Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar cannot stop herself from opening her mouth and blurting out something sure to offend. She has a gift. This time she questioned the patriotism of natural born American citizens.

Saturday, July 13, 2019, Representative Omar sat in on a foreign policy discussion in Philadelphia at the very liberal Netroots Nation organized by the Daily Kos. The panel title was “A Vision For Progressive Foreign Policy In The 2020 Elections And Beyond” . Besides Omar, the other panelists were Iram Ali (MoveOn.org), Vincent Warren (Center for Constitutional Rights), and Noor Zafar (ACLU’s National Security Project). Reading the biographies of these “true believers” made me hope that I never have to socialize with them. Fun is not in their vocabularies. Anyhoo, because Omar has the gift of effrontery, she said this:

Something that I get criticized for all the time. It’s not what you think, so don’t gasp,” Omar said, prompting laughter from the panel and audience.

“It is that I am anti-American because I criticize the United States,” Omar said. “I believe, as an immigrant, I probably love this country more than anyone that is naturally born and because I am ashamed of it continuing to live in its hypocrisy.”

She went on to talk about how people ask her why she can’t be “more like an American,” noting how it “used to be a very positive thing.”

“We export American exceptionalism, the great America, the land of liberty and justice. If you ask anybody walking on the side of the street somewhere in the middle of the world they will tell you, ‘America the great,’ but we don’t live those values here. That hypocrisy is one that I am bothered by. I want America the great to be America the great.”

That something that she gets criticized for all the time is her blatant anti-Semitism. You can read some of her anti-Semitic statements here, under Israel. Also, Ayaan Ali Hirsi wrote about Omar’s anti-Semitism here.

Watch the video:

I understand Miss Omar’s point. Often, we natural born American citizens take America for granted. Civics is not taught in our public schools any longer and I am sure many natural born citizens could not pass a citizenship test pop quiz. You can try here, if you wish. I got 24 out of 24, of course. Naturalized citizens must pass this text.

Many of the fiercest patriots I have met in my life have been naturalized citizens. And, I have met them from every part of the globe from China to Kenya. My neighbor up the street is a Syrian-born Christian and pediatric gastroenterologist. I cannot count the number of times he has said to me that the United States saved his life. He says, “I was a drowning man; I would be dead if it were not for this country.”

My Westport, Connecticut neighbor, Dr. Leon Tec was Polish born and his wife Nechama was born in Germany. They were so grateful to be in the United States. They survived the Holocaust, participated in the birth of the nation of Israel, but the United States was their heart and soul and they were very proud citizens.

The most troubling part of Ilhan Omar’s statement is that she cannot proclaim her own “patriotism” without denigrating the patriotism of natural born citizens of the United States. Remember she said, “I believe, as an immigrant, I probably love this country more than anyone that is naturally born …”. That is as offensive as questioning someone else’s faith. How can you know what is in another’s heart?

Maybe many of my fellow natural born citizens cannot pass a civics test, that’s true. That doesn’t mean that those same citizens don’t have a deep and abiding love for this country. Ilhan Omar is so judgmental.

Ilhan Omar, on the other hand, has made statements that don’t exactly come off as patriotic. I am not talking about her criticizing America. No country is without fault. I cannot find a country born without the original sin of slavery. There must be one, but I cannot find it. Omar claims that we are living American hypocrisy, and the bobble-heads on the panel nod their agreement, but what hypocrisy is she speaking of with that statement. Karl Rove wrote a post in the Wall Street Journal regarding her anti-American attitude.

Apparently, the Squad that Omar is part of took over the Netroots Nation party in Philly yesterday. Kim wrote about it here.

Immigrants are some of our most patriotic citizens. Based on her own statements and actions, Ilhan Omar is not one of them. So, please don’t question anyone else’s patriotism, madam.

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