When is Nancy Pelosi going to rid the House Foreign Relations Committee of Ilhan Omar?

Making herself Louis Farrakhan’s “sweetheart” as he put it, Rep. Ilhan Omar isn’t going anywhere with the apologies on her third incident of anti-semitism. Farrakhan, you recall, didn’t want Omar, whom he called “sweetheart” to apologize for those, and sure enough, she’s not apologizing.

What I see instead in the miasma of tweets on Twitter, is a bid to deflect attention, with she and her supporters attempting to present the “narrative” of Omar as the “real victim,” calling attention to a few bad actors, some anonymous, who’ve made threats against her and drawn a negative reaction and lawmen looking for them. Omar’s anti-Semitism, however, is being permitted to stand. Here’s her completely inadequate response to criticism from a reported mentor of the new class of far-leftists in Congress, Rep. Nita Lowey of New York:

Omar responded to the criticism in a series of tweets Sunday. 

There’s no doubt about it, she wants that latest round of anti-Semitic remarks to stand.

And that raises questions about the Democratic leadership, whose House leader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has said nothing, and done nothing to get this repeat-shill for Jew-hate off the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Why is this woman still on it? She’s made three violations now, and has stopped with the half-hearted apologies. She’s not backing down, and Jewish groups are noticing. The GOP’s Rep. Steve King, who made clumsy statements about white supremacy he says he never meant, got thrown off his committee assignments for a lot less. 

Jewish Press is reporting that 11 Israel-friendly groups have written this letter to the Speaker (and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel):

“Speaker Pelosi, you demonstrated wisdom and leadership in rebuking Rep. Omar on February 11 following her use of anti-Semitic stereotypes, and Chairman Engel, your reaction to the classic anti-Semitic trope of the charge of “dual loyalty” about American Jews, that Rep. Omar uttered this weekend at a Washington establishment, was highly appropriate, and we applaud you both for that.

“We hope you will continue to demonstrate your commitment to the high moral standards of your office by removing Rep. Omar, a woman who has repeatedly exhibited strong biases against the State of Israel and the Jewish people, from this critically important and sensitive committee.

They point out that Omar not only has continued with her Jew-hating trope over the course of her mere two months in congressional office, she’s also made herself a figurehead for a Muslim Brotherhood front group, Islamic Relief USA, which both Israel and the United Arab Emirates have designated an actual terrorist group. The Muslim Brotherhood, recall, was the vicious group that spawned al-Qaida and took much of its early leadership from it. She wants to be associated with that?

This says something.

Yet Pelosi has said nothing, and keeps allowing Omar to remain on the House Foreign Affairs seat, while Engel’s demand for an apology from her is going unanswered. 

How did she get that committee seat at all? Apparently the same way Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got her committee seats – by threatening to withold support from Pelosi as speaker of the House. Both socialists mysteriously changed their minds and came to support Pelosi once they had the seats in hand. One hand washes the other. But in Omar’s case, there’s a real problem for Pelosi, because Omar’s singularly unfit to be in it, given that her repeated expressions of anti-Semitism are indistinguishable from those of a streetcorner ‘Jews rule the world’ conspiracy theorist, or for that matter, Farrakhan himself.

Pelosi’s response That of a wimp. One can only hope this baggage travels with her as she seeks to win another stretch as Speaker of the House in 2020.

Image credit: Quinn Dombrowski, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0

Making herself Louis Farrakhan’s “sweetheart” as he put it, Rep. Ilhan Omar isn’t going anywhere with the apologies on her third incident of anti-semitism. Farrakhan, you recall, didn’t want Omar, whom he called “sweetheart” to apologize for those, and sure enough, she’s not apologizing.

What I see instead in the miasma of tweets on Twitter, is a bid to deflect attention, with she and her supporters attempting to present the “narrative” of Omar as the “real victim,” calling attention to a few bad actors, some anonymous, who’ve made threats against her and drawn a negative reaction and lawmen looking for them. Omar’s anti-Semitism, however, is being permitted to stand. Here’s her completely inadequate response to criticism from a reported mentor of the new class of far-leftists in Congress, Rep. Nita Lowey of New York:

Omar responded to the criticism in a series of tweets Sunday. 

First, she replied to a tweet from Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., who wrote that “lawmakers must be able to debate” without “prejudice or bigotry.” 

“Our democracy is built on debate, Congresswoman! I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country in order to serve my country in Congress,” Omar tweeted. 

There’s no doubt about it, she wants that latest round of anti-Semitic remarks to stand.

And that raises questions about the Democratic leadership, whose House leader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has said nothing, and done nothing to get this repeat-shill for Jew-hate off the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Why is this woman still on it? She’s made three violations now, and has stopped with the half-hearted apologies. She’s not backing down, and Jewish groups are noticing. The GOP’s Rep. Steve King, who made clumsy statements about white supremacy he says he never meant, got thrown off his committee assignments for a lot less. 

Jewish Press is reporting that 11 Israel-friendly groups have written this letter to the Speaker (and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel):

“Speaker Pelosi, you demonstrated wisdom and leadership in rebuking Rep. Omar on February 11 following her use of anti-Semitic stereotypes, and Chairman Engel, your reaction to the classic anti-Semitic trope of the charge of “dual loyalty” about American Jews, that Rep. Omar uttered this weekend at a Washington establishment, was highly appropriate, and we applaud you both for that.

“We hope you will continue to demonstrate your commitment to the high moral standards of your office by removing Rep. Omar, a woman who has repeatedly exhibited strong biases against the State of Israel and the Jewish people, from this critically important and sensitive committee.

They point out that Omar not only has continued with her Jew-hating trope over the course of her mere two months in congressional office, she’s also made herself a figurehead for a Muslim Brotherhood front group, Islamic Relief USA, which both Israel and the United Arab Emirates have designated an actual terrorist group. The Muslim Brotherhood, recall, was the vicious group that spawned al-Qaida and took much of its early leadership from it. She wants to be associated with that?

This says something.

Yet Pelosi has said nothing, and keeps allowing Omar to remain on the House Foreign Affairs seat, while Engel’s demand for an apology from her is going unanswered. 

How did she get that committee seat at all? Apparently the same way Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got her committee seats – by threatening to withold support from Pelosi as speaker of the House. Both socialists mysteriously changed their minds and came to support Pelosi once they had the seats in hand. One hand washes the other. But in Omar’s case, there’s a real problem for Pelosi, because Omar’s singularly unfit to be in it, given that her repeated expressions of anti-Semitism are indistinguishable from those of a streetcorner ‘Jews rule the world’ conspiracy theorist, or for that matter, Farrakhan himself.

Pelosi’s response That of a wimp. One can only hope this baggage travels with her as she seeks to win another stretch as Speaker of the House in 2020.

Image credit: Quinn Dombrowski, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0