# Ilhan Omar - A thread about her marriage and immigration history. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 20, 2019, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347 "2019-07-20T12:32:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/362 "2019-09-05T12:47:26Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > So is it your belief that the reporters and editors of the Strib are peddling “idiocy”? I want to pin you down on this. You have been kind of shifty, mocking the questions but also saying it wasn’t strange for a newspaper to investigate them. Do you acknowledge that this is not in the same category as Pizzagate or Qanon? It’s not strange at all for reporters to investigate. Reporters investigated “pizzagate” as well, and pretty much every other conspiracy theory that got any traction at all (including Birtherism). AFAICT, the Star-Trib reported facts, including the facts that some people were spreading rumor and innuendo. I might have worded the articles differently, and placed more emphasis on the facts that there’s nothing out there regarding Omar’s marriage but rumor and innuendo, but I don’t have any significant issue with what I read in that paper. That’s totally different than the rumor/innuendo-mongering in this thread, and the assumptions that this rumor and innuendo must have something to it because of reasons, and the implication that Omar’s refusal to cooperate tells us anything about the plausibility of these rumors and innuendo, etc. That’s the idiocy that deserves to be mocked. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/363 "2019-09-05T12:52:55Z")
It was perfectly reasonable for the “Strib” to ask Omar about the rumors. It was also perfectly reasonable for Omar to tell them to get knotted. As a “Pulitzer Prize winning” publication, however, I bet the Star Tribune didn’t treat a lack of corroboration as corroboration, as some others have done. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/364 "2019-09-05T13:05:37Z")
For the umpteenth time, it’s not just lack of corroboration but stonewalling by Omar and everyone in her orbit. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/365 "2019-09-05T13:12:28Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > For the umpteenth time, it’s not just lack of corroboration but stonewalling by Omar and everyone in her orbit. Which is _exactly what you would expect_ given that the actual accusations are baseless conspiratorial rumors obviously made in bad faith by right-wing clowns with no interest in the truth. The fact that a local newspaper investigated and found nothing solid about the accusations does not somehow make it more credible. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/366 "2019-09-05T13:20:39Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > For the umpteenth time, it’s not just lack of corroboration but stonewalling by Omar and everyone in her orbit. For the umpteenth time, it’s not her job to disprove baseless accusations made against her. It’s the job of the accuser to provide proof. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/367 "2019-09-05T14:07:10Z")
This thread must set some record - most responses to a thread started by someone with a 1-post history. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/368 "2019-09-05T14:17:57Z")
“I’m not gonna answer these silly questions about conspiracy theories with no evidence” is not “stonewalling”. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/369 "2019-09-05T14:23:48Z")
Andy is still trying to have it both ways. The questions are “silly” and not worth even responding to, but there is nothing untoward about the Strib assigning multiple full-time employees to try to get the information the hard way. ETA: And yes, it is stonewalling. People who stonewall the questions of others always try to dismiss them as baseless and silly. It’s what Trump’s defenders do constantly on cable news and in congressional hearings. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/370 "2019-09-05T14:27:45Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Andy is still trying to have it both ways. The questions are “silly” and not worth even responding to, but there is nothing untoward about the Strib assigning multiple full-time employees to try to get the information the hard way. You are still a racist idiot with poor reading comprehension skills. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/371 "2019-09-05T14:38:31Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > You are still a racist idiot with poor reading comprehension skills. That must be why I liked your book! :rimshot: ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/372 "2019-09-05T14:54:19Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > That must be why I liked your book! :rimshot: Touche! I’ll add an exception for your literary opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/373 "2019-09-05T15:57:20Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Andy is still trying to have it both ways. The questions are “silly” and not worth even responding to, but there is nothing untoward about the Strib assigning multiple full-time employees to try to get the information the hard way. That’s not contradictory. As **iiandyiiii** noted, part of what the press is reporting on is the scandalmongering itself. There is nothing inconsistent in expecting that the press will report news about a popular conspiracy theory and investigate allegations about it even if it’s baseless, while also expecting that the subject of a baseless CT will refuse to talk about it. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > ETA: And yes, it is stonewalling. People who stonewall the questions of others always try to dismiss them as baseless and silly. Well then, how would you describe somebody dismissing as baseless and silly questions that actually **are** baseless and silly? When a flat-earther challenges a famous astronomer to prove that the earth is actually round, and the astronomer says that the question is silly and not worth even responding to, would you describe the astronomer as “stonewalling” the flat-earther? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/374 "2019-09-05T16:03:17Z")
My god. Is this horse shit still going? OK. ShitHeadInc, I heard a rumor (which I started) that you give blowjobs to goats. Now it’s ALL on you to disprove it. So then. How long have you been blowing goats??? Hmmmmmmmmm??? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/375 "2019-09-05T16:04:04Z")
You either did not read the article, or are willfully misrepresenting it. ETA: That was in response to Kimstu, who initially expressed deep skepticism of my memory of the article I had read in print and is now moving the goalposts as usual. But it doesn’t _not_ apply to Steve. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/376 "2019-09-05T16:09:30Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Which is _exactly what you would expect_ given that the actual accusations are baseless conspiratorial rumors obviously made in bad faith by right-wing clowns with no interest in the truth. The fact that a local newspaper investigated and found nothing solid about the accusations does not somehow make it more credible. > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > For the umpteenth time, it’s not her job to disprove baseless accusations made against her. It’s the job of the accuser to provide proof. Yes to all this, **Sage Rat** , \*\*SlackerInc \*\* and others are falling for what the conspiracy theorists want their marks to do, if not to fall for the conspiracy 100%, then to fall for the endless JAQ fallacy. > **[Just asking questions](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Just_asking_questions)** > > Just asking questions (also known as JAQing off, or as emojis: "🤔🤔🤔"\[1\]) is a way of attempting to make wild accusations acceptable (and hopefully not legally actionable) by framing them as questions rather than statements. It shifts the burden of... > [@](#): > > The purpose of this argument method is to keep asking leading questions to attempt to influence spectators’ views, regardless of whatever answers are given. The term is derived from the frequent claim by the questioner that they are “just asking questions,” albeit in a manner much the same as political push polls. Additionally, this tactic is a way for a crank to escape the burden of proof behind extraordinary claims.[1] > > In some cases, it also helps hide the nebulousness or absurdity of the questioner’s own views. For example, a 9/11 truther may ask questions about perceived irregularities in the collapse, Larry Silverstein saying “pull it,” and the plane that hit the Pentagon. If turned back around on the truther, the implication is that they think that the plot involved numerous bizarre complications (rigging three buildings with explosives, making an on-the-spot decision to instruct the FDNY to detonate one of them, replacing a plane with a missile and later littering the Pentagon with plane wreckage). By not having to propose their own hypothesis, they can come across as smoothly winning a debate, since the other person is unable to answer a “just being asked” question. In fact, it can be very useful to “just ask questions” of woos, inasmuch as getting woos to put a hypothesis forward (or even just admitting to believing something crazy) can be a worthy accomplishment. > > The questioner may claim they are playing devil’s advocate. This is frequently to advance an odious position with no shortage of existing advocates. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/377 "2019-09-05T16:10:34Z")
Pretty much. And if you’re going to JAQ off in my face, at least have the common decency to give me the goddamn payoff, christ. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/378 "2019-09-05T16:27:02Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > You either did not read the article, or are willfully misrepresenting it. I never said I’d read any specific article on this “scandal”, nor have you managed to clearly indicate here what article you’re referring to. In what way(s) are you claiming that my statements “part of what the press is reporting on is the scandalmongering itself” and “the press will report news about a popular conspiracy theory and investigate allegations about it even if it’s baseless” are “misrepresenting” or “moving the goalposts” on anything? Or are you just making vague accusations because you don’t like my pointing out that you were wrong? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/379 "2019-09-05T16:28:19Z")
So you think it’s perfectly unexceptional for a member of Congress to get divorced, marry someone else who then disappears (and the member of Congress claims not to know where they are or to even know anyone who might be able to find them), then refuse to answer any questions about that person, while remarrying their ex-spouse and refusing to let reporters contact anyone in their family, while social media accounts for the spouse who disappeared are deleted? Just regular, normal stuff in American politics. What do you think the FBI would make of a background check on a Cabinet-level nominee with that kind of shenanigans going on? Or even a background check for some lower level worker for the CIA or NSA? **Denied!** ETA: Srsly, Kimstu? I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m talking about the Star Tribune article that I had mentioned a couple weeks back having read in print but that I was out of free articles for the month. You gave me a hard time about that, and then I just posted the link and some excerpts a few hours ago. And I honestly don’t even have an inkling as to what specifically you think I won’t admit I was wrong about. (If you really even think that, as opposed to trying to pull the old “I know you are but what am I” bit.) ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/380 "2019-09-05T16:35:57Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > So you think it’s perfectly unexceptional for a member of Congress to get divorced, marry someone else who then disappears (and the member of Congress claims not to know where they are or to even know anyone who might be able to find them), then refuse to answer any questions about that person, while remarrying their ex-spouse and refusing to let reporters contact anyone in their family, while social media accounts for the spouse who disappeared are deleted? Just regular, normal stuff in American politics. > > What do you think the FBI would make of a background check on a Cabinet-level nominee with that kind of shenanigans going on? Or even a background check for some lower level worker for the CIA or NSA? **Denied!** > > ETA: Srsly, Kimstu? I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m talking about the Star Tribune article that I had mentioned a couple weeks back having read in print but that I was out of free articles for the month. You gave me a hard time about that, and then I just posted the link and some excerpts a few hours ago. And I honestly don’t even have an inkling as to what specifically you think I won’t admit I was wrong about. (If you really even think that, as opposed to trying to pull the old “I know you are but what am I” bit.) What you’re wrong about is whether there’s any reason to treat this as more than just rumors/innuendo/evidence-free conspiracy theory. There’s not. AFAICT, the Star Tribune has not treated it like anything more than rumors/innuendo/conspiracy theory about a prominent individual (i.e. they’ve investigated, as they would for any other widely-spread rumors and innuendo about a Minnesota public figure). But you’re acting like this is more reasonable to discuss than birtherism, or Pizzagate. It’s not. It’s just rumor and innuendo. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/381 "2019-09-05T16:36:27Z")
It’s perfectly unexceptional for the target of a hateful smear campaign to not willingly provide more fodder for said campaign. “Reasoning will never make a man correct an ill opinion, which by reasoning he never acquired.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347.md?page=20)