Whatever, snowflake. (winky face)
I actually agree that some people probably have no ill intent in using “Democrat” as an adjective. Which is why I might make a little request that they use the correct form, just in case they were unaware of it. No big deal, and no big deal to ask folks to use the correct form.
Moderator Warning
You’ve been warned, fairly recently, in fact, for bringing up someone’s ethnicity to troll the thread in question. The same type of behavior is being demonstrated here, and thus, another warning for trolling is being issued.
It was my comment in reference to Greenwald’s tweet about “defending a foreign nation even if it means attacking free speech rights of Americans.”* (a comment that Omar responded to and evidently endorsed).
I got it a bit muddled in that I read it initially as a comment about undefined Americans rather than U.S. political leaders who are engaged in “defending a foreign nation”. It’s been a common and nasty trope that when Americans (notably Jews) support or defend Israel, they’re guilty of “divided loyalties” or even “disloyalty” (similar attacks are rarely made against Americans who urge support for other nations).
As for Omar’s “apology” (which comes across as less than heartfelt), I think it’s a matter of recognition that she’s a novice Democratic representative whose political future is linked with financial and other support from the party, and so she’d better moderate her tone. In that sense, “it’s all about the Benjamins, baby.” 
*there’s a marked difference between criticizing someone’s speech and trying to deny them free speech rights, which Greenwald has difficulty appreciating.
Well, thanks for your help in making it harder to convince people that using “gay” as a slur is a bad thing, I guess.
I don’t understand.
Well, as I had just said…
I find that to be a “really stupid argument”, but whatever.
Personally, I’m more concerned about politicians who use antisemitic language than stupid trolls who pull out the "derp derp, “democrat party, derp!”, but that’s just me.
At least, that’s what I thought this whole thread was about.
And yes, criticism of Israel is legit, but a lot of people tend to use it as a dog whistle against Jews. Like, American Jews are automatically expected to have a certain of opinion or loyalty to Israel. They’re constantly questioned about it. “How do you feel about Israel?”
Also, Omar supports the BDS movement – which has many antisemitic elements. (It’s also ineffective, as in some cases, such as SodaStream, Palestinians were the ones mostly affected)
I suspect it’s unconscious for most people.
Democratic sound like an adjective. When referring to members of a political party, we use shorthand and call them by the name of the party. This works for Republicans, because that word sounds like a nouns. But talking about the other party,using Democratics just sounds wrong. Spell Check doesn’t recognize that word.
Who gets to determine what is anti-Semitic and what isn’t? If this statement doesn’t sound anti-semitic to you, does it matter if you are Jewish or not? If you’re not Jewish, how do you think it sounds to a Jew?
How do you think Jews might feel if someone who is not Jewish tells them what they can consider anti-Semitic and what they should just shrug off?
I hope this leads to a discussion.
(‘Anti-Semitic’ is an unfortunate term, since Arabs are Semites. I’ll use ‘anti-Jewish’ instead. And PLEASE note that this is distinct from anti-Israel or anti-Zionist.)
Was Omar using criticism of Israel an a dog whistle? I’d never heard of Omar until recently; if she’s anti-Jewish call her out on it. In the searches and discussion nothing has turned up … except "Well, some people who oppose illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank are also anti-Jewish.’
I remain curious whether “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby” is anti-Jewish. That’s the topic. We’re not discussing comments we wish Omar had made so that we could say “There! See?”
If she had said “Some Congressmen receive large donations from pro-Likud groups,” would that have been OK? Was it the flippancy in the rap-song lyric that has given so much offense?
So “Omar supports the BDS movement – which has many antisemitic elements.” Some of her detractors support the Republican Party which has many racist and white supremacist elements. Is every Republican a white supremacist?
(And what does ‘BDS is ineffective’ have to do with the topic? Is being an ineffective Jew-hater worse than being just a Jew-hater?)
“Antisemitism” may be based on a historical inaccuracy, but it* is* the accepted term, and there’s no reason not to use it. No-one has ever mistaken it to refer to the hatred of Semitic people in general. No offence, but as a rule, the only people who seem to have a problem with it are the people who* don’t* have a problem with it, if you know what I mean.
No, I’m not sure I do know what you mean.
A comment was made that seemed to imply Omar might be anti-Palestinian. Some of the comments in this thread have become so very VERY confused, that I just wanted to be clear that any anti-Palestine allegation was outside the compass of the anti-Semitic allegation.
That goes without saying.
I’m sorry. It’s just that in my experience, the only people who ever have a problem with the term “antisemitism”, are antisemites. You may have inadvertently blown a dog whistle.
If I’ve across as some sort of Jew-hater in this thread, I think it’s just one more example of political correctness run amok.
Here’s my first post regarding the Middle East dispute on this Board, from almost nine years ago. Dog whistling?
Dude - chill. I haven’t accused you of anything. You’re one of the good guys.
All I said is that something you said accidentallt sounded similar to someting a bigot would say. If I were do do something like that myself, I’d like to know.
Telling members of an ethnic group that they shouldn’t take offense at something (especially when this advice comes from a non-member of the group) is an all-time loser, when a substantial percentage of the group does find it objectionable. It’s like telling black people they shouldn’t see a statement or viewpoint as racist since intentions were innocent.*
*The medical journal Neurology has egg (or chicken) on its face over a now-retracted physician essay which was apparently intended to be a light-hearted article about unhealthy eating habits. "The piece, originally published online February 12, went on: “I once shared a table at a fried chicken fast food establishment with a nice African American lady. Immensely enjoying her fries, she sat with the shaker in one chubby fist and liberally salted each individual fry.”’
The author, William Campbell semi-apologized about how it was unfortunate “some” took offense: "Campbell, an emeritus professor at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and a retired colonel in the US Army, added: “It is unfortunate that sensibilities in our society now create an inability to transcend cultural barriers by telling true stories.”
http://medscape.com/viewarticle/909170?fbclid=IwAR0gujEyu4kNO-iFSHNDDSa3BGYgse1re1-YtO8rgynt1NJIR0u05d02Cxw (link may not work for non-Medscape members).
Ooops.
The link doesn’t work for me. I didn’t see the racism in that either, and now I want salty fries. And a better sampling of his writing in general, especially as it pertains to specific people, just in case we’re not getting the full view of what people objected to.
General principles here.
One can be “one of the good guys” and be simply ignorant that something offends a large portion of a target group, or is the exact phrasing and behavior that a hater of the group uses. Ignorance does not eliminate good guy status. The intelligent “good guy” is always eager to reduce their ignorance and to learn.
Having it explained that something is offensive and arguing that it should not offend, getting defensive about it, stating that having been told that such offends many of the group is “political correctness run amok”? That starts to go beyond simple ignorance and minimally into willful ignorance.
Circling back to the OP, the politician in question at least played the part of “a good guy” in this well. Criticizing Israeli policies and advocating for Palestinian positions were not the issue; using longstanding anti-Semitic tropes (apparently inadvertently) was. She learned and we can move on with discussions, including ones that advocate for Palestinian positions and that are critical of Israeli policies and actions.