# Ilhan Omar can fuck right off **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 9, 2019, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815 "2019-03-09T03:54:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [March 9, 2019, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/1 "2019-03-09T03:54:22Z")
Words cannot express how angry this makes me. I cut her slack on the alleged “anti-Semitism”, but this is a bridge too far. Or, like, a thousand bridges too far. Jesus fucking Christ. > **[Ilhan Omar: Obama’s a ‘pretty face’ who got ‘away with murder’](https://nypost.com/2019/03/08/ilhan-omar-obamas-a-pretty-face-who-got-away-with-murder/?fbclid=IwAR3PveZLVWNLoSDGqufm8vqMpmpf_OPWcehbtxdUbONi5SaYpmeVIicYbWU)** > > Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar ripped former President Barack Obama in an interview published Friday, belittling his “pretty face” and saying his agenda of hope and change was an illusion. She cited the… > [@](#): > > Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar ripped former President Barack Obama in an interview published Friday, belittling his “pretty face” and saying his agenda of hope and change was an illusion. > > She cited the “caging of kids” at the Mexican border and the “droning of countries around the world” on Obama’s watch — and argued that he wasn’t much different from President Trump :mad: :mad: :mad: Taking deep breaths and trying not to stroke out. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/2 "2019-03-09T03:59:09Z")
I admittedly haven’t read the full context in which those comments were made, but she really needs less airtime and twitter time. Or she’ll be a one-term congresswoman. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2019, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/3 "2019-03-09T04:01:33Z")
Kudos to the NY Post to make a pretty standard, general, and IMO rather innocuous criticism of politics as usual over the last few decades, which _did not actually single out Obama in any way_, appear to the gullible and others salivating at the thought of Democratic infighting as an attack on Obama. It wasn’t an attack on Obama at all. Omar: [https://twitter.com/Ilhan/status/1104116455224807424](https://twitter.com/Ilhan/status/1104116455224807424) “Exhibit A of how reporters distort words. I’m an Obama fan! I was saying how Trump is different from Obama, and why we should focus on policy not politics. This is why I always tape my interviews.” ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/4 "2019-03-09T04:08:31Z")
Aren’t you a precious fucking snowflake. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/5 "2019-03-09T04:16:23Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Words cannot express how angry this makes me. I cut her slack on the alleged “anti-Semitism”, but this is a bridge too far. Or, like, a thousand bridges too far. Jesus fucking Christ. > > [Ilhan Omar: Obama a 'pretty face' who got 'away with murder'](https://nypost.com/2019/03/08/ilhan-omar-obamas-a-pretty-face-who-got-away-with-murder/?fbclid=IwAR3PveZLVWNLoSDGqufm8vqMpmpf_OPWcehbtxdUbONi5SaYpmeVIicYbWU) > :mad: :mad: :mad: > > Taking deep breaths and trying not to stroke out. Don’t go to any great effort on our account. Feel free to stroke out. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2019, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/6 "2019-03-09T04:18:00Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Kudos to the NY Post to make a pretty standard, general, and IMO rather innocuous criticism of politics as usual over the last few decades, which _did not actually single out Obama in any way_, appear to the gullible and others salivating at the thought of Democratic infighting as an attack on Obama. > > It wasn’t an attack on Obama at all. > > Omar: [https://twitter.com/Ilhan/status/1104116455224807424](https://twitter.com/Ilhan/status/1104116455224807424) > > “Exhibit A of how reporters distort words. I’m an Obama fan! I was saying how Trump is different from Obama, and why we should focus on policy not politics. This is why I always tape my interviews.” Did you actually listen to the Soundcloud audio? I did just now. If you didn’t, and just took her word for it, you are being snowed. If you did listen to it, your post is no more honest than her tweet. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/7 "2019-03-09T04:19:05Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Don’t go to any great effort on our account. Feel free to stroke out. I won’t on your account, don’t worry. On my wife and four kids’ accounts, yes. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SuperAbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@SuperAbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperAbe)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/8 "2019-03-09T04:21:41Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I admittedly haven’t read the full context in which those comments were made, but she really needs less airtime and twitter time. Or she’ll be a one-term congresswoman. “I haven’t read the article or put effort in to figuring out how if she’s even being quoted correctly but here’s my uninformed opinion.” Feel free to not vote for her all you want in 2020. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2019, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/9 "2019-03-09T04:27:46Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Did you actually listen to the Soundcloud audio? I did just now. If you didn’t, and just took her word for it, you are being snowed. If you did listen to it, your post is no more honest than her tweet. Yes, I listened to it (and fuck you, you racist idiot, once again, for your accusations of dishonesty). It was a broad criticism of US politics that has generally treated migrants like crap and been too free and easy with deadly violence abroad (drone bombings). There’s nothing new in this criticism – many Democrats have been critical of these policies for many years. Obama handled this sort of criticism pretty well before (generally inviting it and saying that it was important to keep him honest), and he doesn’t need gullible and racist idiots like you to defend him from the possibility of adults having frank discussions about ugly things in this world. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2019, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/10 "2019-03-09T04:35:38Z")
The Facebook friend who alerted me to this (and is on thin ice to remain my friend, even though we have been friends for twenty years) is a big Bernhead who cited Omar approvingly (he also loves Keith Ellison, although he lives a thousand miles away from Minnesota). I shared the Omar tweet Andy posted just now, and this was his response: > [@](#): > > I saw follow-up stories about that, and it’s just absurd. Say what you mean and stick by it. People can smell phony apologies a mile away. I at first said “We agree on that much”, and then realized it wasn’t even an apology, just disingenuous bullshit. Although I’m not in her district, I am a member in good standing of the DFL (which is what the state Democratic Party is called in Minnesota), and I have contacted my representatives in the state legislature and various DFL bigwigs to ask them to censure or expel her. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2019, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/11 "2019-03-09T04:37:46Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > The Facebook friend who alerted me to this (and is on thin ice to remain my friend, even though we have been friends for twenty years) is a big Bernhead who cited Omar approvingly (he also loves Keith Ellison, although he lives a thousand miles away from Minnesota). I shared the Omar tweet Andy posted just now, and this was his response: > > I at first said “We agree on that much”, and then realized it wasn’t even an apology, just disingenuous bullshit. > > Although I’m not in her district, I am a member in good standing of the DFL (which is what the state Democratic Party is called in Minnesota), and I have contacted my representatives in the state legislature and various DFL bigwigs to ask them to censure or expel her. Because you’re a racist, gullible idiot who’s apparently incapable of the possibility of frank, nuanced, and adult conversation about difficult policy decisions that might just treat your political idols like imperfect humans rather than sacred cows. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/12 "2019-03-09T04:39:28Z")
The OP’s cited inflammatory article about Omar links to her actual [interview with _Politico_](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/03/08/ilhan-omar-dean-phillips-minnesota-democratic-party-225696) right in its third paragraph. Here’s the full quote whose selective excerpts in the _Post_ got poor **SlackerInc** so strokey: > [@](#): > > 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. (Also, I think it would be a bit absurd to take the epithet “pretty face” as applied to Obama in a literal sense. I’ve seen many people praise Obama as good-looking in a sort of offbeat way but I can’t imagine who would call him “pretty”. If you were talking about Justin Trudeau now, or maybe even Beto O’Rourke, that would be another matter, though AFAICT O’Rourke seems to get called “hot” rather than anything like “pretty”.) > [@SlackerInc](#): > > Words cannot express how angry this makes me. […] > Taking deep breaths and trying not to stroke out. There, there, it’s okay. Try reading and thinking about interviews with political figures in more depth instead of just skimming clickbait snippets of their remarks taken out of context, and you might find that helps with the ragestrokes. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2019, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/13 "2019-03-09T04:44:26Z")
I’m supposed to be mollified because she is indicting Democrats in general rather than just Obama? 😕 I’m not a fan of “go back to \_\_\_\_\_\_” arguments, but to come to this country as a teenager, and then get elected to Congress in young adulthood and talk smack like this? FFS, “ungrateful” doesn’t even begin to cover it. ETA: I was honestly willing to give her the benefit of the doubt on the “Benjamins” comment, and I believe I may have even done so on this very board. But now in retrospect it would appear she did not deserve to be cut that slack. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2019, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/14 "2019-03-09T04:49:05Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m supposed to be mollified because she is indicting Democrats in general rather than just Obama? 😕 > > I’m not a fan of “go back to \_\_\_\_\_\_” arguments, but to come to this country as a teenager, and then get elected to Congress in young adulthood and talk smack like this? FFS, “ungrateful” doesn’t even begin to cover it. > > ETA: I was honestly willing to give her the benefit of the doubt on the “Benjamins” comment, and I believe I may have even done so on this very board. But now in retrospect it would appear she did not deserve to be cut that slack. God forbid people have the audacity to come to this country and try to make it better! No wonder fragile folks like you are having trouble handling it. Especially when it’s a dark skinned person who covers her hair! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/15 "2019-03-09T04:53:53Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m supposed to be mollified because she is indicting Democrats in general rather than just Obama? What’s wrong with criticizing Democrats? I’m a Democrat myself and I do it all the time. You seem to be quite willing to criticize Democrats yourself, if this thread and several like it are anything to go by. I don’t like it when anybody just dishonestly mocks and smears Democrats (or anybody else) with baseless accusations or cynical self-serving lies, but that’s different from having an honest and civilly expressed opinion that our entire political system is drastically malfunctioning and that our fellow Democrats in the party and national leadership have largely avoided dealing with it. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m not a fan of “go back to \_\_\_\_\_\_” arguments, but to come to this country as a teenager, and then get elected to Congress in young adulthood and talk smack like this? FFS, “ungrateful” doesn’t even begin to cover it. Oh, look who’s all upset now about somebody else exercising their freedom of speech. :rolleyes: Get over it, pal: this is a free country for naturalized citizens just as much as anybody else, and there’s nothing “ungrateful” about rationally expressing an honest opinion about your adopted country’s problems. Especially when you’re putting yourself out there to try to help fix them via a career in public service. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > I have contacted my representatives in the state legislature and various DFL bigwigs to ask them to censure or expel her. Gee, good thing you’re so supportive of Democrats, huh? Performance number 587 in the ongoing **SlackerInc** show _Look at All These Terrible Democrats Whom I Must Attack and Undermine to Show How Deeply I Care about the Democratic Party, LOOK AT THESE TERRIBLE DEMOCRATS, DESTROY THEM_. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2019, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/16 "2019-03-09T04:53:57Z")
Imagine, a self described racist, using a “go back to your country…” epithet! What are the chances? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/17 "2019-03-09T05:00:42Z")
Hahaha he started a [duplicate thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872096) so he can have a safe space from the criticism in this one. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/18 "2019-03-09T05:06:05Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Hahaha he started a [duplicate thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872096) so he can have a safe space from the criticism in this one. Reported already because of this little detail called a **rule**. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21288690&postcount=2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21288690&postcount=2) > [@](#): > > **Calls to Action** - Do not instigate members to take action for or against any issue or entity. Do not post phone numbers, email addresses or any other personally identifiable information of any entity in this regard. Threads calling for folks to take actions (political, charitable, personal, etc.) are prohibited unless there is prior approval from a moderator or administrator. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2019, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/19 "2019-03-09T05:20:43Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Reported already because of this little detail called a **rule**. > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21288690&postcount=2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21288690&postcount=2) Oh, give me a break. :rolleyes: If what I posted is against this rule, so are half the posts in Elections and pretty much every political post in the Pit. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2019, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815/20 "2019-03-09T05:23:00Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Hahaha he started a [duplicate thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=872096) so he can have a safe space from the criticism in this one. Yeah, my posting history really shows I love to stay in safe spaces. :rolleyes: (At one point, I talked about posting only in the Pit, until I learned this was a good way to get banned.) I posted it there because some people don’t read the Pit (I didn’t myself for many years). And it’s not a “duplicate post”: I made sure to frame it in terms of her next election, given that the board is Elections and all. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ilhan-omar-can-fuck-right-off/830815.md?page=2)