# 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:** 28
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/542 "2019-09-11T12:36:59Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It would be nice if people stopped quoting the troll. I nominate this post to replace the “fighting ignorance” tagline on the site banner. ---
**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 11, 2019, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/543 "2019-09-11T13:24:55Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Ok, so dare I ask? Whats the result of 11 pages and 500 plus posts? > Is a member of the US Congress a brother fucker and illegal immigrant? Or not. If anyone is alleging or even speculating that either of those things are true, I missed it. I have not read the right wing sites, but what is being investigated by the Star Tribune is whether she married someone, possibly her brother, to help him immigrate. I did not read into that anything but a potential sham marriage that would obviously not have been consummated. Nor did I catch any implication that she herself was suspected of being anything other than a citizen, fully legally naturalized as a teenager. Which is why I said I personally don’t think it’s any great ethical lapse, as I was going to enter into a sham marriage myself if my friend was willing to conspire with me. But I’m happy to use this awkward scenario to damage a politician I oppose for other reasons. (Kimstu acts like she has cannily ferreted out this motivation, when in fact I have been quite open about it.) > [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Why ‘thankfully’? See my anti-Omar posts linked upthread. She is one of these left wingers who savages the mainstream of the Democratic Party, including characterizing President Obama as some kind of war criminal with a “smiling face”, and I have no tolerance for that. I would prefer to get her out of Congress altogether, but at least she currently does not represent me (moderate DFLer Collin Peterson is my congressman). So I certainly don’t want her representing me in a Minnesota statewide office, like her predecessor Keith Ellison does as attorney general. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Do you advocate “ignoring the probability” for the supposition that Omar married a space alien disguised as her brother, and she’s reticent to answer questions about it because she wants to hide the upcoming invasion of the human race from alien lizard shapeshifters? This is why I say you want to have it both ways. You said it was perfectly reasonable for the Strib to investigate these questions, but you presumably wouldn’t think it would be reasonable for them to investigate alien lizard shapeshifter nonsense? > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Again… the man gave us: > > 1. his birth certificate - valid in every courtroom in the entire world as proof of birth > 2. public statement from the head of his State’s vital records bureau that the certificate was accurate > 3. public statement from the Governor of his State, a person not of his party and actively campaigning for his opponent, that the certificate was accurate > 4. a certified copy of the internal documentation, a level of certification never heretofore required for anyone for any purpose. > > And still over 50% of the population wasn’t sure where the dude was born. > > All because… some dude made up a ridiculous story of Obama’s mother flying to Kenya to give birth. A story with literally zero facts supporting it. > > As I said before, it’s twisted. It’s a plague upon our society, where actual information is ignored, and fantasies are believed. We as a society either stand up against this plague, and demand facts from these story tellers, or we feed the sickness by giving them the attention they don’t deserve. But again, millions of people changed their minds and decided he was definitely born in the US after he released the long form birth certificate. Do you think he should have stubbornly refused to do that because it shouldn’t have been necessary? That’s not how politics works. And I’m sure Omar knows that, which is why I feel confident that she is not refusing to talk about this stuff for the reason that it’s beneath her contempt but because she _can’t_ actually do the equivalent of what Obama did. She doesn’t have evidence to bring to bear so she pretends it’s not worth even responding to. If I were her political advisor, I would advise the same thing if that’s the case. But if she does actually have the evidence and is just being stubborn for no reason, I would definitely advise her to release it, let her family members talk to reporters, explain where she and her husband were living when they filed their paperwork, etc. > [@Monty](#): > > I probably will regret asking this, but here goes anyway. Is his dislike of Omar based at all on anything factual about the woman, or just on the innuendo? Your error is in assuming those are the only possibilities. I posted those screeds against Omar before I ever heard anything about this marriage stuff. And as I have already said, this marriage stuff does not really bother me in and of itself. If it were a politician I liked and I thought they could survive by stonewalling, I would help them do so, just like many of you are doing. > [@galen\_ubal](#): > > slackerinc is a racist, and a misogynist. Ilhan Omar is a brown woman. That’s all he needs. Bullshit. Did you miss all the posts in which I have supported Kamala Harris as the best choice of all those polling above 5%? Frankly, it’s sad that you don’t allow Omar to have any individuality. Any dislike of her must be because she is a brown woman, therefore you have reduced her to a generic gender and racial avatar. No consideration that she could be treated as an individual. ---
**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 11, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/544 "2019-09-11T13:37:12Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > She is one of these left wingers who savages the mainstream of the Democratic Party, including characterizing President Obama as some kind of war criminal with a “smiling face”, and I have no tolerance for that. This is a false characterization of Omar, apparently by someone who sees Obama like a toddler sees Mommy. Adult and nuanced criticism of politicans we like is okay, and that’s all Omar did. I suspect you saw it so negatively out of a combination of poor comprehension skills for political criticism, and knee-jerk bigotry against a black Muslim woman. > [@](#): > > This is why I say you want to have it both ways. You said it was perfectly reasonable for the Strib to investigate these questions, but you presumably wouldn’t think it would be reasonable for them to investigate alien lizard shapeshifter nonsense? If the latter was being repeated in borderline mainstream infotainment sites, and spread and believed widely on social media, then absolutely it would be reasonable for them to investigate (which would take approximately 5 minutes). > [@](#): > > Bullshit. Did you miss all the posts in which I have supported Kamala Harris as the best choice of all those polling above 5%? All this shows is that you’re a weird racist. You’ve admitted your racism (against black people) and bigotry against Muslims. That you are fond of some individual black people doesn’t excuse this or change this at all. Lots of racists like certain individual black people. I suspect many slave owners were fond of certain slaves. > [@](#): > > Frankly, it’s sad that you don’t allow Omar to have any individuality. Any dislike of her must be because she is a brown woman, therefore you have reduced her to a generic gender and racial avatar. No consideration that she could be treated as an individual. Not any dislike, just the inaccurate descriptions and mischaracterizations of what she’s said, when presented by an open racist against black people and bigot against Muslims. If David Duke mischaracterizes something Obama said, it’s pretty damn reasonable to presume that this has something to do with his racism. Even if, later on, he praises a different black person for some reason. ---
**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 11, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/545 "2019-09-11T13:40:33Z")
:rolleyes: Name three political positions David Duke and I share. As in, actual legislation, appointment of judges, or executive action. ---
**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 11, 2019, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/546 "2019-09-11T13:50:46Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > :rolleyes: Name three political positions David Duke and I share. As in, actual legislation, appointment of judges, or executive action. Don’t worry, you’re a much better person than Duke. Your views are much less evil than Duke. Hell, you’re even better than 1950s George Wallace! Take comfort in that. Hell, make it your sig line – “ **iiandyiiii** says I’m not as bad as David Duke”. ---
**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 11, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/547 "2019-09-11T14:01:08Z")
“Not as bad”, yes: in the sense of “staunchly opposing virtually everything he supports”. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/548 "2019-09-11T14:35:43Z")
It’s pretty easy to pretend to support someone. ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/549 "2019-09-11T14:52:04Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > His evidence for “hypocrisy” is just as substantial as his evidence for Omar’s incestuous marriage. At this point he’s pulling so much out of his ass I’m half-expecting a string of “flags of all nations” next. Nobody says it’s an incestuous marriage. The issue is a sham marriage for fraudulent immigration purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/550 "2019-09-11T14:57:27Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I probably will regret asking this, but here goes anyway. Is his dislike of Omar based at all on anything factual about the woman, or just on the innuendo? **Lance Turbo** in [post #417](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21844459&postcount=417) posted links to two threads **SlackerInc** started about Omar. A lot of his dislike seems to be based on pretty elementary misunderstandings (see below). > [@SlackerInc](#): > > But I’m happy to use this awkward scenario to damage a politician I oppose for other reasons. (Kimstu acts like she has cannily ferreted out this motivation, when in fact I have been quite open about it.) I said right there in my most recent post that you were being open about it: > [@Kimstu](#): > > **SlackerInc** , you have been telling us all along how much you dislike Omar and how you are hoping for, and to the best of your ability working toward, her political failure. And you expect anybody to believe you when you pretend to be offering honest advice about what Omar should do to boost her credibility? > [@SlackerInc](#): > > She is one of these left wingers who savages the mainstream of the Democratic Party, including characterizing President Obama as some kind of war criminal with a “smiling face” :rolleyes: This misunderstanding was explained and rebutted early on in your fulminating “Ilhan Omar can fuck right off” thread. As [I pointed out](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21527343&postcount=12) there: > [@Kimstu](#): > > Here’s the full quote […]: > > > [@](#): > > > > As she saw it, the party ostensibly committed to progressive values had become complicit in perpetuating the status quo. Omar says the “hope and change” offered by Barack Obama was a mirage. Recalling the “caging of kids” at the U.S.-Mexico border and the “droning of countries around the world” on Obama’s watch, she argues that the Democratic president operated within the same fundamentally broken framework as his Republican successor. > > > > “We can’t be only upset with Trump. … 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 says. “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.” > > I don’t pretend to be an authority on semantic analysis, but it seems pretty clear to me that the “pretty face” Omar is talking about there is that of her party’s image in general, and that of the Republican Party as well. The “polished” people who have been lending a statesmanlike cachet to bad policy choices are not only Obama but the Bushes, Clinton and Reagan. > > It is not outrageous or insulting to hold the opinion that the framework of US governance is in some ways fundamentally broken, and that having a charismatic centrist Democrat in the White House doesn’t automatically fix the problem. **SlackerInc** , it’s more and more evident that your insistence on erroneously regarding (and misquoting) Omar’s phrase “the pretty face and the smile” as a direct personal insult to Obama individually is just a lazy excuse to justify your dislike of her for other reasons. What Omar actually said was a reasonable criticism of aggressive militarist policies pursued by the US government for decades under both Republicans and Democrats, most of whom were more rhetorically “polished” about them than Trump, but not necessarily less aggressive. Your attempting to frame her remarks as vilification of Obama personally is not persuading anybody but yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/551 "2019-09-11T15:05:51Z")
> [@Annoyed](#): > > Nobody says it’s an incestuous marriage. The issue is a sham marriage for fraudulent immigration purposes. You’re pretending that she married her brother. How is that not an incestuous marriage? I mean other than the fact that the whole assertion is based on nothing other than prejudice with zero facts to support it. ---
**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 11, 2019, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/552 "2019-09-11T15:08:21Z")
> [@Annoyed](#): > > Nobody says it’s an incestuous marriage. Some people certainly seem uncertain about it. See post #523. > [@](#): > > The issue is a sham marriage for fraudulent immigration purposes. Well, good news - there’s zero actual evidence that anything like this happened, and substantive reason why it wouldn’t have (already discussed over and over in this thread). So I guess we can close the thread now. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/553 "2019-09-11T15:09:01Z")
> [@Annoyed](#): > > Nobody says it’s an incestuous marriage. The issue is a sham marriage for fraudulent immigration purposes. I didn’t know this thread was about Trump… ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/554 "2019-09-11T15:28:49Z")
OP, you kind of fucked up. With only a single post, you created a multi page thread of incredible, and increasing stupidity. That was an accomplishment verging on award winning. But here you’ve returned, and ruined the whole shitty thing. Like an artist who knows when to stop painting, I thought you had a kind of remote control of this mess. But no. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/555 "2019-09-11T15:30:24Z")
> [@simster](#): > > > [@Annoyed](#): > > > > Nobody says it’s an incestuous marriage. The issue is a sham marriage for fraudulent immigration purposes. > > I didn’t know this thread was about Trump… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/556 "2019-09-11T15:45:55Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > OP, you kind of fucked up. With only a single post, you created a multi page thread of incredible, and increasing stupidity. That was an accomplishment verging on award winning. But here you’ve returned, and ruined the whole shitty thing. Like an artist who knows when to stop painting, I thought you had a kind of remote control of this mess. But no. Meh, I guess I was being kind of selfish, but I wanted to post and wanted the freedom to say motherfucker, so here I am. ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/557 "2019-09-11T15:48:53Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > 😃 Ah yes, the totally original, never-seen-before Trump deflection which is the pinnacle of cleverness. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/558 "2019-09-11T16:07:40Z")
> [@Annoyed](#): > > Ah yes, the totally original, never-seen-before Trump deflection which is the pinnacle of cleverness. YOu realize there is [far more evidence to question Melania’s immigration paperwork](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/02/21/the-huge-questions-about-melania-trumps-immigration-history-nobody-will-answer/) then there is for Ms. Omar – or maybe you don’t. ---
**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 11, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/559 "2019-09-11T16:11:48Z")
Don’t argue with him - the man has extensive expertise in deflecting the conversation away from weak arguments. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/560 "2019-09-11T16:17:01Z")
> [@Annoyed](#): > > …Says the angry person saying angry things. Jesus. Could you be any more obviously a sock? 16 posts, 15 of them in this thread in the last day. Go peddle your garbage elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347/561 "2019-09-11T16:18:00Z")
> [@simster](#): > > YOu realize there is [far more evidence to question Melania’s immigration paperwork](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/02/21/the-huge-questions-about-melania-trumps-immigration-history-nobody-will-answer/) then there is for Ms. Omar – or maybe you don’t. This should be good. What aspect of Melanias “immigration paperwork” should we be questioning? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347.md?page=27) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-a-thread-about-her-marriage-and-immigration-history/837347.md?page=29)