What the Ilhan Omar Controversy Is Really About

[ck4829]

This past week, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy threatened to punish freshman representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib for their criticisms of Israel. In response, Omar tweeted that McCarthy's motivation was "all about the benjamins." When she was asked who exactly she thought was buying Congressional support for Israel, she simply replied, "AIPAC."

From there, people began accusing the Minnesota representative of anti-Semitism. Critics, Chelsea Clinton among them, pointed out that there are long-standing stereotypes about wealthy Jews secretly financing and controlling world affairs. By Monday, Nancy Pelosi had joined in calling the tweets anti-Semitic, and Omar issued an apology, adding that she was grateful for colleagues educating her on anti-Semitism.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump, who has never apologized for anything and whose anti-refugee rhetoric was mimicked by last year's Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, called the apology inadequate. Louisiana representative Steve Scalise demanded that, despite the apology, Omar lose her seat on the Foreign Affairs committee. Scalise, it should be noted, has reportedly called himself "David Duke without the baggage" and admitted to giving a speech to a group of white nationalists. He still sits on the Energy and Commerce committee.

Similarly, Kevin McCarthy has regularly railed against George Soros, a now-standard anti-Semitic dog whistle that, along with racist mailers, was common Republican campaign material in last year's election. After the Pittsburgh shooting McCarthy deleted his Soros-related tweets, and still enjoys his position as the House minority leader. The question, then, is: Why is Omar being held to a much different standard?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gq.com/story/ilhan-omar-aipac-controversy/amp

Yeah, why is Omar being held to a much different standard?

[still_one]

1. Absolutely right. Why the double standard?

Trump is calling for Representative Cortez to resign, even though she apologized. No calls for Steve King to resign, and no apology

[wellst0nev0ter]

2. She's an uppity muslim

she needed to be put in her place

Anyone who objects to this characterization, prove me wrong, just like she constantly needs to prove she's not an antisemite.

[old guy]

3. Totally correct.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. You pretty much told the story.

Thought the Twin Cities papers would be on fire today about this,funny not so much. DFL backing and support comes from the Jewish Community in so many ways.

Noticed it seems to be the Tea Billy Characters who seem to be leading the hate Ohmar themes.

BTW,many here on this board question AIRPAC for their actions .

[ck4829]

8. +1. That is definitely a major factor

[MH1]

5. I agree about the double standard.

Still, when I first saw this reported - seeing her tweets in context - I thought it was not the best way she could have responded. For my part, I follow some people on twitter but don't tweet publicly. Too easy to come off unprofessional or crass. Just because Trump does it, doesn't mean other people can get away with it, or that we should even try. If she is going to tweet she should be careful about how things can be perceived.

My 2 cents. YMMV, widely.

[procon]

6. Republicans hit her with the 3 strikes law:

She's a woman.
She's a person of color.
She's a Muslim.

[melman]

7. Also

there are some here who are very cynically and obviously using this as an excuse to bash someone they'd already be inclined to bash.

Unless we're to believe it's just a coincidence these are the same people who are always bashing AOC and going on about "OMG Justice Dems!" etc.

[Celerity]

12. +1

[Sapient Donkey]

9. I like to think it's because we are better than republicans.

We have higher standards for ourselves and others. I hope we never use the actions and behaviors of the typical conservative republican as a benchmark for our own behavior, or to justify actions/words/attitudes that in general go against our principals. I think this entire situation is a good example of why we're better. She said something that didn't sound too good. It was pointed out to her by others the same "side", and she acknowledged her errors in the language she used to express her opinions. Seem like a healthy way to handle things. Imagine if the republicans also were able to do the same thing. Things would be a lot nicer. Sadly I don't think they will ever be willing to do that themselves.

*By "we", I include liberals/progressives/democrats/left of center/center left and perhaps even the few non-insane folks on the right.

[rogue emissary]

10. That's what we want to do, is live down to Trump's standard.

[ck4829]

11. Higher standards will get you the same thing the higher number of votes did in the 2016 "election"

But at the same time, are we really even going down to Trump's standard?

We could create a separate forum here for all the antisemitic tropes on George Soros, as well as for the "globalists" and "Cultural Marxists" and it would be pretty busy.

Ilhan Omar said something horrible and she apologized, we're going to have to do a lot of digging before we even lower ourselves down to Trump's standard.