If Ilhan Omar Is Killed , Will President* Trump Be Held Responsible?
The president* tweeted out a video interspersing comments made by Rep. Ilhan Omar with footage of the terrorist planes hitting the World Trade Center Towers on 9/11.
Trump immediately presents his followers with a belief that Omar condoned the attack or maybe even was part of it.
This is the president of the United States acting in a way that could very well lead one of his unhinged followers to try and harm this woman.
Every decent human being needs to oppose Trump.
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Trump on 9/11: “40 Wall Street actually was the second tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was actually, before the World Trade Center, was the tallest. And then, when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second tallest. And now it’s the tallest.”
Shortly after the attack, Trump claimed $150,000 from the government to cover “rent loss” and “repairs”. The money had originally been set aside for small businesses in the area.
In an interview about his first 100 days in the White House with the Associated Press, Trump boasted that his “ratings” on cable network shows like on Fox and CBS’s Face the Nation were higher than those for broadcasts of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump weighed in Friday on the most recent controversy involving Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, retweeting video edited to suggest that the Minnesota congresswoman was dismissive of the significance of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The video pulls a snippet of Omar’s speech last month to the Council on American-Islamic Relations in which she described the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center as “some people did something,” as well as news footage of the hijacked planes hitting the twin towers. Trump tweeted, “WE WILL NEVER FORGET!”
Omar’s remark has drawn criticism largely from political opponents and conservatives who say the congresswoman, one of the first Muslim women to serve in Congress, offered a flippant description of the assailants and the attacks on American soil that killed nearly 3,000 people and pointed the U.S. toward war.
Neither Trump’s tweet nor the video includes her full quote or the context of her comments.
Omar told CAIR in Los Angeles that many Muslims saw their civil liberties eroded after the attacks, and she advocated for activism.
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What has been most stunning to me is how by misrepresenting what Omar has actually been saying the far right has been guilty of blatantly demonizing Omar for her faith and her culture and not for her actual message which ultimately is one of inclusion.
There are nine Jews in the US Senate including zero nada no zip republicans. Of the twenty seven Jewish members of the House only two are in the gop. So, of 36 Jewish members of Congress 2 are republicans and 34 are Democrats including Senate leaders Schumer and Feinstein.
If any of them were attacked based mainly upon preconceived notions and prejudices regarding their faiths and cultural backgrounds that would be viewed as antisemitism.
Omar has misspoken and has appologized and clarified.butt some have been mad, upset and in high dungeon (?) about it ever since without any proportion.
Omar is the only Muslim in Congress. She should at least in fairness be able to represent the Muslim American portion of her constituency. That may be tough. In all fairness though, the reactions to her have been excessively unfair, out of proportion and frankly IMHO often unconscionable.
Several legitimate threats have already been made and thankfully interrupted against Omar's life. She gets lots of death threats. Anyone saying anti-Islamic prejudice has not been at play lately especially regarding Omar is not being honest. The same goes for AOC regarding race and culture. Two young freshman Congresswomen are now living in fear for their very lives and those fanning it on who think that this is cool and okay and that they deserve it are the real problem.
Sounds like somebody needs to check or do some research. Omar has in fact been routinely been shooting her mouth off uttering hateful and bigoted remarks. She is the one doing the misrepresenting and she brings much of the demonizing on herself.
Omar's alleged apologies have in fact been weak and watered down deflection with little sincerity and zero condemnation of Islamic terrorism. That speaks volumes in and of itself.
Omar is not the only Muslim in Congress. There are in fact three! She herself is doing a great disservice to the Muslim community with her hateful commentaries.
Any and all threats of harm or death to anyone are wrong and are to be condemned and punished no matter by who or to whom. But on the other hand, Omar and others can help reduce this by tuning down their hareful Islamist rhetoric.
Accurately quoting her is a hate crime, apparently.
"Bro" fish, President Donald Trump is a talking and tweeting ass. I say this, because sometimes it is good to have a president slash leader who understands the meaning of "give it a rest." Oh, but not President Donald who clearly thinks nearly every home in this country will only do better when he tweets about it!
This so-called, "leader" would do well to operate in the lane of SILENCE! for a good while and let the citizens recuperate.
Scumbag and his worms have put a target on Omar. There's already been one credible threat on her life and it's just a matter of time before one of Scumbag's POSes takes actual aim at her. Scumbag will certainly be complicit in that crime but like all fascist dictators he'll claim total innocence and blame the victim.
On a side note, Omar is a co-sponsor of the bill to make the fund to aid 9/11 responders permanent. Scumbag is silent on that bill and Scumpublicans refuse to vote on it. That really does show us who actually cares about this country and the working, sacrificing people in it and who are shitting on it and them.
If Omar is physically harmed Trump will shrug like in the article photo and say "who, me?"
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trump is only responsible when something is going well. When it turns to shit, it is always someone else at fault.
Notice he is never claiming victory or responsibility for the stock market any more.
He thrives on division and hatred, as it seems, so do some of his followers.
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Maybe, but still it was the nicest thing I could say about them.
So he is a typical politician? How dare he! Impeach him now!
Tell me, who was responsible for when shit was going bad during the Obama administration- well that would be Bush, the Republican Party, and those that "Cling to their bibles and guns" or the "the enemies".
But, that was just the truth right? Obama and the Dems never had anything to do with whatever was going bad, at any time in history, at any point.
Shit was already bad when Bush left office.
You all should have been happy with Obama but never will be. A steady recovery his whole time in office. Republicans even ran the house for six years of his term.
So Obama actually apologized for calling people enemies yet trump doubles down on his rhetoric.
What the fuck for?
For signing a SOFA agreement that tied the US to a weak corrupt Afghanistan government? For reinserting troops back into Iraq supporting a government that is loyal to Iran? For destabilizing Libya, Syria, Yemen, and the Ukraine?
How about for 0 percent fed interest rates for nearly the length of his term? Great for banks, the stock market speculators, and the housing market- shitty for anyone who had any money in the banks and wanted at least a little return on their investment.
How about obstructing every last investigation into the corruption within his administration? Set great precedents for Trump to follow.
As for apologizing- the damage was already done. He said what he meant- he got the reaction he wanted. The apology was too little too late.
If the left would have held Obama to the same standards they hold Republican POTUS to he wouldn't have lasted past his first term.
What I love is the left has sunk to levels below Trump. Can't stand the man; but seems the left can do no more than attack him. They should be concentrating weeding out the insanity of the overflowing clown car of presidential candidates; and coming up with a platform that doesn't look like it is written by someone on crack.
If people are saying its only about the economy, yes. Under Obama they economy continually grew throughout his term.
We have a SOFA agreement with over 100 countries. In 2015 we basically turned over combat operations to the Afgan government. Isn't that what everyone wanted? Let them fight their own battles? Nato has had a leadership role there since 2003.
The Ukraine was destabilized when Russia decided to do a land grab.
Why wouldn't Obama have lasted his first term? What has so horrible or criminal that he did? I know the right has a wish list. The right has hated Obama from day one.
Hell they have investigated Hillary for years on end for several different things and still are not happy, shouting lock her up. trump is investigated, with legitimate concerns I will add, and the right goes insane.
No matter how people try to frame it, Obama never acted like a complete buffoon, unlike our current occupant.
The blabber mouth bitch and her hate speech will be solely responsible for any harm that may befall her. She's fucking up the left wing brand and message so much that some deranged progressive might be tempted to shut her up.
Really could you care to cite all the "hate speech" she did? Because the last tine i checked AIPAC does not represent all Jews, thr Israeli government does not represent all Jews....so please show me that hate speech you claim she does
Well, I guess if they do, it'll just be a matter of "some people doing something." No reason get worked up over it, right?
It not like she and her ilk were constantly painting their opposition as nazis right?
Yeah, that's an excellent point. If you call people nazis over and over and then someone goes and shoots up a softball game full of alleged nazis, er, Republicans . . . no connection, right?
The shoe obviously fits judging by your buddies' comments above.
Of course, she never has done that but she might well have done so and been right on the mark.
Liberals never referred to Republicans as nazis? Or white supremacists? Was your comment ignorant, disingenuous, or just a lie?
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Tell me, will the moronic Democrats take any responsibility if one of their insane clown car posse take out Trump; or one of his family?
Or maybe the Dems and their talking heads would like to be held responsible when their rhetoric spurs their ilk to take action against those caught, but never prosecuted in the Mueller investigation?
But that poor, poor, racist, anti Semite, Democrat. She doesn't deserve this.
All the left can scream 24/7 is Trummmmmppppppppp!!!!!!!
All sides need to tone down the rhetoric; and that includes Omar- that the left has made perpetual excuses for running her mouth and leaving her brain behind.
By the way- nice doctored picture Trump in a Nazi hat. I am sure that won't stoke anything. Son in Law is Jewish, oldest daughter is Jewish, recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and moved the US embassy there (not that I agree with it), next step might be restarting the Reagan plan that would have the US recognize Israel's right to far more land in the occupied territories. Damn, the man is an unmitigated NAZI!
But again, unless we forget, the root of all evil is Trummmmmpppppppp!!!!!!!
Probably because it is not Secret Service policy to disclose that kind of info.
Exactly. Publicizing such threats further would only encourage copy cat acts from the embittered and angry elements of the secular left.
Yep.
now that, is one hell of a stretch... LOL
the left has spread lies about trump giving leftwingnuts cause to try to harm our president.
so, if we can hold the dnc accountable for every attempted assassination of trump? maybe we can talk about this omar thing in another light.
in other words:
trump is no more responsible for the actions of morons any more than the dnc is.
cheers
Let's be honest, Trump is a low life.
so is omar.
other than you hate all things trump, whats your point?
Does the president have any responsibilities other than placating his followers and entertaining everyone?
while your being distracted by all your hate, he is getting things done.
if anyone cared about all the "he said and she said bs? trump never would have been elected. voters knew what they were getting when they voted and no one who voted for trump actually expected any changes in his rhetoric or tone..
someone once said: "it is the economy, stupid." im thinking that it could have been worded better (without the word "stupid) however the bigger theory is still true to this day.
all voters will care about in 2020 is the economy so the left had better find a plan to do better than trumps economy or they are toast in 2020 and beyond
(btw. free stuff for everyone is not going to sell as a better economic plan)
cheers
The voters are getting really fed up with all the "Let's Get Trump" investigations, and couldn't care less about his tax returns. The next ~18 months are going to get really interesting and entertaining.
people are fed up with the lefts bs altogether.
the last decade has been nothing but a leftist shit show.
and if they think their hair is on fire now? give it another 100 days.
18 months from now? many on the left will be in a mental institution.
If it was up to the economy, the right wouldn't have hated Obama like they do.
Well, that's certainly an interesting admission......Scumbag and Omar are just two of the same?
To use your formulaic response, then wouldn't it be nice if he did some of those things instead of his never ending Mussolini bit?
And here I thought you were asking us to be honest....
absolutely not....
That you are a Russian Bot?
no... LOL
you should not have stopped taking your meds.
cheers
Where is your sense of decency for the office and power of the presidency? Well, you realize the power vested in the office, because you celebrate this president's use of it! So how about a simple recognition of an abuse of influence when the world's preeminent officeholder refuses to treat the power and influence he yields with equal responsibility.
Surely, you can not expect us to accept as rational a president who manipulates hatred, emotions, and passions with abandon. There is not an economic boom worthy enough to allow common sense and good order and discipline to fall away from our character.
CB, we see on this thread why there is a war going on in America today.
Trump supporters believe that all he needs to do is preside over an improving economy. Or all he has to do is make his followers happy. His followers are a minority of the country and have never been anything but a minority. Now it is ok for the president of the United States to misleadingly incite hatred toward a member of Congress?
They want to know why we dont just accept that he won the election. These things are why, and a million others.
It is high time to talk brass tacks. Conservatives are issuing the provocation. They hired this 'horses ass' of a president to push the country into a conservative column whole. To the conservative mind, they have all the resources (aka, "stockpiles" of guns) to wage what they will consider a 'holy' war on their fellow citizens.
It is time for liberals to openly understand what they are being plainly shown and told. It's the provocation. Conservatives, by their actions and inaction, are speaking volumes.
We are being told to put up with the conservative way of life; or, do something about it. For their part, this man, Donald Trump, is their 'forward-leading' general-President.
Lastly, all that remains to be discovered, is where independent voters 'squat' on the scale.
Surely, you can not expect us to accept as rational a bunch of vindictive foaming at the mouth far left liberal Democrats, who manipulate hatred, emotions, and passions against Trump and his supporters with abandon.
What exactly other than elections and friendly public persuasion did you have in mind for us conservatives who now support Trump and intend to re elect him because of your objections to the contrary?
Where is there sense of decency for anything?
That is this week's winner in massive projection. Congrats, Greg.
Yeah, some sentences to not hold up to close scrutiny without dissolving into a puddle. I am glad you tried it all the same. It makes clear that you are not interested in fixing what ails this country—you are only in for yourselves. That is the divide and a whole heap of conservatives are actually encouraging Donald Trump to be even more of a horse's ass.
Greg Jones you simple mockery above has spoken.
Yeah see if you conservatives can keep up with him the next so many months, you 'guy' is gearing up to go all 'punch-drunk' on this nation. Question is: How will you like him then?
Trump did the right thing in calling out Omar regarding 9-11. His tweet and the NY Post cover were both spot on. We strongly stand by them.
I didn’t like him when he ran. I supported all the other GOP primary candidates other than him except Kasich. I voted for Carson in the primary and a write in in the general election. I was greatly relieved that Hillary didn’t win as I was even more Never Hillary than never Trump. It cost nothing to do a write in as Hillary was going to win Californication no matter how I voted. I moved from opposition to support based on nominees, what he said in transition, judicial picks, tax cuts, and the way the left reacted to his election. Overall, Trump has been a pleasant surprise and greatly exceeded my expectations. That my vote for him in 2020 will be to show my contempt for the bicoastal secular progressive ivory tower urban limousine liberals as well as support for him is pure gravy.
Tarring all conservatives with the same wide brush to suit a narrative as other liberals posting have. Sorry CB, but after reading some of your non political posts elsewhere, I expected better of you. Not all conservatives are Trump supporters. Sad...
I am sorry if the brush got you if you do not deserve this. My sincere apologies. I write sometime at a fast 'clip' and lately I have just been 'sending them up'! Know this, I try to remember to use a qualifier when writing too. All of no group that I know of is the same.
Still, I am only human.
President Trump is an offense to nearly everything I stand for, and giving him 'props' for being a self-made "institution" in this country, does not give him the right to alter the course of a great nation by insisting we all do something crooked like walk in lock-step with him.
I know what the gun lobby is for in this country. I can guess why conservatives don't want those laws to be touched. I won't say it again. But, it is clear as noses setting up high on the faces of men - someone is setting a dangerous agenda—for us all.
Well, I don't shy away from letting my friends and acquaintances know what I am about. My 'best' friend is truth as I understand it. How about you, Ed-NavDoc?
Agreed and understood. My sincere thanks for your polite response Sir.
The people of the country was warned that New York's Donald Trump is a 'punching fool.' And the outrages continue from the White House on a daily basis. Here is an obsessive man who has never come across something that looks like a great place to plant a 'flag' and not stopping long enough to dig a hole, drop a pole and flag, and pouring concrete around it all.
We were warned that this specific man, Donald Trump, did not have the temperament to be a world leader, but the electoral college elected him to be so anyway.
Do we miss sanity yet? If so, where is YOUR outrage at Trump's outrages from the seat of world power?!
about ten miles behind obamas admin abusing the power of govt to attack trump for the last 3yrs.
so... we got a lot of catching up to do.
cheers
Nonsense. Conservatives can't chase former President Obama anymore, because he no longer gives a damn that you are behind him. Turn around and talk to your 'boy' currently holding the office. Afterall, he is the one who is making a mockery out of your values—depending on your values—which speaks volumes when you support a compulsive liar who comes across more like a television drama creation that is "on" in prime time nightly. Think, Dallas' J. R. Ewing or Boss Hogg - Dukes of Hazzard.
Conservatives you have control of the spotlight and if you are going to let Donald Trump be Donald Trump, then get 'creamed' right along with him when the pendulum swings back in the other direction. A saturation point is coming.
so did obamas admin when they spied on trump and started those bs investigations.
the left held the spotlight while obamas left-overs tried to remove a duly elected president as well as holding the spotlight while perpetuating those lies in the media for the last 2 yrs straight.
yepp, we have full control now and the lefts pain is incoming.
thanks to that failed coup attempt by obamas admin and left-overs? trump has become stronger than ever.
it sucks losing control of the narrative huh?
Nonsense. Don't let a wish for pain backfire and stab conservatism in its heart. Fatal error. These things never quite go as planned do they? Damn that abstract pendulum which seems to curse both political parties and neither can literally takeover the country.
Trump is ultimately going to be a conservative boondoggle. See if conservatism can keep a bridle on him long enough to survive this term of office. This is your 'pit-bull' president - check him; contain him; or, just how long to you think he will be allowed to destroy other people's property and run amuck before the larger community's survival mode kicks in?
Keep comforting yourself with such kind thoughts toward others.
He's doing just fine in spite of all the childish spite aimed at him.
He's winning just about every battle that he's been in, though it's taking some time on some items.
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besides free stuff? they have nothing.
they give free candy to children in exchange for votes and that's the end of their plan.
in obamas first year I told everyone on newsvine that forcing the overton window too far left would result in a right-lash of epic proportions. resulting in the undoing of everything the left gets done under obama.
look around today, and tell me I was wrong then?
btw - that right-lash is not over yet. not by a long shot.
that pendulum will be moving further right for more than just a few yrs.
trump was not just another 4 yr election. that was a shift in the paradigm .
Have some integrity in your speech. If you complain when liberals vainly attempt to defend the indefensible, then be a study of your own politics. President Trump is not winning every 'battle' he is in and this is plainly evidenced by the fact he is shedding "good people" who clearly want-ed (past tense) to be in his presence, but they can handle his temperament.
As to me and "my kind" I won't bother to dignify the question further.
Well "America" will just have to see about that, eh? (Like the Overton Window point-out.)
So the Right has 'found' its voice for the times? Well, you do know what they say about "evolving" - it is growth and development season for the Left too.
Watch your 'champion.' He is a wild-card. And, if he can't win back the conservatives who detest him, and loses the electoral college potential votes. . . . Pendulum at 'top' of arch time.
there is no comeback on the schedule for the left for many years to come.
the pendulum has only just begun to swing right.
as time goes on the future will look worse for the left with each passing day.
hint: the vast majority of this country does not side with traitors.
Are you are a regarded prophet or soothsayer nowadays? And who the heaven are you loosely calling "traitors"?
The only people who could convince themselves that Obama was too far to the left are the ones so far to the right that everything looks like communism.
You know, CB, that these people fancy themselves as the "only true patriots" solely on the basis of telling themselves that over and over.
Sadly, I have to agree. You should hear them on AM radio. They speak of themselves as tied to the land and all that is good in it. It's infuriating. It's propaganda. It's twenty four seven. Some conservatives, make a good living telling other conservatives not to permit other citizens to have freedoms and liberties. The hard part is these conservatives listen to their radios anchors and AGREE!
Oh, hell. I'd never subject myself to them that much. It's as much as my gorge can handle to deal with them here.
You need to talk to those farmer's who got a $12B bag of candy because of Scumbag's idiotic tariffs.
I "heart" listening to all-sides, even when it frustrating, bizarre, and heart-wrenching. You should listen to right-wing radio commentators (the "heavyweights") tear republican/conservative politicians a new one! Conservative "jaw-jacking" of one of their own may last 'for days' because these shows are twenty-four-seven passion-plays.
In a way, I can see why republicans in office toll the line—conservatives keep their politicians "eyes forward" - 24/7!
If these millionaire AM 'shock-jocks' ever turn on Trump, it will be like 'dynamite' going off in the castle! Mark Levin 'rode' Senator McCain like a well-worned saddle on his show for years! To be clear, I do not listen to them all the time, because they are not my brand of politics. But when I do it is either, anger or laughter as they can and do 'eat their own.'
Wow so many comments that are lies
Comment is a Total lie
I endorse all of your post and identify myself with all of it.
Just whip out the Reagan and Thatcher quotes on socialists and socialism and their uselessness on behalf of the public and the poor.
Our shows are now on FM radio as well. Both of our 24 hour NewsTalk stations locally are now on FM as well.
Bravo 👏 to Trump for what he said/did.
It could freak me out that all this bad 'revisionist' rule of law and presidential-level manipulative lying is agreeable to you. How are you grounded in Trumpworld? Because Trump himself is rooted in mid-air!
LOL. He brags that his followers hang on his every word. He is the president of the United States and he can never act like he understands that there is a level of behavior that is required.
If anything does happen to her, he will be blamed. If he wants to be re-elected he better pray nothing happens to her.
Of course he will. By crazy ass liberals who blame him for everything.
It's fun to watch the same people who openly fantasized about harming a random teenager foam at the mouth about a MEMBER OF CONGRESS being criticized for saying something profoundly stupid and indefensible.
And the same people who would never, ever believe they, or their leaders were "legally responsible" if one of the many threats against Kavanaugh or Susan Collins had come to fruition.
As usual, you miss the point. The president is using his bully pulpit of twitter to incite hatred of Omar, and doing so misleadingly. Half of the nitwits who follow him on twitter will assume that she condoned the 9/11 attack.
Oh for pete's sake John - give it a rest.
well over half the nitwits who follow cnn think trump is a russsian spy... lol
is the left, cnn, the dnc, or obamas leftovers going to be responsible for every attack on our president?
president is using his bully pulpit of twitter to incite hatred of Omar,
TO "incite hatred." Nice weasel words. Apparently, to criticize the contents of a speech is to "incite hatred" (whatever that means).
So in your world, President Obama and other democratic leaders who used twitter to attack statements by Republican members of Congress were "inciting hatred" of them. Apparently all of those Democratic leaders who criticized Republicans on twitter are all legally responsible for the gunmen who tried to kill Republican members of Congress.
Sorry Johnny, but I loath this domestic terrorist for scumbag she is, and the hate she spreads like manure.
Trump didn't need to say a word,
that she condoned the 9/11 attack.
Last time I looked, she didn't condemn it!
That will be the day I don’t see coming anytime soon.
Oh, ferf**ksakes. Look who's talking.
Yeah, never mind our own little marching (and killing) Nazis your Scumbag thinks "some" are "very fine people." Let's not even talk about the growing number of Scumbag inspired terrorists being uncovered almost weekly with either plans or actually mass murders in the name of Scumbag. Your definition of "domestic terrorist" is woefully and shamefully limited.
We do not stand for any man who lies to us, this nations citizens, and says any combination of words which he chooses to string together to us. Conservatives you can have Donald Trump's tired, old rotten ass. He is the 'ugliest' president of all the presidents in my lifetime. I am not talking about his appearance, but about his conduct. We refuse to sit in the 'backseat' and be quiet. Heaven's no! We intend to push your president out of this car, because he is a self-important hot-head who is firing anybody who disagrees with him. One could say the 'fool' thinks this country is his business (alone) now. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Trump may be the boss of you, but he is not the boss of us!
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I love to see comments like that from the sort who are still dreaming of Hillary going to jail. If that isn't a derangement syndrome extraordinaire then nothing is.
In essence, and in summary, that's exactly what she did.
No, just like Bernie Sanders isn't responsible for James Hodgkinson's attempt to assassinate Republicans on a baseball field in 2017.
Wow, is that ever upside down and backwards (as usual). Unlike Bernie, Scumbag actually does try to incite hate and violence toward those who oppose him. There are dozens of examples of him doing just that at his <del>kleagles</del>, er, <del>reichsparteitage</del>, er "rallies" -- often aimed at the press who committed the sin of quoting him directly and pointing out and verifying all of his thousands of lies.
What the hell are you trying to say what a confused comment try again
My comment 8 is only one sentence, and it contains 20 simple words. What part of the sentence flummoxes you?
I would never wish that harm should come to her, but I won't grieve if it does.
Then you ought not to keep spreading the despicable lie that she ever "condoned" the 9/11 attack.
By not condemning it, she condoned it.
Simple as that.
Bullsh*t.
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Omar did help Netanyahu win re election in Israel.
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delete for context, by charger383
Why should Ilhan Omar suddenly become concerned over some people doing something?
Her choice of words shows that she's clearly not concerned about what happened on 9/11/2001 and who was responsible.
Over the years, I've learned that there are even US citizens who were born here who hold very anti-American beliefs. Ilhan Omar is a refugee who became a naturalized citizen but shows that she resents the values of the country that rescued her.
Why Does the Far Right Hold a Near-Monopoly on Political Violence?
Studies show that most people across the political spectrum abhor it. So what might explain the disparity?
Many Republican candidates have included themselves using firearms in their campaign ads. From left to right, top to bottom: Kay Daly, Joni Ernst, Donald Trump, Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Eric Greitens, Rick Perry, Rand Paul, Will Brooke
I n the wake of the mass shooting in suburban Virginia last week that left House majority whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) and three others wounded, conservatives have been furiously waving the bloody shirt . With left-wing hate filling half the screen, Sean Hannity blamed Democrats , saying they “dehumanize Republicans and paint them as monsters.” Tucker Carlson claimed that “some on the hard left” support political violence because it “could lead to the dissolution of a country they despise.” Others have blamed seemingly anything even vaguely identified with liberalism for inciting the violence— from Madonna to MSNBC to Shakespeare in the Park .
This is all a truly remarkable example of projection. In the wake of the shooting, Erick Erickson wrote a piece titled, “ The Violence is Only Getting Started ,” as if three innocent people hadn’t been brutally murdered by white supremacists in two separate incidents in just the past month.
In the real world, since the end of the Vietnam era, the overwhelming majority of serious political violence—not counting vandalism or punches thrown at protests, but violence with lethal intent—has come from the fringes of the right. Heidi Beirich, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project says that “if you go back to the 1960s, you see all kinds of left-wing terrorism, but since then it’s been exceedingly rare.” She notes that eco- and animal-rights extremists caused extensive property damage in the 1990s, but didn’t target people.
Meanwhile, says Beirich, “right-wing domestic terrorism has been common throughout that period, going back to groups like to The Order, which assassinated [liberal talk-radio host] Alan Berg [in 1984] right through to today.” Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, told NPR that “when you look at murders committed by domestic extremists in the United States of all types, right-wing extremists are responsible for about 74 percent of those murders.” The actual share is higher still, as violence committed by ultraconservative Islamic supremacists isn’t included in tallies of “right-wing extremism.”
A 2015 survey of law-enforcement agencies conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum and the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security found that the police rate antigovernment extremists as a greater threat than reactionary Islamists. The authors wrote that “right-wing violence appears consistently greater than violence by Muslim extremists in the United States since 9/11, according to multiple definitions in multiple datasets.” According to the Department of Homeland Security, “Sovereign Citizens”—fringe antigovernmentalists—launched 24 violent attacks from 2010 through 2014, mostly against law enforcement personnel. When Robert Dear shot and killed three people at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic in 2015, it became the latest in a series of bloody attacks on abortion providers dating back to Roe v. Wade in 1973. In the 30 years that followed that landmark decision, providers and clinics were targeted in more than 300 acts of violence , including arson, bombings, and assassinations, according to a study by the Rand Corporation.
But while the extreme right has held a near-monopoly on political violence since the 1980s, conservatives and Republicans are no more likely to say that using force to achieve one’s political goals is justified than are liberals and Democrats. That’s the conclusion of a study conducted by Nathan Kalmoe, a professor of political communication at the University of Louisiana. In 2010, he asked respondents whether they agreed that various violent tactics were acceptable. Kalmoe found that less than 3 percent of the population strongly agreed that “sometimes the only way to stop bad government is with physical force,” or that “some of the problems citizens have with government could be fixed with a few well-aimed bullets.” He says that while “there were tiny [partisan] variations on these specific items,” they weren’t “statistically significant on average.”
Ideology alone isn’t a significant risk factor for violence. “There’s a much stronger factor of individual personality traits that predispose people to be more aggressive in their everyday lives,” Kalmoe says, “and we see that playing out with people who engage in political violence.” Mass shooters are often found to have had histories of domestic violence, and that was true for James Hodgkinson , the shooter who attacked the congressional baseball practice in Virginia. Kalmoe says, “we often see that violent individuals have a history of violence in their personal lives. People who are abusive, or who have run afoul of the law in other ways, are more likely to endorse violence.”
Political animosity is similarly bipartisan. According to Pew , roughly the same number of Republicans and Democrats—around half—say they feel anger and fear toward the opposing party.
Which raises an important question: If red and blue America fear and loathe one another equally, and a similar number believe that political violence is acceptable, then why is there so much more of it on the fringes of the right?
Part of the answer lies in a clear difference between right and left: For the past 40 years, Republicans, parroting the gun-rights movement, have actively promoted the idea that firearms are a vital bulwark against government tyranny.
Call it the Minutemen theory of gun rights. While the Second Amendment was framed to protect government-organized militias at a time when we had a very small standing army, the right has promoted the idea that it’s “America’s first freedom,” integral to defending our other rights, since the 1960s.
It’s become ubiquitous, from the militia movement that arose in the 1980s and has seen a resurgence in recent years, to the armed standoffs at the Bundy Ranch and the Malheur National Wildlife refuge. It animated Timothy McVeigh to blow up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, as well as the 2013 Los Angeles airport shooting spree , a 2014 mass shooting in Las Vegas that left two cops and one civilian dead and a number of less dramatic acts of violence.
The belief that democratic government rests on the Second Amendment has become widespread among Americans; one poll found that about two-thirds believe that “their constitutional right to own a gun was intended to ensure their freedom.” But Robert Spitzer, a political scientist at SUNY Cortland and the author of several books on the politics of guns, says that’s a modern idea. While “there’s a long tradition of some in America feeling deeply mistrustful of our government—and there have been incidents throughout our history where people took up arms against the government—the more specific idea that there’s a right to rebel, or that somehow you can keep the government under control by taking up weapons, found its first serious expression in a law review article published in 1960. And the idea really took hold among a subset of Americans and a subset of gun owners, who argue to this day that this was part of the purpose of the Second Amendment. They talk about the Minutemen and the Revolutionary War and the Declaration of Independence. The idea really took hold in the 1970s and 1980s when the NRA itself began to use this same kind of rhetoric.”
It’s also infused right-wing politics beyond the gun lobby. Watering the “tree of liberty” with the “blood of patriots and tyrants” is a common theme in Tea Party circles, where the Gadsden flag— don’t tread on me! —and loose talk of revolution blend seamlessly with mainstream anti-tax ideology and disdain for liberals. While a handful of Democrats competing in red states have run ads featuring them firing weapons, it’s become almost universal in Republican campaigns, where it not only marks a candidate’s opposition to gun-safety legislation but also signals that he or she is ready to wage war against the Washington establishment.
War as a metaphor for politics isn’t limited to the right, but it has become a constant in conservative discourse. “The first shots of the second American civil war have already been fired,” said Alex Jones earlier this month. “We are in a clear-cut cultural civil war,” according to Newt Gingrich . Pat Buchanan offered that we’re “approaching something of a civil war,” and said that it’s time for Trump to “burn down the Bastille.” “You ain’t got any idea of the war that’s raging outside the four walls of the church,” religious-right activist Dave Daubenmire told a crowd of antigay protesters last weekend. “Don’t you understand what’s going on? Don’t you know it’s a war? Don’t you know they want your children? Don’t you understand that those same people singing ‘Jesus loves you this I know’ want to kill us?” Then there’s the quasi-apocalyptic prepper mentality, which holds that we’re on the brink of social collapse so you’d better buy gold and stock up on ammo for when the shit inevitably hits the fan.
Nathan Kalmoe says that there’s “an important distinction to make between people who have more conventional views, versus people who have much more extreme views.” He thinks that, whether on the left or the right, those who are at least somewhat close to the mainstream “probably have a greater commitment to nonviolent approaches to politics and are socialized into nonviolent norms of how participation is supposed to work.” But on the right those lines have become blurred in recent years—Glenn Beck’s goldbuggery, the ravings of the “alt-right” and the Minutemen theory of gun rights have all become features of the larger conservative landscape, even if they’re not quite mainstream.
Kalmoe says that rhetoric alone “isn’t the main cause of political violence, but violent language and vilifying opponents can nudge people in ways that make them think and act more aggressively in politics.” He conducted an experiment that first measured subjects’ aggressive personality traits. Then he exposed them to two imaginary political ads, one that employed mildly violent political rhetoric and one that used neutral language, and he found that those subjects who had already displayed a penchant for aggressive behavior were far more likely to support political violence after being exposed to the violent rhetoric. So it’s not that violent rhetoric causes real-world violence so much as it can “make people who behave aggressively in real-life more likely to endorse violence against political leaders.”
Liberals believe that mature institutions and the separation of powers are what keep tyranny at bay, not an AR-15. If James Hodgkinson looked around himself and saw a president who acts as if he’s above the law and a Congress that’s working in the dark to strip away health insurance from millions of people to finance tax cuts for the wealthy but is unwilling to perform its oversight duties, and decided that he would stand up to tyranny with an assault rifle, he would have taken a theme that’s exceedingly common on the right to its bloody logical conclusion.
OMG, Nerm. Do you have absolutely no idea about what her topic was?
Seems rather odd that someone identifying as atheist is trying to defend the fundamentally religious remarks made by Ilhan Omar. Omar's overall theme is that Muslims are victims of ingrained prejudice against Islam. The historical basis for Omar's argument borrows from the Holocaust.
Omar appears to be deliberately ignorant of the history of Islam in the United States. The Nation of Islam was established in the United States in the 1930's. The Nation of Islam rose to public awareness during the 1960's as an overtly militant civil rights organization. The Nation of Islam has been strongly conservative, anti-Semitic, and promotes black supremacy. SPLC has designated the Nation of Islam a hate group.
Ilhan Omar attempts to portray Muslims as victims of American culture and traditions. However, Omar fails to make the connection that Muslims in America are the victims of Islamic terrorists and Muslim hate groups. Omar is attempting to attract sympathy without taking any responsibility.
Hi Nerm, I am not sure you are aware that the "Nation of Islam" is not the 'body' of Islam pervasive in the world. Being that Ms. Omar came to the United States at eleven years old she comes out of the 'body' of Islam (worldwide) and not the "nationalist" version of the Nation of Islam (which promoted in the 60's identity for black people who were searching for 'roots.'). Albeit, the Nation of Islam has made 'leaps' into becoming more social than militant. Farrakhan and some other 'branches' being the exception.
You may be aware of these nuances in the two organizations. . . .
Okay, so I finally got some time free to do my 'homework' of listening to the full speech to CAIR by Rep. Ilhan Omar. You can listen to it at normal speed or speed it up on the settings wheel (I did @1.25). That is, if you have time to and you care to get smarter about what the heaven you are writing here. My observations afterwards:
If you listen to this video (at normal speed or sped up) note that the remark on "9-11" is given out of proportion time in the media, on blogs, and beyond than she gave them at CAIR. It was an unremarkable set of words in the sense that she clearly meant to show disdain for the Muslims who crashed planes into those towers. Thus, she refers to those specific Muslims as "somebody" in alienation of them rather than praise or respect.
I am not familiar with that word-- what do you mean by "fierceless"?
(It seems to me that the suffix "-less" means "without" For example, "fearless" means "without fear". "Homeless" means "without a home".
Are we then to assume that you are using the word "fierceless" to mean mean without being fierce? Are you trying to say that "she may even not be fierce?
(The problem with using made up words-- or "special" words the meaning of which is known only to a small "ongroup" is that it makes for confusion in discussions.)
Or am I wrong-- and its merely a typo???
OMG! I just noticed that. I type (these days and move on). It is a typo. I meant to state, "fear-less." (Tee-hee.)
Great catch!
Hi, CB - I need to disagree with you on this. Omar stated that CAIR was founded after 9/11/2001. The truth is that CAIR was founded in Washington, DC in June 1994 ... seven years before the attack.
Okay, another good catch - if so. I really didn't mean in every specific detail, just that she is appears to be steeped in the topic of Islam 'causes' and politics in America. This is me flying over her words figuratively at '30,000 feet.'
I do not 'know' this woman or her POV. I am just making some observations and offering them for consideration from this video.
If so? What I stated in comment 15.2 is true. Please read CAIR's "History" and "Early Years"sections and the valid footnotes/citations:
Ilhan Omar has made her anti-American and anti-Semitic POVs very clear many times. Nothing anyone says can excuse her despicable comments about the USA and Israel.
One comment that she never makes is that radical Islamic terrorists have been responsible for killing thousands of people on 9/11/2001 as well as in other locations in the world.
As a naturalized US citizen who was saved as a Somali refugee, she should show more respect and embrace American values.
As far as Ilhan Omar being killed, Nancy Pelosi has set up high tech protection for this very outspoken freshman representative and her family.
Okay, my friend Jasper. I simply have not had the time to look into CAIR's beginning. I am busy these days. However, when I glance it, I won't mind fully supporting your statement!
However, I do want to warn you and others, that though I am a fervent Christian and a true believer, I do not support anybody on either side of an issue taking remarks out of context to promote self interest! Moreover, I think that Rep. Omar should be able to be an activist for Muslim causes. You, rather I, hear a lot of references to her formative years in her twenty plus minute video I shared. So, she is speaking on background and upbringing. Plus, she carries the hopes and dreams of a great many Muslims (in her district?) into the House with her. I say bravo!
If I had to caution her about one thing, it would be something I heard a senior democrat say on Sunday cable shows: 'Ask a senior and fellow democrat for help her, including Speaker Pelosi, those with a great deal of experience, if she has no experience with 'attacks' and opposition politics.' It will say a great many of these political hiccups which get spun out of control and going viral.
Now then Jasper, did you watch the video of her full speech I posted above? If so, tell me frankly, if that one sentence is not being blown out proportion when it had nothing in context in front of it or in arrears to criticize or praise anyone.
Peace, friend.
P.S. She does not have to speak to Islamic terrorism (though I keep stating I am not acquainted with her 'bio' or 'on background'), any more than I speak to the horrors of negligible (hard-headed) Christians in society and history.
Who the heaven are you and since I don't know you, let me ask you have you done your 'homework' on me? And, how do you get "backtrack as much" from one or two 'rushed' comments?
Huh, Dennis?
Jasper! I looked in to CAIR's founding (1994) and it LA Chapter (1996), so far I can agree with you that Ms. Omar is off on her founding date and its relationship to 9-11. However, I wish to take this one step farther. I will call CAIR-LA on Wednesday to ask them if they understand what Ms. Omar meant by what apparently is a clear and well-articulated factual error in her remarks. And, one that, unless it can be explained, leads right into her brief remarks about 9-ll.
Okay, got a call in to CAIR-LA Thursday and the phone 'rep' did not understand what Rep. Omar meant differently, by the comment on the founding of CAIR/LA.. I will next try Rep. Omar's Minnesota or D.C offices. Back at some point with what I find out. Cub reporter " phone-banking" for NT!
The sheer chutzpah it takes for someone who's cherry-picked a particular vague comment, taken it completely out of context and turned it into a mountain of BS and then lecture CB who has carefully documented what actually happened is gob smackingly shameless. But I guess you're just desperate enough to have to do that, right, DENNIS?
'Ace' reporter out all day Good Friday. Back on the 'beat' this Monday! Phone call in the Washington, DC que for Representative Ilhan Omar staff personnel. Report imminently due. (I'm having a ball with this. Hell, I might even take a 'rode trip' on this one!)
Yeah, I get 'the business' A LOT. Since Dennis don't know who I be, . . . time to play my music :
"The Get Down."
Islam instructs that all Jews and non believers should be killed if they don't convert.
Why should we believe that she doesn't agree with that?
Where is your evidential count of dead Jews and "infidels" by Ms. Omar' hand, authorization, or conspiracy? Greg, I'll wait. . . .
She did run in a campaign for Congress against a republican, I presume. Comb through oppo.
Is that in The Koran or your BS Koran? For many centuries, Jews and Muslims lived in harmony in those areas of the world under Islamic control. In fact, some of Judaism's most famous intellectuals lived and thrived with complete religious freedom were under the 700 years Moorish rule which included Spain. When Christians reconquered Spain most Jews who could chose to flee with the retreating Moors rather than be subjected to the force conversions under pain of death by the "good" Catholic invaders. Of course, the Crusaders were famous for their exterminations of Jews in towns they conquered on their way to Jerusalem as well as in the home countries.
I'd think by now, Greg, Christians trying to smear Muslims for atrocities that pale in comparison would have discouraged you from bringing this subject up again and again. Christians should be the last people on earth throwing out accusations of this kind...but it seems they just can't seem to help themselves.
Just to make it clear what I meant by your BS Koran (i.e., lie) here's chapter 2, verse 256 of the Koran:
What DOESN'T the left blame Trump for?
Obama gets a boil on his ass - Trumps fault
Meuller's investigation comes up empty - Trumps fault
Fairy tail comments
You mean like "Trumps unfit"? Or "Trump won't last 6 months"? How about "Trump colluded with Russia"? Those kind of fairy tale comments?
Now, fully proven.
Imaginary quote.
We'll see
Those kind[sic] of rightwing inventions, yeah.
Trumps unfit - proven only in the demential called the liberal mind
Trump won't last 6 months - actually said by many on the left after Trump handed them their ass.
Meuller, after 2 years, didn't find anything substantial about Trump colluding with Russia.
What a difference the past few days have made, eh, Jer? Still sticking to it, I bet. Never let reality break disturb your imaginary world, right, Jer?
Sadly, that's what I've heard on quite a few sources. But then again, you already know that.
Oh. For. Fuck's. Sake.
Like you wouldn't be making this same case, screaming, if a Dem every did something like this with one of yours. C'mon, Jack. We know you.
You must have been crying in your soup when Steve Scalise was "Actually' shot !
Is there some universe where you think Scalise's shooting, as bad as it was, comes anywhere close to the multiple mass murders done or planned by the several Scumbag-supporting rightwing nutcases? I realize that it's all you've got but, jeez, it's getting tired.
You and It's need to have a talk, then.
I'd say Omar's ….. "Some People"....did the worst !
If you know me so well you shouldn't have any problem citing me doing these things you pretend are so inevitable.
Or....alternatively...you'll realize you don't actually listen well enough to know anybody.
If Ilhan Omar Is Killed , Will President* Trump Be Held Responsible?
Actually, thinking about that question bring up a related question-- one based on exactly the same style of "Logical" reasoning:
If Trump Is Killed , Will Representative* Ilan Omar Be Held Responsible?