Tag Archives: Ilhan Omar

national news

‘Disloyal,’ Mr. President? To whom?

1 Comment

Donald John Trump’s mouth has taken him off the road and into the ditch yet again.

This time the president has declared that Jewish voters who support Democrats are lacking in “knowledge” or — and this is the best part by far — are “disloyal.”

Yes, he says Democratic-leaning Jewish voters are “disloyal.”

Now, it is totally fair to ask the president what he means precisely when he accuses American citizens who cast their votes for Democratic Party candidates of being disloyal. To whom are they “disloyal,” Mr. President? To you? To the nation? To your party? To themselves? All of the above?

This is just another disgraceful example of the president popping off to reporters without knowing what the hell he’s saying, what he’s talking about or having a clue as to the offensiveness of his remarks.

Trump went off in remarks to reporters on another riff about two Muslim members of Congress, Democrats Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. He’s been on their case lately, stemming from his pleading with Israel to deny them entry into that country. The Israelis actually acceded to the president’s request, then backed and granted Tlaib entry; Tlaib then canceled her visit to the West Bank.

So what in blazes is Donald Trump trying to say about Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats?

That “disloyalty” canard is just more dangerous rhetoric from a totally dangerous politician.

national news

Trump defies description of low-down policies

There is almost no way any longer to measure the depths of how low Donald Trump can take his assorted presidential pronouncements.

The president’s recent tirade against two members of Congress — both of them outspoken Democrats who happen to be Muslim — simply lowers the bar to a level I cannot define.

Trump urged Israeli government officials to deny entry into Israel of Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. They are members of Congress, duly elected to represent their districts. They intended to go Israel on “factfinding” missions. Trump said they “hate” Israel and “hate all Jews,” which of course might qualify as the mother of ad hominem attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to his utter disgrace, approved blocking their entry into Israel. The Israelis then relented on Tlaib, allowing her into the West Bank to visit her grandmother; Tlaib, though, canceled her visit because of the pall this disgraceful conduct has cast on her visit.

For the president of the United States to interfere with two federal lawmakers doing their jobs is reprehensible in the extreme. Moreover, for a foreign head of government to kowtow to this presidential idiocy is a sign of amazing weakness from a man, and a government, that purport to stand for strength in the face of hostility.

I have had a bit of exposure to Israel. I toured the country for a month in 2009 and was told time and again the same thing about that marvelous place: It is a secular state governed by the laws of humanity; and it welcomes all points of view, all forms of peaceful dissent.

Netanyahu tossed all of that aside by adhering initially to the president’s ridiculous admonition. They both should be ashamed of themselves.

I cannot speak for Netanyahu, but I am pretty sure the shameless U.S. president will feel not one bit of regret over seeking to bar two American citizens their right to travel abroad on behalf of their congressional constituents.

national news

In defense of outspoken critics of U.S. policy

You want a cynical view of politics, of government, of the world and those who take a different view of issues than many “mainstream” Americans?

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the president of the United States, Donald John Trump.

The president’s plea — which was heeded — to keep two freshman congresswomen from entering Israel personifies the cynicism that has infected his own notions and the thoughts of those who comprise his political “base.”

Trump says that Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan “hate America.” He says they “hate Jews,” and they “hate Israel.” They happen to be Muslim Americans. Omar emigrated to this country from Somalia when she was 12; Tlaib is a native-born American. Omar was naturalized; Tlaib is as American as I am, or is as American as Donald Trump.

They are outspoken in their world view. They are entitled under the U.S. Constitution they took an oath to defend upon taking office in Congress to speak their minds. They have every right to criticize U.S. government policy. Does that make them “haters” of the country? Of course not!

What’s more, let’s ponder this notion. Why would anyone who “hates” the United States run for a federal office and then take an oath that requires them to protect and defend the nation and the Constitution against those who would do us all harm?

We hear this canard constantly, starting with Donald Trump. It filters down to this core of supporters, who continue to harp on this idiotic notion that Reps. Omar, Tlaib and others of their ilk “hate” the country they were duly elected to serve.

Voltaire once said that while he opposes what one might say, he defends their right to say it.

So it should be with members of Congress who might speak intemperately at times. If that’s how they choose to express themselves, they have every right under our Constitution to have their voices heard.

International news

A ‘sign of weakness’? Seriously, Mr. President?

Donald Trump told Israeli officials that admitting two Muslim U.S. congresswomen into their country would be a “sign of weakness.” So, Israel has blocked the entry of Democrats Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib.

In doing so, Israel has allowed itself to be sucked into an ugly, messy and intemperate U.S. domestic political dispute between the Republican president and two freshmen members of the House of Representatives.

The weakness, therefore, was demonstrated when Israel succumbed to Trump’s latest Twitter tirade against these women with whom he has been waging a distasteful war of words and will.

Omar and Tlaib have been critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians; Tlaib is of Palestinian descent. Trump, though, accuses them of “hating Jews” and “hating Israel” and, oh yeah, of “hating” the United States of America.

Now the Israelis have become a party to this ridiculous internal dispute.

Trump’s good pal, Israelis Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would seem to want to avoid being pushed around by the U.S. president. However, the way I see it, that’s exactly what has happened here.

Disgraceful.

national news

So, just who is the politician who ‘hates’ America?

2 Comments

I cannot get past Donald Trump’s assertion that four members of Congress who criticize him and his policies “hate” the country they take an oath to protect and defend against foreign enemies.

Yes, the president takes the oath, too.

Who among them, though, has demonstrated faithfulness to their respective oaths?

Trump has gone to rhetorical war against Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley. They “hate” the country, Trump said, because of the terrible things they say about the country, its leaders.

But wait a second!

Have any of them sided with a foreign hostile leader in the argument over whether his government attacked our electoral system? Trump has done precisely that, denigrating our professional intelligence agents and analysts who say Russia attacked our system in 2016.

Who among those four lawmakers has said called a murderous tyrant a “smart cookie” and a man with whom he has fallen “in love”? None! Yet the president has said those things about North Korean despot Kim Jong Un, in whom he has placed his trust in a phony pledge to stop developing nuclear weapons.

Donald Trump has exhibited more signs of “hatred” toward the nation by his dismissing of experts’ and by his snuggling up to dictators than anything these lawmakers have said.

The president’s incessant lying insults Americans’ sensibilities at every turn. He accuses one of the lawmakers, Rep. Omar, of “anti-Semitism” and yet he says via Twitter that she is free to return to the country of her birth — which she fled when she was 12 to become a U.S. citizen. The president’s tweets are soaked in racist intent — and yet he has the audacity to level charges of bigotry against other public officeholders?

Donald Trump’s calculated effort to divide the electorate and to appeal only to those who endorse his rhetorical clap-trap is fundamentally more hateful than the criticism he is receiving.

national news

Trump’s attack on ‘Squad’ should surprise no one

It is as clear as it can get, given Donald Trump’s history with political opponents.

We shouldn’t be the least bit surprised that the president of the United States would allow a political rally crowd to shout “Send her back, send her back!” when referring to four congresswomen who oppose his views on immigration and a host of other policies.

After all, this is the same individual who let earlier campaign crowds bellow “Lock her up!” when referencing Hillary Clinton’s email problems during the 2016 presidential campaign.

So we fast forward to the present day and crowds are now yelling “Send her back!” Trump’s response? He allows the crowd to shout its displeasure.

This is frightening. The four House members are women of color. The president has targeted them in what I believe are racist Twitter messages, saying they were free to leave the country he said they “hate … with a passion.”

Go back to where they came from? Three of them were born in the United States. The fourth is from Somalia. Yet she emigrated here when she was 12 years of age. Ilhan Omar became a U.S. citizen and then was elected to the House in 2018.

Donald Trump is acting far more like a cult leader than the leader of a nation full of religious, ethnic, racial diversity. For the president to stand silently at a North Carolina campaign rally while a crowd shouts “Send her back!” is despicable on its face.

However, it shouldn’t surprise anyone who has been paying attention to this guy’s modus operandi. 

Yes, this individual’s MO is to sow seeds of fear and division and then feed on the harvest he reaps. “Send her back!” has just replaced “Lock her up!” as the mantra of the moment. Due process? Who needs it?

For the president to say, as he did today, that he disagrees with the chant that his followers yelled is to lie to our faces once again.

national news

POTUS ‘disagrees’ with ‘Send her back!’ chant? Oh, please

Who in the name of gullible voters do you think you are kidding, Mr. President?

You say now that you “disagree” with the chant in North Carolina of those faithful followers of yours to “Send her back!” You say you weren’t “happy with the message they gave” to U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, the congresswoman from Minnesota who came to this country as a pre-teen from Somalia and this past year got elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Well, Mr. President, allow me this rejoinder: Shut your foul mouth!

I didn’t see you make any effort at that campaign rally in North Carolina to quiet the chant. I didn’t see you seek to restore any semblance of order and decorum in that crowd. I did not see you address that chant directly once the mob of supporters quieted down.

So now you expect the rest of us believe that you were displeased with the chant? That you were unhappy that your followers were merely picking up on those racist-sounding Twitter chants suggesting Omar and her three “Squad” members — all progressive first-year Democratic congresswomen — could return to their country of origin if they are so unhappy in this country?

Nor did you, I hasten to add, remind the chanters in the mob that the three other House members are native-born Americans. All of them, even the naturalized citizen from Somalia, are as American as you and I are.

Or that they’re all U.S. citizens and are duly elected members of the legislative branch of the federal government.

Knock off the lying, Mr. President.

I do not believe for an instant that you “disagreed” with the chant.

You, sir, are a pathological liar.

national news

Go back to … Sweden, Norway, the UK? Hah!

If we are going to be totally candid and honest, the Twitter tirade that Donald J. Trump let loose this weekend against four Democratic members of Congress reveals a nasty and sinister side of the president of the United States.

He told four women of color to return to “where they came from.” Three of the women were born in the United States of America; a fourth was born in Somalia but is a naturalized U.S. citizen.

We have just witnessed an evil side of one human being’s attitude toward individuals of certain ethnic or racial backgrounds. Indeed, have we ever heard folks say such things of those from, say, Scandinavia, or western Europe, or even from southern Europe?

No. This is the kind of blathering that flies out of the mouths of those who proclaim western European heritage. They aim such nonsense at those who, um, look differently than they do. Or, they might worship a non-Christian religious faith.

The four congresswomen are well-known to political junkies: Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandrea Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. They all have spoken out frequently and loudly. They apparently have gotten under the president’s skin.

So he lashed out via Twitter with that vile message about them return to “where they came from.”

There longer can be an “Is this it?” moment for Trump. One might think any one of dozens of hideous statements or insults would have doomed this individual’s political career. They didn’t. This one likely won’t, either. Why? Because the president has managed to redefine the standards of decency we normally have set for those who seek to represent us in government.

His political base, the only audience he seems to aim his remarks, will continue to slobber all over him. The rest of us will shake our heads in disgust.

So very sad.

national news

Trump lets his xenophobia show

What’s next from the president of the United States? Will he tell his critics that their “mother wears combat boots”?

Donald Trump went on another Twitter tirade today, telling four progressive members of the U.S. House of Representatives to go back to where they came from. He wrote on Twitter: “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.”

Oh, wait! Except that only one of them — Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. — was born in a faraway land. She emigrated here from Somalia. She became a naturalized citizen, ran for Congress and then won. Oh, and she then took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. The other three, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts all are native-born Americans.

Gosh, do you think Trump’s tirade has anything to do with the fact that two of the congresswomen are black, one is Hispanic and one is of Middle Eastern descent?

I, too, have been critical at times of the overexposure some of these congressional rookies have gotten. However, for the president to blurt out that sophomoric, childish, petulant response reveals — as if we haven’t seen it already — a seedy side of what passes for his character.

The progressive congresswoman have become known as The Squad. They are making a good bit of news these days in their open challenge of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s leadership of the lower legislative chamber. They want Pelosi to fast-track impeachment of Trump; Pelosi keeps hitting the brakes.

Now we have the president turning this battle into something seriously ugly and despicable.

national news, religious news

Sharia law? It is not possible in the U.S. of A.

This meme showed up on my Facebook timeline today and it compels me to write a brief rejoinder to what I consider to be the mother of red herrings.

Many Americans — too many of them, actually — seem to have this unnecessary fear of Sharia law. The picture attached to this blog post shows Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota taking her oath of office with a hand on the Quran, the Muslim holy book. The meme accuses Omar of committing an act of “treason” because the Quran recognizes “Sharia law.”

Let me be crystal clear: The U.S. Constitution is a secular document that prohibits the federal government from enacting laws that have their basis on religious faith. The Constitution doesn’t mention Christianity by name; it makes no mention of Jesus Christ; it doesn’t mention Islam; nor does it invoke the name of Mohammad.

It is a secular document!

Therefore, any attempt to invoke Sharia law — the ultraconservative doctrine to which a segment of Muslims adhere — is laughable on its face. Sharia law cannot possibly become part of any federal law enacted by Congress.

Furthermore, let’s get real on this point: Does anyone believe the current U.S. Supreme Court, with its current conservative majority, is going to reject any Sharia law-based complaint that finds its way to the highest court in the land?

The hatred of Muslims and of officeholders who adhere to Islam is far more troubling to me than any unfounded fear of Sharia law.

I also need to point out that Article VI in the Constitution states categorically that there shall be “no religious test” applied to anyone who seeks public office in the United States of America.

I know this post won’t stem the tide of mistrust and outright hatred of Muslims. I just needed to get off my chest this goofy notion that we need to cower in fear of the imposition of Sharia law into the lives of Americans.

The U.S. Constitution itself serves as an impenetrable shield against any such intrusion into the way this country governs itself.