Ilhan Omar: Obama’s a ‘pretty face’ who got ‘away with murder’
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar ripped former President Barack Obama in an interview published Friday, belittling his “pretty face” and saying his agenda of hope and change was an illusion.
She cited the “caging of kids” at the Mexican border and the “droning of countries around the world” on Obama’s watch — and argued that he wasn’t much different from President Trump
“We can’t be only upset with Trump,” the freshman firebrand told Politico Magazine.
“His policies are bad, but many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies. They just were more polished than he was,” Omar said.
“And that’s not what we should be looking for anymore. We don’t want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile.”
The explosive comments about a man lionized by Democrats were only the latest in a series of incendiary statements that have put the national spotlight on Omar, a Somali-American Muslim who spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya after her family fled the violence in their homeland.
In February, her second month in office, Omar responded to a tweet about House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy’s threats to punish her and another congresswoman for criticizing Israel.
“It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” she tweeted, a line from a Puff Daddy song about $100 bills.
Critics said Omar was perpetuating a hateful trope about Jewish Americans and money.
She recently got into another hot mess after another tweet was slammed by some as anti-Semitic.
The ensuing firestorm rattled the Democratic House majority and spurred days of recriminations and tense negotiations that led to the compromise package condemning bigotry that sailed through the House on Thursday, with only 23 Republicans voting against it.
The party’s leftist wing, led by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said Omar was being singled out when others at the highest levels of government had said things that were worse and escaped censure.
More moderate Dems, including Jewish lawmakers such as New York’s Eliot Engle, wanted the resolution to focus only on anti-Semitism as a direct response to Omar’s comment, which questioned the loyalty of politicians who accept donations from pro-Israel PACs and organizations.
Ultimately, after days of chaos and acrimony, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was able to unite her caucus — and box in a big majority of Republicans — to back the compromise.
And Omar — along with Rashida Tlaib of Michigan the first Muslim women in Congress — said she’s willing to keep speaking out and be a Republican punching bag if it helps advance her agenda, a prospect that likely makes many of her fellow Democrats cringe.
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WOW - this new Rep is really gonna face some reckoning - ya don't bad mouth Barry - 'specially if you're a Dem Freshman.
And watch, anyone that criticizes her is going to be labeled an Islamophobe....
Bigotry and hate is allowable and protected on the house floor and in whatever a congressperson wants to put out there....
A perfect example of giving in and getting shafted for it as a thank you...
Strange times indeed.....
(I wonder how the progressives and liberal wing of the party is going to deal with this)
Why?
She is only repeating what the ODS crowd has said 'here and there' for the last decade, most, but not all of them, conservatives of all parties.
And listening to the liberal side of the board I thought is was only conservatives that went down the turnaboutism road in defending the indefensible? We can excuse her Antisemitism cause of your Islamophobia.....
Nothing new in this on the board here, the real issue being discussed is that it is now official policy of the political party in control of the US House of Representatives....
The political party "in control" is rapidly losing its hold on the House with all their infighting.
And here I thought all the conservatives would embrace her considering all the Obama bashing they do.
Why? Comments like hers have been repeated here by many, and repeated in magazines, and on TV by people of all political walks,
especially about the American father & son who were killed in Yemen.
Sacred; no. Cow? Perhaps so.
Actually, most conservatives didn't bash Obama - they bashed his policies and his "I've got a pen and a phone" management style.
Really?
Wow....
What a gift Omar gave them and all they can do is, true to form, bitch about it.
And I thought Trumpers would praise her.
But yet you can't point out who did.
I love these LWNJ and how the extreme left try to excuse her
I don't think they were talking about Moochelle !
Notice that you didn't read the rest of the sentence.
I'd think you lot would be singing her praises today.
[deleted]
Given her backtracking today.. It's clear a Democrat can say all the anti-Semitic things she wants, but criticizing Obama is not allowed.
You'll let us know when a liberal sends out death threats to or walks into a synagog and kills a dozen Jews, right?
How about a baseball diamond?
So, equating 11 murders to 4 injuries, none lethal---We always enjoy how rightwing math equalizes therefore trivializes the horror of the former.
Wow dismissing a LWNJ because he actually failed to kill anybody speaks volumes about your mindset.
She's already been the reason for a big in the House brought by Dems to rebuke her for her earlier comments. You can't even seem to keep up with the smearing you people are doing to her.
Should read "big censure resolution" up there. I think the vote was 407 aye, 23 nay, all republicans curiously enough.
She's not afraid to shoot her mouth off. She got elected to the US House of Representatives with a grand total of 267,703 votes. She is one of the radical freshmen, which will cause serious problems for Pelosi and the democrats.
Attacking Obama will be hard to swallow for the party faithful, but swallow they will!
What's this, her third incident since being sworn in? Keep it coming Ilhan..
She will. Of that there’s no doubt.
Which was >78% of the vote. [deleted, other members are not the topic]
If you criticize a nation’s policies, you are now automatically considered a bigot to descendents of that nation? Strange that conservatives would be jump on that train. That’s the kind of thinking that they typically paint liberals with.
The truth is is indeed painful isn't it?
Critics said Omar was perpetuating a hateful trope about Jewish Americans and money.
Is that the truth? Lol. “It’s all about the Benjamins” is a reference to the economic ties between the US and Israel, and how they impact national policies. But you guys decided to couch it as a direct disparagement of greedy Jews. What’s next? Are you going make a random connection of the left’s criticism of Ben Carson’s policy statements to fried chicken?
Actually, Hal, I think you have to take into consideration more than just the phrase "It's the Benjamins, Baby". She was then asked "Who?" and her response was "AIPAC". She was accusing the lobbying organization AIPAC of giving money to lawmakers, in order to "buy" favourable legislation.
By the way, Hal, someone posted an article about what really scared us, especially when we were young. My response was that I don't remember ever being scared by monsters or ghosts or zombies, but Hal's new avatar scares the shit out of me.
She was accusing the lobbying organization AIPAC of giving money to lawmakers, in order to "buy" favourable legislation.
Again, such feelings are in no way indicative of across the board anti-semitism. In all fairness, I expected you to think that way, since you are by far the site’s biggest cheerleader for Israel. Nobody here has as serious of a knee jerk reaction to perceived anti-semitism as you.
On a side note, have you not heard of Momo yet?
No, "you guys" didn't couch it - that was done by the right winged media who blasted it all over their networks - with good cause.
Read my comment, please:
As for MOMO, never heard of it although I've been to MOMA. However, I searched it on Bing and discovered where you got that avatar - I had thought it was one of the masks you've collected.
You must have lived a pain-free life, then.
And it was referring to members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who seem to have supporting the Israeli government as their priority rather than the Israeli Muslim and Jewish citizens' interests as well as the security of the US.
It was blasted by the entire media....left, right and center. And yet you still seem to be bitching about something.
I've had more pain in my life than you could probably imagine, but you wouldn't care either way...
Not sure how to respond to that. I would suggest that you're probably not as unique in this area as you think. I'm sure there are plenty of people in the NT community with pain in their lives. I've just never seen any of them make reference to it quite like that until now.
Don't bother, you would just look foolish...
And if you criticize obama you are considered a racist.
How is that working out for the Dems when a Jew hating Muslim freshmen rep slams their anointed one Barry?
Stay tuned
And if you criticize obama you are considered a racist.
See, you’re doing it again. That was never a charge made by the left. It just more garbage manufactured by the right.
Lol. It was ubiquitous among the left.
What's next? "We have always been at war with Eastasia"
Nope....
"We have always been at war with anyone who opposes our policies or disagrees with us"
Where were you during Obama's term? We're you able to keep in touch with your family or were you totally isolated?
I can't decide which word in the sentence you know less about: the meaning of "ubiquitous" or what constitutes "the left."
[deleted]
[deleted]
Jihadist Omar has demonstrated clearly that she is an antisemite. By avoiding any condemnation of her personally, the DNC has embraced antisemitism as part of their platform. I guess that will mesh well with their racists and rapists in VA.
The party of bigotry.
And by calling her a jihadist you've clearly demonstrated your hatred for Muslims (who, if they're of Middle Eastern descent, are also semitic). You don't get to play in the sewer and then claim you're not covered in shit.
False. Not all Muslims are jihadists. Your comment was very bigoted.
Yet you're the one blithely throwing around that term, as you say "falsely" (since you have no basis, other than to smear, to use it to describe Omar). Do you not read your own comments?
You have implied that all Muslims are jihadists. That's prejudice. Do better.
[deleted]
You got it exactly right.
I denounce any anti-semitism, by either side of the political aisle. And the TRUTH is that anti-semitism is not politically motivated. Anti-semitism is akin to racism, it is a bigotry that precedes political affiliation. People who think Jews control this or Jews all have that undesirable personal characteristic are not expressing a political belief and come from all parts of the political spectrum.
There is an element where politics does enter into it in current thinking though, and that is in Israel's policies as created or continued by Netanyahu, who I don't believe is a popular figure among Democrats. And the Republicans are squarely behind everything Israel does, with a sizable part of the Republican population of the belief that Israel plays a part in the second coming of Jesus Christ through Bible prophecy. THAT may be the source of much of the Christian right's devotion to Israel.
They need to settle the Israeli-Palestinian situation. When that happens much of the "hatred" of Israel will go away.
The best punishment for Omar is to not re-elect her to Congress. If she continues making a fool out of herself that will likely be the case. She is up for re-election at the same time Trump is.
I highly doubt it. The Democrats are being taken over by the extreme left. The damage will be done by these LWNJ and help facilitate another 4 years of Trump and crying by the snowflakes because they put up a self described socialist to run against him.
John, I was with you 100% through your first paragraph above, but your blanket statement in the second paragraph that "...the Republicans are squarely behind everything Israel does." just kind of blew it out the window. That is a unfair and misleading statement and you know it. Yes, many Republicans do support Israel, but it is nowhere near the universal support you try to make it sound like.
So Doc..... Lets turn that around. "....the Democrats are squarely behind against everything Israel does."
As you said, that too would be an unfair and misleading statement. Most democrats support Israel, but to they are not going to go "all in" on everything she does, especially when it can lead to pain and suffering of an entire group of people.
The hard liners on both ends of the issue need to go, and those that can work towards a permanent solution that better the lives of all the people in that region should be empowered to do so.
Agreed.
Fly - it would be very fair to say "most in Congress support Israel" because it is a two laned street.
Self-inflicted, due to their leadership. Being offered 95%, even 97% of their demands wasn't good enough to stop them from walking out the door instead of negotiating and compromising. The only thing that will satisfy their leaders is 'Palestine will be free from the river to the sea."
So get rid of the leadership on both sides, and let some everyday families take a crack at it....cant do any worse. There is a solution if both sides want the killing to stop.
How about everyone stop painting with such broad strokes all the time.....
But people won't because that requires them to have to think more about what the truth really is.
There ARE everyday families who are trying - Arabs and Jews working together in Israel trying to normalize the relationship between them. I have not noted any discouragement for that from the Jewish side - but you know damn well where the criticism and demonizing of those people comes from.
Lives ended, lives destroyed, just because someone else doesn't like the way each other pray, or what a 3000, and 1300 year old book say. We've tried a world with gods and prayers, and that has shackled humans to ignorance and hate at every turn.
No Buzz, I don't know "damn well" where the noise is coming from, but what I do know is that one side or both are lacking are leaders that understand that violence only perpetuates more violence. Achieving peace is a dangerous business, and neither Netanyahu nor Abbas have the courage that De Klerk in South Africa, or John Major in Ireland had to get peace to the finish line. Yitzhak Rabin knew that fighting for peace could cost him his life, but he never lacked the courage to continue to act on behalf of peace.
Whatever...... Take care.
When you say "support Israel" I wonder what you'd say to this Israeli (Jewish) columnist in Ha'aretz:
Keep It Up, Ilhan Omar Neither Hamas nor a black day, but a glimmer of hope on Capitol Hill
Here are some excerpts (in case you decide not to go to the link):
Now, please do call Gideon Levy an anti-semite.
Which everyday Palestinian families do we chose? I those that hope their children become suicide bombers, those that actually strap the bombs on their children or those that dance in the streets when one of those children has a successful attack and kills as many Israelis as possible?
When that's obviously the only view of a Muslim family you're willing to recognize it tells us why people like Omar risk their lives to represent the millions of Muslims and their families who do not do that and yet are dismissed by people like you.
Where did I say all Muslims everywhewe were that way.We have been Talking about those "Palestinian's"in "Palestine"thathave approved and supported the actions I have stated. It was you that spread that to include all Muslims everywhere not me.
Peace requires the courage of leaders to seek it.
Yitzhak Rabin knew that fighting for peace could cost him his life, but he never lacked the courage to continue to act on behalf of peace.
When people think that the risk of achieving peace is too high, then the chance for peace dies. Excuses are used to kill ideas and ideals.
I see, so in your opinion, FDR was a warmonger because he declared war on the Japanese, and Truman was a war criminal for dropping "the bomb" on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Winston Churchill was a warmonger because he defended England from the Nazis. Okay, I understand your point.
And I see where you are on the issue Buzz.... People like De Klerk, Major, Gandhi, and King were fools that history should ignore.
It looks like there is no more room for try in your heart, and that's okay. Hope you're well.
I'm not sorry. Israel has had to defend itself CONSTANTLY since 1948, and I have been to Israel more than once and seen terror and the results of it with my own eyes, and thank God my children NARROWLY escaped being victims there. I really have no patience for those who have an opinion based on what Ha'aretz traitors and biased news reports have to say.
When have you ever said otherwise? You could have taken the opportunity to do so in that comment and couldn't even do it.
You don't pay much attention do you? I have said numerous times that not all Muslims were terrorist or jihads and have said that most were good people
As I've never seen that once, do you feel like linking to just one of those times? Shouldn't be too much to ask if they're so "numerous," right?
And they are at peace with Egypt, and they are at peace with Jordan...... Why can't they be at peace with Palestine?
That is an excellent question.
There was a time when there was no peace between Israel and countries you mentioned. Along the way, both side seriously took to heart a different spirit of relations. Even cooperation.
One you left out was Syria. They basically had their asses handed to them when they decided to throw a large scale mechanized attack at the same time as those other 2 and others attacked in their own ways. Look up Valley of Tears.
Here's a soft description:
The 2 you mentioned thought official peace was a better path to the future. Syria, just tucked their tail and ran.
The bottom line those countries quit attacking Israel.
The Palestinians play the propaganda game while continually attacking Israel at the expense of the lives and well being of their own people.
After all, it is their goal, just as it is Iran's goal, to drive Israel into the sea. They don't even try to hide that.
Peace is pretty simple to achieve. Stop attacking Israel.
Well, if Israel could make peace with two of the Muslim/Arab countries on its borders, it was because it takes two to tango, so to speak. Israel wanted peace with all its neighbours, proven by the fact that they MADE peace with the two neighbours who ALSO wanted peace. Need I say more?
Israel is even informally "at peace" with Saudi Arabia (whose clerics no doubt still have the goal of destruction of Israel--do we forget that the mastermind and all but one of the attackers on 9/11/2001 were Saudis who were brought up on hatred of Israel?). SA was part of the general Arab military forces attacking Israel at its birth in 1948 and again 1973. The only things keeping it away from Israel's throat is their sharing of common enemies of Syria and Iran and the deep financial/political dependency between it and the Scumbag Criminal Empire. Israel even has a full if not exactly romantic relationship with Germany ferfuksakes. But the Palestinians have committed a cardinal sin of wanting a homeland of their own after it was brokered away from them by the British in 1917 (once again, major clusterfucks of European colonialism keep rearing up and coming back on its perpetrators). One can only imagine how different the situation in Middle East might have been without, as Randy Newman put it, "the Great Nations of Europe coming through."
I guess having the rug pulled out from under them by both sides time and time again just might have something to do with that.
Looks like an attempt to justify their behavour.
Curious, I wonder why they don't conduct terrorism against, "the other half of "both sides"?
I wounder if that has anything to do with their creed to drive Israel into the sea?
Don't fret, arkpdx. Can't you see the nefarious method used to put you on the defensive? You said "which...families", i.e. a specific group, not meaning "all", and continued by saying "those that..." specifically referring only to a specific group, not "all", yet the method to have put you on the defensive was to insinuate, well no, to actually declare, that what you meant was "all Muslims" which is a fucking evil lie meant to smear you. When I see that that is the method of smearing that a person uses on this site, that uncivil bastardly way of insulting and hurting other members, I have them put on restriction to never address anything I post.
Then we have the faux "Semites" which is particularly funny for those who really do not know what a Semite is, but are more than willing to take the role of "right to be offended".
That is not meant to apply to many do have a blood line. I think many recognize the few who seek to point out the straw in the eyes of others while ignoring the rafter in their own.
And they are at peace with Egypt, and they are at peace with Jordan...... Why can't they be at peace with Palestine?
You've got it backwards. Here's the correct question we should be asking:
Both Egypt and Jordan were willing to make peace with Israel-- why aren't the Palestinians?
Definitely another way to look at the point Krishna, and I think a healthy one.
I will stick to the point that it will take a different set of leaders on both sides for any progress on peace to be made.
I'd love to see a list of names for any current republican office holders who have criticized Israeli government policies and you must know who they'd be based on that comment.
She cited the “caging of kids” at the Mexican border and the “droning of countries around the world” on Obama’s watch
Well, she did not make that up.
Her complaint about Obamas use of drones is about the only thing she's said so far I actually agree with. But that only proves the adage about a stopped clock being right twice a day. I'm glad she's in there driving Nancy crazy.
Which really won't take too much more - especially with this Fresh-person class.
All hail Ocrazyo!
What all of us "Old Farts" here on NT need to guard against is that she just might represent the face of the Millenials who increase their numbers over us baby boomer daily. I can see how her views and those of Ocasio-Cortez would scare the crap out of many that naturally resist change.
I repeatedly state that all movement is relative in both physics and politics. Distance can also be created by standing still. Remember what we did to our parents.....! The greatest generation handed something special off to us, and we've done our share to morph it into something grotesque in a short few decades.
Come gather 'round people wherever you roam,
And admit that the waters around you have grown,
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'
Come writers and critics who prophecize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide,
The chance won't come again,
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'
Come senators, congressmen,
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway,
Don't block the hall,
For he that' gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled,
There's a battle
Outside and it's ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land,
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command,
Your old road is rapidly agin',
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'
The line it is drawn,
The curse it is cast,
The slow one now will
Later be fast,
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin' B. Dylan
Obama's use of drones to take out terrorist targets was probably the only thing I liked about what he was doing. As far as I am concerned, terrorists have no rights in other countries or even here.
Some gratitude from the Obamahaters. Omar gave you a gift yesterday and you can't accept it graciously. I'm so disappointed (yet not at all surprised) in you.
While it's true that Israeli Arabs and Jews are working together to get along, it's also true that the Netanyahu government is doing everything it can to sabotage those efforts.
You mean when they strike back against the terrorists in Gaza? How horrible.
I find it "amusing" that people who love and fully support tweets like this are trying to make the case that someone else is anti-semitic:
Wait!
Doris, Steyer and Bloomberg are all billionaires. You know, I part of the 1% that the left says we are supposed to hate just like the Koch brothers . Then again they are liberal billionaires and have been given special dispensation by the left in like the Koch's who are evil conservatives and
Thanks for so eagerly embracing one of the favorite anti-semitic smears right out of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion by ignoring the essential fact of the Jewishness of one set of billionaires and the non-Jewishness of the others. I just wonder why you were so eager to jump right in but thank you, thank you, thank you for doing so. Makes my work so much easier. Oh, and referring to Soros as "Doris!" Soooo cuuuuuute.
Funny, I I don't recall saying anything about their race, ethnicity, I or their religion. That was you. I just said they were billionaires.
I find it disturbing that the left so easily brings bigotry into the discussion and must be their projection of their own characteristics.
[Deleted]
*I love how Malcolm Nance described "coincidences" like this: they take a lot of planning.
No I really don't care that they were all Jew's and I didn't bring them into the discussion (is Steer Jewish? I I didn't know nor did I care). Please do not project your prejudices on to me.
Far too late for feigning naïveté, innocence or ignorance at this point, ark. Not from the side that has a McCarthy and a Steve King and a Trump-inspired Nazi walking calmly into a synagogue murdering elderly Jews at prayer.
There you go with the projections again. Unlike the liberals, conservatives do not all think or act alike. I what others may do or sat does not in anyway define me. Now take your self-projection machine away and just admit you were wrong again
Some people really don't give a crap about a person's origins. To be honest, I would never have known those billionaires that we are supposed to hate are Jewish.
Some are just a little too hung up on race, ethnicity, etc.
When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail...
Al right Atheist - how 'bout getting back on topic or getting off this thread.
Only warning.
How about locking your seed if your going to be gone for 24 hours
instead of flagging someone a dozen times upon your return
and THEN warning them about being "on topic".
Yeah. Right.
So, are you going to moderate or participate? Can't do both.
I really don't give a shit what their origins are. If it wasn't for liberals, many of whom are on here, making it clear in their posts that they are Jews, I never would have known. I still don't care.
Either way, isn't the liberal rule to hate ALL billionaires? Why don't you hate the ones that fund liberal causes?
1st....sorry about going off topic. It is just sickening when some people on here go all out stupid when you don't recognize people for their neat little liberal categories we are supposed to recognize them by.
A thousand thumbs up. I've brought that up before when one of the mods replied to one of my comments, but deleted another for some imaginary infraction because the post did not toe the liberal line.
It's a real problem with at least one "moderator".
Actually, you can moderate in an article in a thread you have not participated in, and ask for a review by another mod, which was done. Hope that clarifies things.
She is such a gift to the Republican Party, you almost have to wonder if she and AOC are on the GOP payroll somehow.
The dynamic trio. Tlaib is often with them and she had the expletive laced diatribe about impeaching our President.
The dynamic trio. Tlaib is often with them and she had the expletive laced diatribe about impeaching our President.
I wonder if Pelosi slapped her pee pee Wednesday after she blabbed once again about impeaching the President, especially since she came out today saying there will be no impeachment. Truth is, she really knows why. There is nothing to impeach for. I also wonder if these three stooge radicals will try and go rogue and attempt impeachment on their own, without Pelosi.
After all, according to AOC, she is in charge.
This is funny !
A "Supposed" non-radical Islamist saying that our "All Muslims Aren't radical" President, "IS"...… A "Polished" Idiot !
Gotta luv.....Non-Radical muslims….they're soooooo TRUTHFUL?