan (now South Sudan). Many of them look to the western eye to be every bit as “black” as Africans hailing from much of the rest of the continent.
Interestingly (to me at least, having lived 7 years in Kenya and Tanzania) the so-called “Asians” or “Indians” in East Africa, who trace their roots to India and Pakistan, were just within the past two years granted “tribal” status by the Kenyan government. They would most strenuously protest that they are not “black”, but are happy to have received a certain legal status by virtue of being classified as a category akin to the Kikuyus, Luos, Masaai, or dozens of other Kenyan tribes.
Considering the thousands of deaths and massive property damage and economic disruption caused by the 9/11 terrorists, the fact that there were very few acts of retaliation aimed at Muslims is a testimony to American common decency. Nor have Muslims lost any of their civil rights so far as I know. Even the TSA has declined to screen only those with a higher probability of being terrorists, groping grandmothers to be “fair.”
Very interesting, F. Egyptians don’t even speak of themselves as African (and they looked down on Egyptian citizens who were Nubian). I knew Sudanese living in Cairo who were, like Anglo-Saxon me, long, thin, and with thin noses and lips.
I very much doubt that Omar has been treated badly in Minneapolis because of her race or religion. Scott Johnson, at the Power Line blog, attended a primary election presentation at a synagogue in which Omar denied supporting the BDS movement, which was a deliberate lie.
They will continue to attack, slander and defame.
And then, if there’s any pushback, questioning or criticism, they’ll continue to whine that they’re victims of Republicans. Of racists. Of racist AmeriKKKa.
It’s their MO.
And they are masters of the game. (My, how quickly they learn!)
Palestinian rules. Now a shining, glittering feature of the US Congress!
And Pelosi seems to have no problem with it. Along with too many Democrats.
But never mind: destroying TRUMP and his supporters has highest priority. Is the MAIN—actually the ONLY—problem.
Colbert is clueless. If he had asked Omar whether she had read “In the Shade of the Quran” or “Milestones” it would have been more illuminating.
IMO, Omar is in the vanguard of the political Islamist movement in the U.S. and is well acquainted with those books by Sayyid Qutb. Like KSM, she has accepted that the way to defeat the “Great Satan” is by taking over politically, not terrorist warfare. She is exceptionally well versed in the art of Taqiyya and using guilt, racism claims, and Muslim victimhood to promote her quest for power.
From Tobin’s link to Crenshaw (who is fast becoming one of my government heroes, proving such is not a total oxymoron):
https://www.jns.org/gop-rep-dan-crenshaw-bds-supporters-operate-in-fantasy-world/
Saw this tweet of AOC’s via another blog yesterday, and was appalled.
This article gathers some reactions.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/timothymeads/2019/04/13/aoc-compares-criticism-of-ilhan-omar-to-the-holocaust-n2544730
Another on point critique of Omar.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bethbaumann/2019/04/13/i-sdems-hypocrisy-soars-to-new-highs-when-they-refuse-to-say-9-11-was-committed-n2544736
“The Left is “exhausted” with the daily comments made about Omar and the threats being made against her. They say conservatives are silent about the danger Omar is being put in.
Let’s get something straight: Omar puts herself in these situations when she makes really dumb, unthoughtful comments.
“Some people” committed the attacks on September 11th?
No.
Extremist Muslim terrorists who wanted to commit mass carnage committed these heinous actions. Not calling them terrorists is a way of downplaying what took place. Omar is verbally stomping on the graves of roughly 3,000 Americans who lost their lives on that tragic day…simply because they’re American.”
J.J.’s diagnosis is correct.
A jackass like Colbert can kiss Omar’s ring – but very few Americans are fooled by her wiles.
There is the USA – and then there is the alternate universe of the MSM.
Omar is especially dangerous because as hateful and evil and just plain factually wrong as she is , she is being sold – based on her sex and generally attractive appearance — as a role model for young women, the latest manifestation of “Grrrll Power.” That many young women won’t even look past Omar’s outward appearance and symbolic status is a cause of great concern.
“very few Americans are fooled by her wiles.”
LeClerc…I think you would be surprised…sadly so.
What I DO find intriguing however is AOC rushing to defend this 9/11 liar. AOC represents a NYC district…New Yorkers of ALL people know what happened on 9/11…Is she TRYING to get primaried? Or is their a “martyrdom sweepstakes” to see which one of those new lawmakers can get shot first?
AOC has proven she doesn’t give a flip about her New York constituents already with the Amazon flap so why should she care about people affected by 9/11.
I think AOC, Omar and Talib – or their handlers— are simply testing how far they can go and how much they can get away with. It’s instructive that all three of them are – despite their ‘freshman status plowing straight ahead on their agenda without embarrassment.
The Republicans can learn from these three.
But they won’t .
“But the broader point to be made here is the way the effort to shift the discussion about 9/11 from a seminal moment in the long struggle against Islamist terror to a mere excuse to discriminate against Muslims is now being used to downplay Omar’s anti-Semitism.” Jonathan S. Tobin
And the majority of Congressional democrats are cooperating in using it to downplay Omar’s anti-Semitism. That ploy leads Omar to suppose that she’s gotten away with it and her hate for Jews and America ensures that she will continue to make antisemitic and anti-American comments… Which is going to bite the dems on the ass. Because in failing to criticize her, their silence equates to support for her bile. They own her hate and they can’t escape it.
As for her motivations, I too see J.J. as having the right of it. She hates the ‘Great Satan’ and can’t hide it… and in her inability to conceal what she is about, she’s is ironically, acting as ‘a canary’ in America’s ‘coal mine’.
Someone should return to her native land Somalia, not Minnesota. Should but never will. She would not be special there.
“Other groups on the African continent, mainly with Nilotic roots, also distinguish themselves from Bantus.”
Precisely, which is why I found it reprehensible that Barrie who is half slave-owning WASP and half Nilote had the audacity to culturally appropriate a fake African American identity and steal affirmative action slots created for the victims of his family.
“…dumb, unthoughtful…”
“Surely, you jest”(TM)!?
Omar—along her “classy” colleagues—is a master “button pusher”. (Talk about “triggering”. Heh…. They work very, very hard at it—overtime, in fact—studying the topic in all its minuteness and nuance most likely with a whole slough of “advisors”.)
They are masters. Black belts. Ninjas.
One must bow, like Pelosi, to their extraordinarily talent and expertise; for they will bring the Democrats into the WH in 2020!
(Or maybe not….)
And from the “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby” files:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6919537/ALAN-RUSBRIDGER-woman-banned-Facebook-posting-two-photos.html
Along with the more recent:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6874539/Iranian-womens-right-activist-condemns-Western-feminists.html
Ilhan Omar, Linda Sarsour and all those other paragons of Feminism might surely wish to take note….
The backlash is always imaginary.
This “person” is another great example of those who choose to destroy America in anyway possible and make it as terrible place as the one they came from. They have no tolerance for anyone or any thoughts other than world wide domination by muslim islamists.
Sadly the “free” media never acknowledges that fact that western cultures have been and continue to be under attack by islam for century’s. This will not stop unless and until the west pick up their arms and go to war.
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a proud supporter of the anti-Israel BDS movement, the “new faces” of the DNC constitute a united front in their hatred for our Semitic brethren.
New Faces. Where have I heard that before…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4lRmV9c2so
Let me add that I think it is no accident that these faces are for the most part young, minority, female, and attractive.
Tlaib is easy on the eyes. The other two, no. If you’re relying on your son’s judgment as to what’s attractive, you need to know he’s pranking you.
Democrats have a new marketing system for ‘selling’ their candidates .. they are all fence post candidates .. all they are selling is good teeth and flaming rhetoric.
The Dems have long been pushing for the elevation of being a victim. That the world is full of victims and victimizers — and victims are morally superior.
Because they’re victims.
Most often, victims because of the identity: sex, race/ ethic (tribe), religion. And all of such folk are victims, because of their identity.
This assumption of superiority of victims is terrible, but is also leading us towards more terrible stuff, where it is superior to be a victim. That’ desire for superiority thru victimhood is also driving the identity politics, and support for tribal identity.
If one is a black, a member of the black American “tribe”, and ones ancestors were actually victimized as slaves, but later freed. Are you, as a black today, still a victim? Identity politics is about claiming victim status in such cases.
This tribal victim claiming from the pas is associated also with justice and reparations. The sons of the victims are victims; and the grandsons, and great-grandsons.
But every tribe has been victimized, and been, to others, a victimizer. Obama’s Kenyan ancestors, “very successful”, were very likely slave-owners and slavers (those who catch men and turn them into slaves by selling them).
Tribal war and never-ending hatred comes from accepting past injustices and creating victims today.
Instead, we need a society that recognizes a son is NOT guilty of the sins of the father.
It seems necessary to point out to those not well-versed in Islam that this “faith” is entirely incompatible with the American constitution. There is zero separation of mosque and state in Islam.
That Omar the repugnant took an oath to defend the constitution illustrates another tenet of Islam, that it is entirely OK to lie to “people of the book”, aka Jews and Christians, to advance Islam . One must not lie to another Muslim, though, teaches the Koran, the dictated word of Allah as recorded by Mohamed the scribe (PBUH).
Islam bestrode the world by converting with the sword, not by an inspiration of faith and morals.
Islam is an evil ideology, despite its “moderate” branches.
Did Ilhan Omar Help Netanyahu Win Reelection?
The author poses an interesting question. He cites a context of developments that make 2020 look like a referendum on America’s support for Israel. There is little doubt that at least the level of support is on the line.
https://thefederalist.com/2019/04/12/ilhan-omar-help-benjamin-netanyahu-win-reelection/
“Let me add that I think it is no accident that these faces are for the most part young, minority, female, and attractive.”
I find Tlaib painful to look at. AOC isn’t that attractive but she is the only “young” one of that group (Omar is 37 and Tlaib is 42).
I think being both women and minorities make it more difficult to criticize them without seeming “mean,” especially if it’s older white men doing the criticizing.
“Did Ilhan Omar Help Netanyahu Win Reelection?”
(Seems a tad simplistic, no? Or course, is there anything that Ilhan Omar can’t do?, etc., etc.)
And so, the answer is, um, no actually, SHE didn’t. The Israeli Left did along with the useful assistance of the new Center party, whose audacious, profoundly thought-out platform was “Bibi has to go” (to be sure, they may be right about that)—together with the always, always helpful Hamas and Abbas, Mullahs and Hezbullahs….
“Kilometrage” may vary of course. And if your “thing” is simplistic theories, then be my guest. (For some oh-so-lucky souls, everything is really quite simple!)
…But what about Trump? How useful was he in all this? Ah well, I’m not sure anyone really wants to go there. (Liberal Jews are terribly ashamed (actually that doesn’t even begin to describe it); more conservative Jews, or some of them, are prudent—though others are certainly gung ho! But, heh, we do seem to have a rather curious situation where a President who supports the Jewish State like almost no other president has done before (though one must not forget HST; and Nixon definitely came through in a time of dire need) is either utterly reviled or treated with caution…which may prove to be a watershed phenomenon in Jewish History, when the chapter on “The Golden Age of American Jewry” is updated in 10-25-50-75, etc. years time….)
Sara, I didn’t know and didn’t care to know Omar the reprehensible’s age, but now I realize that she could be a 2020 presidential candidate. Go for it Democrats! 🙂
If only she were non-cis she would be the ultimate victim and thus have the ultimate authority.
Looks like Ms. “Something Happened” can cut another notch in her hijab:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosi-moves-ilhan-omar-safety-trump-video
Wow! They sure can dish it out (gnash, snarl, GRRR, attack, slander, lie); but the poor dears can’t take it (weep, faint, oh you nasty, nasty, nasty people…).
Righteous indignation has become the supreme value. (Vote for us! We’re the Party of Righteous Indignation…and WE CAN’T BE BEAT!)
Palestinian rules.
Notch? Hmm, maybe not. But maybe she’ll add a colorful tassle….
Meanwhile, back at the office (AKA “The Ministry of Love”):
https://twitter.com/MEMRIReports/status/1117292055460503553
I find myself incapable of hating Ilhan Omar. Yes she hates Jews. Did I mention my God is a Jewish carpenter in the line of David? You don’t have to believe, but I believe. It’s because I’m religious I understand her.
Surah 60:4
“There has already been for you an excellent pattern in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people, “Indeed, we are disassociated from you and from whatever you worship other than Allah . We have denied you, and there has appeared between us and you animosity and hatred forever until you believe in Allah alone” except for the saying of Abraham to his father, “I will surely ask forgiveness for you, but I have not [power to do] for you anything against Allah . Our Lord, upon You we have relied, and to You we have returned, and to You is the destination.”
The Jews of Yathrib (Medina) rejected Muhammad’s claim to prophecy. And Allah commands Muslims to hate his enemies. By the way, I dare you to find a verse like that in my Bible. I find it funny that critics of my God (a lot of atheists insist there is no God, and BTW they hate Him) think the Bible is full of commands for genocide. Now, you can misquote the parable of the ten minas in the New Testamant to get to that conclusion if you are so inclined. There’ a lot in the Old Testament, the Tanakh, that someone can take out of context. It’s descriptive, not prescriptive. Deuteronomy 20:16. Kill everything that breaths. But then you’re only a few chapters away from finding out they’re still alive, and then there’s a commandment not to intermarry with them.
BTW, ladies, being a Christian and considering that commandment isn’t repeated in the New Testamant, I’m avalable, Canaanites.
Mathew 5:45:
” that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.”
No matter how lousy a person she appears to us she is still made in God’s image. God loves her, and commands me to love her. That’s the difference. Her Allah commands her to hate. So she hates.
Her Allah is also khayru.’l makireen. The best of all deceivers. I can’t hate her.
16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 Completely destroy[a] them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.
–Deuteronomy 20:16-18
That is tough stuff and personally I’d rather it weren’t in the Bible. Nonetheless, it’s a one-off. It’s the only divine “Kill them all” command in the Bible.
It only applied to the initial land God gave the Jews. It was not a license in perpetuity to go forth and kill everyone else in the world and take their land. And historically the Jews have not done so.
However, in Islam Allah does have a standing order to Muslims to subjugate the entire world to sharia with violence as necessary. I don’t like what Muslims do in that regard but I do understand they are following Allah according to a straightforward understanding of the Quran.
I don’t hate Omar. I do find her quite annoying and her political aims intentionally destructive of the United States.
Hate is expensive, huxley, I can’t afford it. No can’t you. Plus it crowds the mind. Remember the OODA loop. Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. I try to stay tactically oriented,
Steve57: But can’t I find her annoying … just a little bit?
16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an i”nheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 Completely destroy[a] them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.
–Deuteronomy 20:16-18
That is tough stuff and personally I’d rather it weren’t in the Bible. Nonetheless, it’s a one-off. It’s the only divine “Kill them all” command in the Bible.”
and the Jews were punished because they didn’t
avi: Are you saying that the Jews would have been punished if they had “completely destroyed [the Hittites etc.]”?
Was God testing the Jews like Abraham with Isaac?
Oh, God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe say, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”
God say, “No,” Abe say, “What?”
God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin’, you better run”
–Bob Dylan, “Highway 61”
om: She could run and win the presidency and would continue to claim she is being treated as a second class citizen! She makes so many absurd statements and, yet, she receives little pushback from her party or the media.
I read that Tlaib is complaining that she and other minority congresspersons aren’t being listened to and are being used as tokens. She is such a whiner and demands respect before she has earned it. I guess I should give them credit. They are embracing their victimhood status and using it to shame & silence those who question their anti-Semitic and anti-American views.
Stephen Colbert’s talent is not apparent to me. He seems like a dullard. I get Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, but Colbert seems like a total zero. I was never a fan of Letterman, either. None of them can compare to Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, both of whom you wanted to welcome into your home every night.
Omar is what was known in the Spanish Civil War as a Fifth Columnist.
Kim Foxx is also getting the “hard to criticize” card. A growing narrative now, mostly amongst black leaders, is that people are mainly going after her because she’s the first female black attorney for Cook County and that the anger is selective, pointing out that she had other cases going on at that time. They also use Laquan McDonald as an example of bigger cases not getting the fair treatment in that Van Dyke’s prison sentence was too short.
Huxley, you can find her annoying. A lot. I do. What I am saying is that I have at 56 I have figured out the survival value of most emotions and feelings. For instance, fear. It makes you sharp. Bravery isn’t the absence of fear. Bravery is being able to overcome it. I’m afraid of fire. I grew up during the Vietnam war era. The local Naval regional hospital was full of veterans who were horribly burned. So I learned fire fighting and first aid. Who the f*** buys a Sears Craftsman tool box and fills it full of first aid supplies? I do.
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/israeli-girl-badly-burnt-firebomb-west-bank-article-1.2056585
And I went into the business. That’s my real family business. My dad, the sainted Radioman Senior Chief, was a Coastie during WWII in the ironically named Pacific. My uncle Tony was a Sailor in the Med in that war. It turns out that my real family business isn’t what you see in the Godfather movies. We’re just fishermen from Salerno and we operate boats.
One of the keys to life is never give in to fear. Ok, I lied. I live in north Texas because I don’t believe a tidal wave can reach me this far north. If I’m wrong we are all in trouble. I’m scared of the ocean because I know it. If you’re not bringing a tidal wave I’m not scared of you.
But speaking of hate, I’m awfully close to hating the guy who threw that molotov cocktail at that eleven year old Israeli girl. Close, but not there yet. Hate will destroy you. It’s a natural human emotion. But I never could figure out the survival value.
As Muhammad famously said, “war is deception.”
However, our default position here in the West is to assume the best about people, and that people are honest and truthful.
Thus, far too many of us are easily lied to and deceived.
It is so frustrating and disheartening to observe how all too evident it is that most of us uninformed “Infidels” here in the West just naively assume that Muslims–particularly observant Muslims–view the world as we do and that, naturally, they are also playing by the same Rule Book that we play by.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
We are playing checkers while wearing blinkers, while many of the more skilled, observant Muslims are playing chess.
Sara:
Women and minorities will never be equals if they continue to think (and preach) that criticizing them is being “mean” to them.
Steve57: I’ve walked through my own fires and had to manage my emotions and feelings. From what I can tell most commenters here have. I prize humor as an emotional resource, which was part of my response to you.
As to hate, I’m not so sure it doesn’t have a place in our lives, if a double-edged one. I’m reminded of the ending to “King Rat,” a book, then a film based on James Clavell’s experiences as a prisoner of war in a brutal Japanese camp.
The protagonist, Marlowe, is befriended by an American corporal, who is called the King and runs the camp’s black market. Together they come up with various schemes to survive relatively well under the circumstances. However, they are deeply resented by Grey, the Camp Provost, who plays by the rules and is obsessed with bringing the King down.
At the end the Allies win and the camp closes down. As the King leaves with the American prisoners, Grey and Marlowe have a final conversation:
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Grey turned away and walked to the doorway. On the top step he turned back. “Actually, I should thank you and the King for one thing,” he said viciously. “My hatred of you two kept me alive.” Then he strode away and never looked back.
–James Clavell, “King Rat”
According the the wisdom of Solomon there is a time to hate.To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. (Proverbs 8:13). Here are some things God hates,“These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren” (Proverbs 6:16-19). Hating the sin and not the sinner can be a supreme challenge. Or as Michael Collins said, “I hate them for making hate necessary, and I’ll do what I can to end it.”
I have read every Clavell book but that one. He was in that camp and was a kid. I suppose I should read it but the experience must have been awful. He wrote his other novels, especially “Shogun” to try to understand the Japanese. Actually Shogun is based, in part, on a real incident. I had the book at one time and must have loaned it. An English ship was wrecked in Japan in the 17th century.
The book is now quite rare and I wish I could find my copy.
The English pilot, unlike Clavell’s hero, did get back to England and was responsible for some exchanges between Elizabethan England and Japan.
LeClerc on April 15, 2019 at 5:39 am at 5:39 am said:
Omar is what was known in the Spanish Civil War as a Fifth Columnist.
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Don’t forget the Quislings a few years later, among others.
They exist in every time and every place — thinking to better themselves with the attackers of their homes, rather than with the defenders.
Driven by pride and arrogance, masked with ideologies that support their hatred.
“Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you” is anathema to them.
PS
That command has been endlessly debated, particularly as to whether it is a personal or a public injunction. The full context sounds to me like it is personal, and does not necessarily imply that evil-doing directed to communities should not be countered; only that it be done without animosity and hatred.
(And likewise, gives no warrant to those who desire to give YOUR cloak to the one who petitioned them, rather than their own.)
Matthew 5 King James Version (KJV)
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Sharon W on April 15, 2019 at 11:53 am at 11:53 am said:
According the the wisdom of Solomon there is a time to hate.To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. (Proverbs 8:13). Here are some things God hates,“These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren” (Proverbs 6:16-19).
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Ripped from the headlines….
Huxley said:
“Steve57: I’ve walked through my own fires and had to manage my emotions and feelings. From what I can tell most commenters here have. I prize humor as an emotional resource, which was part of my response to you.”
Humor is essential. Without humor you are a goner. During the Falklands war the destroyer HMS Sheffield was sunk by an Argentine Super Etendard. Or, rather the Exocet the Argentine fired into her. As the ship was cooking up the crew went topside for rescue. The deck became too hot to stand on for long, so while they’re hopping around they realized how funny they looked. So they broke out in song.
“Monty Python – Always look on the bright side of life.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_-q9xeOgG4
I realize that I sometimes come across the wrong way. Like I’m the only man who defended the country. Please recognize that I’m fully aware that I’m not all that. I am no bad@$$. I was an intel officer, which means I wasn’t paid to be a trigger puller. But I did contribute.
Ever notice how Ilhan Omar makes a big deal about coming here as a refugee? Yet there’s never any gratitude for the country that took her in. I am so sick and tired of Americans who hate America. I’m looking at my great Uncle’s discharge certificate, hanging on the wall, from WWI. We came from a one donkey village in Italy and this country has given us everything. well, not given. The opportunity to earn. It seems to me that a congress woman from Somalia should be able to appreciate this country as much as I do. Ayaan Hirsi Ali can. But Ilhan Omar doesn’t. AOC doesn’t. And that makes me angry. It makes me want to fight. Not in a physical sense, but a political sense.
Ever notice how Ilhan Omar makes a big deal about coming here as a refugee? Yet there’s never any gratitude for the country that took her in.
The horrid culture of her country of origin intersects with the horrid culture of our educational apparat. The result is….horrid.
If the NSA is monitoring this site, I’m past the days of fisticuffs. I use a walker now. My hips are blown out. The hard part is so are my shoulders so it’s not easy walking on my hands. But the important thing to know is I mean no violence to anyone.
It seems every hit I took playing Rugby is coming back to haunt me.
Mike K: “King Rat” is a good read and not as gruesome as one might fear. Shorter than the others. The film is worthwhile too and beautifully shot in B&W. Somehow it didn’t become a classic.
Clavell seems to have developed his fascination with Alpha Leader types from “King Rat.”
I was surprised to discover Clavell also wrote the screenplay to the original version of “The Fly.”
Steve57: No worries. This old hippie has made his peace with the military. Mostly I admire you guys.
I love the military maxim, “Embrace the suck!” Words to live by. Your hopping-Monty Python story was perfect.
Don’t you worry mate. I grew up on the border of Oakland/Berkeley. I was, as you may know a US Coast Guard brat. So it was sometimes difficult for me to be around hippies and still be proud of my father.
I think the breaking point for me was when I was walking by “People’s Park” And some homeless poet was demanding some guy near me to pay a dollar to listen to his poem. And the man finally said, “Look I’ll give you a dollar to go away.” And the homeless poet refused to take it. Instead he demanded the man to listen to his f***ing poem.
I wouldn’t have listened to his f***ing poem. But he was saying he wasn’t a beggar and he had something of value to offer. Now, he didn’t. His poem wasn’t worth a dollar.
BTW, I think the finest poem ever written is Black Marigolds which I believe is 3000 years old.
The thing was he wasn’t going to take money for nothing. And I had to respect that.
Mike K:
Shogun.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR4.TRC2.A0.H0.XClavell+Shogun.TRS0&_nkw=Clavell+Shogun&_sacat=0
“I think the finest poem ever written is Black Marigolds which I believe is 3000 years old.”
I had to look that one up — thanks for the recommendation. Marvelous!
Were you referring to the E. Powys Mathers translation, which was apparently one of the better known versions? Wikipedia calls him an Englishman, but I suspect he was only born in England; the cadences and structure of the poem as he transmitted it are very Welsh,* as is his name.
These are the last stanzas, of a very long work reminescent of the Song of Solomon. (And — I hope this is not too heretical — which reminded me of the love story from “Secondhand Lions”).
*In fact, some of Mathers’ phrases are almost identical to those found in old Welsh love poems, such as those of Dafydd ap Gwilym in the 14th century, with which no doubt Mathers was familiar.
“Powys is a principal area and county, and one of the preserved counties of Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, …” – Wikipedia
I am sufficiently man primeval I am forced to admit I don’t know what transliteration I am referring to. But it seems appropriate to admit that here. Neo has done so much to enrich this barbarian’s life. I think I’m going to watch some Georgian ballet.
Still can’t appreciate opera. Neo is going to have to do better.
I watched some more Georgian ballet. I really liked the knife throwing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5JIAyknm54
By the way, can you really expect a Muslim to be better than her Allah?
Qur’an 3:54—And they (the unbelievers) planned to deceive, and Allah planned to deceive (the unbelievers), and Allah is the best of deceivers.
Qur’an 7:99—Are they then safe from Allah’s deception? No one feels safe from Allah’s deception except those that shall perish.
Qur’an 8:30—And (remember) when the unbelievers plotted deception against you (O Muhammad), to imprison you, or kill you, or expel you. They plotted deception, but Allah also plotted deception; and Allah is the best of deceivers.
Allah tells us, in his holy book, that he is khayrul makireen. The best of all who do makr. Makr is lying. To do somebody harm. And Allah is best at it. In a way CAIR is right when they say that you aren’t really reading the Quran if you aren’t reading it in Arabic.l Because it’s much worse in Arabic. The transliterators like Yusuf Ali and Abdel Haleem cleaned it up. They knew that the parts of the Quran life the wife beating part wouldn’t go over well to a western audience.
Surah 4:34
“Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband’s] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance – [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand.”
Ok, I’m superior to women. And I don’t actually experience “arrogance” from women before I beat them. I just have to fear you’, ladies, are going to get out of line.
It gets worse.
Surah 2;223
“Your wives are a place of sowing of seed for you, so come to your place of cultivation however you wish and put forth [righteousness] for yourselves. And fear Allah and know that you will meet Him. And give good tidings to the believers.”
There is no such thing as marital rape in Islam. Consent isn’t even a consideration. You, ladies, have no choice. Just like a field has no choice when or how the farmer plows it.
I am sorry if I am being too graphic. But I think sometimes you have to be to get a point across. I could never be a Muslim because that would mean, among other things, I could force myself on a woman. It”s just not a consideration. I am getting my information from Islamic sources. Where do you imagine I learned the phrase al Azl. It means coitus interruptus (Sahih Muslim, The book of Marriage [wives aren’t much better than slaves]).
Have I mentioned I really like women and girls. I only mention the girls part because if I was in Rotherham (UK) and some guy approached me in my church (mosque) asking me if I wanted to be part of a child rape gang I’d be the first one to call the cops. I wouldn’t care if it was my own brother. But my brothers would never do that.
Most of the world’s religions are created by and for human megalomaniacs.
Pick any topic under the sun, combine it with religion, and corruption can and will result.
Few if any of you have ever remembered the truth of the Divine. And those who have, were probably burned and raped to death by the various “churches”, heh.
“Women and minorities will never be equals if they continue to think (and preach) that criticizing them is being “mean” to them.”
CapnRusty:
They have no desire to be seen as equals or to be treated equally. They use their victimhood status to silence and shame their opponents and grab the reigns of power for themselves. Appeal to equality is a red herring. And the House Democratic Leadership’s appeasement has only made them bolder and more confident. One can only hope their hubris leads them to follow the path of Icarus.