# Shady self-dealing by Ilhan Omar **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 14, 2020, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058 "2020-08-14T06:56:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/42 "2020-08-16T05:10:29Z")
Is this the _best_ “Look! Over there!!” to be found? Pathetic. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2020, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/43 "2020-08-16T05:11:41Z")
You still have time to fix your quoting. HTH ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/44 "2020-08-16T05:13:34Z")
And you still have time to find a less pathetic example of Democratic perfidy. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2020, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/45 "2020-08-16T05:18:05Z")
I’m going to guess your favored examples would involve Democrats engaging in such outrages as: –taking campaign donations from rich people or people who work for corporations you disapprove of (aka most corporations) –opposing MFA while still supporting universal healthcare that doesn’t immediately kick everyone off their private health insurace –not signing on to every jot and tittle of the Green New Deal –occasionally daring to nominate straight white dudes or people who have worked as prosecutors or cops –opposing “defund the police” –criticizing looters even though “it’s just property” Did I miss anything? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/46 "2020-08-16T05:22:06Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Did I miss anything? Did you mean to say “Did I hit anything?”. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2020, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/47 "2020-08-16T05:27:08Z")
My son, my mom, and a lot of other people I know (as well as people I encounter online constantly) seem to consider all those major failings of the mainstream of the Democratic Party. Oh, and how could I forget? Obama is terrible because he authorized drone strikes. We’re supposed to try to close down all the military bases (certainly all those on foreign soil), and replace the Defense Department with the “Department of Peace” (no, seriously, that’s a real proposal). And definitely get rid of the CIA and NSA, cancel everyone’s rent and student loans…and maybe new ponies for everyone? Not sure about that last one, don’t quote me on it. ETA: You seem to think I’m attacking the Democratic Party by snarking about these things, but _au contraire_. Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Joe Biden have much more sense than to go along with any of this pie-in-the-sky naivete, THANK GOD. But they have to grit their teeth and take incoming fire about all of it, constantly, from the ridiculous people that make up the far left of the party, because they can’t risk their bailing on the party when election time comes around. I’m sick and tired of it, and if we can get enough centrist and center-right suburbanites to join the coalition this fall, I hope we can once and for all tell those left wingers to fuck right off. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/48 "2020-08-16T05:38:58Z")
It really seems that you should have a talk with your son, your mom, and a lot of other people that you know about these things, rather than attributing such arguments to anyone here. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2020, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/49 "2020-08-16T05:39:47Z")
This is a thread about Omar. How many of those wishlist items do you think she disagrees with? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/50 "2020-08-16T05:50:01Z")
I don’t claim to speak for her, but I would say that she probably disagrees with how you stated every item on your list. She’s your rep, you make the case against her. All you have provided is a bunch of whiny accusations of hypocrisy that don’t hold up under the scrutiny of context. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2020, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/51 "2020-08-16T05:56:41Z")
She’s not my rep. I live in northwestern Minnesota–she represents Minneapolis (where I lived at one time, but long before she came into the picture). But she is highly visible, she represents an extremist fringe, and she clearly does not help the DFL brand outstate. Which, as I say, could actually be extremely consequential for the country and the world, with Tina Smith hanging onto a three point lead and control of the Senate balancing on a knife’s edge. Per Wiki: > Omar has criticized the U.S. government’s [drone assassination](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposition_Matrix) program, citing the Obama administration’s policy of “droning of countries around the world.”[[91]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar#cite_note-Le_Miere-93)[[92]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar#cite_note-Pesce-94) She has said, “we don’t need nearly [800 military bases](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_military_bases) outside the United States to keep our country safe.”[[98]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar#cite_note-Values-100) > Omar supports [Medicare for All](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_for_All) > Omar supports [Bernie Sanders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders)’s plan to eliminate all $1.6 trillion in outstanding [student debt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_debt) > Omar was one of four Democratic representatives to vote against the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act > In October 2019 Omar voted “present” on H.Res. 296, to [recognize](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recognition_of_the_Armenian_Genocide) the [Armenian Genocide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide),[[108]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar#cite_note-110) causing a backlash.[[109]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar#cite_note-111)[[110]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar#cite_note-112) > In a 2012 tweet, she wrote, “Israel has hypnotized the world, may [Allah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allah) awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.”[[114]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar#cite_note-ToI-116)[[120]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar#cite_note-Crowe-122) > The Democratic House leadership released a statement accusing Omar of “engaging in deeply offensive anti-Semitic tropes.”[[126]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar#cite_note-Stolberg_Feb_11-128) > In January 2019, amid the [2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Venezuelan_presidential_crisis), Omar joined Democrats [Ro Khanna](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ro_Khanna) and [Tulsi Gabbard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsi_Gabbard) in denouncing the Trump administration’s decision to recognize [Juan Guaidó](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Guaid%C3%B3), the president of the [Venezuelan National Assembly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_National_Assembly), as Venezuela’s interim president.[[160]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilhan_Omar#cite_note-Daugherty-162) It’s never a good sign when you, Rho Khanna, and Tulsi Gabbard are all alone on something. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/52 "2020-08-16T06:01:29Z")
So this thread went from rehashing old news from April to you relating everything you dislike about Omar. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2020, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/53 "2020-08-16T06:02:08Z")
Again, I was “rehashing” something I heard about _yesterday_ on a brand new Slate podcast. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/54 "2020-08-16T06:15:41Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > But she is highly visible, she represents an extremist fringe, and she clearly does not help the DFL brand outstate. Which, as I say, could actually be extremely consequential for the country and the world, with Tina Smith hanging onto a three point lead and control of the Senate balancing on a knife’s edge. Then just so we are on the same page, what I understand you to be saying is that if the Republicans win, it will be her fault? Is this a correct understanding? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/55 "2020-08-16T06:16:14Z")
Also apparently Rho Khanna and Tulsi Gabbard. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2020, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/56 "2020-08-16T06:19:34Z")
I’m not willing to buy into that simplistic a narrative, because voters should be smart enough to see that Tina Smith is nothing like Ilhan Omar. But in closely contested states like this one, sometimes enough of them are _not_ smart enough to see that. I would get a lot less irritated with politicians from the left fringe if they were a little more mellow about it all. Like “okay, I represent a very left wing district and that’s what I’m into, but I understand why most DFLers (and Democrats nationally) are not so far left.” But instead, virtually all of them get up on their high horses and castigate the mainstream of the party for being “corporate” “warmongers”, from the safety of their deep, deep blue districts. It’s incredibly fucking irritating. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/57 "2020-08-16T06:33:59Z")
The only time I ever hear about her is either when the right is bitching about her, and when you are bitching about her. Her visibility is entirely that of her opponents’ doing. You contribute to her visibility. I don’t really see much mention of her around here except for from you. You say you participate in other forums? Do you raise her visibility there as well? Is it that she is up on her high horse castigating, or is it that she is under tremendous scrutiny, and any utterance that can be used against her is amplified by her detractors? When she says these things (3 out of 7 of which I wholeheartedly agree with, and most of the rest I don’t see as that offensive or outrageous), she is speaking to the very left wing district she represents. It is only that people seem to care about _other_ people’s local politics that she has such name recognition. I do apologize for thinking that you were in her district. I did know that you lived in the same state, and also assumed that you had a reason for your outrage. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2020, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/58 "2020-08-16T06:37:25Z")
How many other Democratic representatives have you heard of getting officially reprimanded by the Democratic caucus? I can’t think of any, and that strikes me as a pretty high profile piece of _mishigas_ for anyone paying attention. ETA: And yes, I have reason for my outrage when I’m trying to help Tina Smith fend off her challenger, Jason Lewis, who is a real knuckledragger. There are plenty of yahoos like him in the House, but if he gets into the Senate he will be worse than most and a real embarrassment to our state for at least six years. He has said worse things than this on our local right wing TV talk show, but here’s something I can cite easily, from Wiki: > [I]t used to be that women were held to a little bit of a higher standard. … We required modesty from women. Now, are we beyond those days where a woman can behave as a slut, but you can’t call her a slut? > > … > > One of the reasons that the Democrats love the quote unquote female issue is because they know women vote more liberally than men do. Now you could say in a very, very sexist, misogynistic way that ‘Well, that’s because women just don’t understand money. They don’t understand, they’re—they don’t handle finances. They’re guided by emotion, not reason. Why, that’s why they didn’t have the vote for a full century in the country’.[[51]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Lewis_(Minnesota_politician)#cite_note-51) ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/59 "2020-08-16T07:44:28Z")
And thus, instead of recognizing Omar’s pull and ability to get her district to VOTE, which would be a massive advantage for Smith, you instead repeat that Republicans are right and Democrats are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/60 "2020-08-16T09:00:51Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > This is a thread about Omar. How many of those wishlist items do you think she disagrees with? I thought this thread was about her alleged campaign shenanigans, not her policy positions. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058/61 "2020-08-16T12:11:49Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > If you want to quote the post there and discuss it, I will be happy to. I’m not going to move a Pit thread here. …no need to go to the pit. It is perfectly possible to reconcile your political beliefs in a thread about politics, especially in the context of your admitted antipathy for the left fringe of the Democratic Party. Do you accept that a position of “not wanting Muslims to be allowed to immigrate to America” is an extreme right wing (dear I say it, alt-right) fringe view in the Democratic Party? I’m just trying to help you here. If you are wondering why people think you have a “shred of affection for Trump” it is likely because you hold views that, in the words of the OP, are “very Trumpian”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shady-self-dealing-by-ilhan-omar/918058.md?page=4)