Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are the gifts that keep on giving. The recent stupid controversy between two lightweight U.S. representatives and Israeli officials would have been amusing if it weren’t so pathetically transparent.
At the invitation of a Palestinian political organization, both Representatives Tlaib and Omar were scheduled to do a propaganda tour promoting a boycott of Israel. Doctor Phil might have asked, “How is that working out for you?”
Not particularly well for those two radical anti-Semites. President Trump gave the green light to Israel to put the brakes on the visit. He correctly observed that those two radical Democrats have made no secret that they hate Israel.
Tlaib, meanwhile, asked Israel to reconsider. She wanted to visit her 99-year-old grandmother. If the Israeli government would relent, she would refrain from attacking Israel. Tlaib put the promise in writing. The Israeli Foreign Office quickly approved the visit on humanitarian grounds.
Unable to accept yes for an answer, Tlaib reversed course, “Visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions meant to humiliate me would break my grandmother’s heart.”
The Israeli Foreign Minister wasn’t fooled. He explained, “I approved her request as a gesture of good will on a humanitarian basis, but it was just a provocative request aimed at bashing the State of Israel.…Apparently her hate for Israel overcomes her love for her grandmother.”
Tlaib’s reply was that the Foreign Minister’s response was the predictable charge of “racist treatment that many Palestinian Americans endure” from Israel.
Topping off this silly political soap opera, Tlaib’s grandmother let everyone know what she thought of Donald Trump: “May God ruin him.”
The mainstream press also had a predictable spin on the whole dopey episode. The ABC evening news coverage, as usual, blamed President Trump, as if Israel took orders from an American President on who could visit their country.
In the meantime, Democrats complained that the mean old Israelis were banning two democratically elected U.S. representatives and the Democrat caucus should unite against Israeli oppression.
In fact, one Time Magazine commentary crowed that the incident was “step too far, (for Israel)” even for those lawmakers who had previously criticized the antics of Tlaib and Omar. The article reported that “ironically (the President’s role in the Israeli ban) resulted in the most unified show of force House Democrats have shown on this issue since January.
What may have seemed ironic to the press, was most likely an intentional act by President Trump. Democrats reacted to President Trump’s abrasive tweet by predictably rallying around those two nitwits.
However, casually observers and other normal Americans know better: You don’t allow radical outsiders, no matter what their status, to visit your country and incite hatred and riots.
In Israel, there is actually a law that covers that prohibition. So, the Democrats are doing what crazy people do: They are exhibiting the same behavior in hopes of a different result.
In the midst of this insanity, there were some sensible observers:
- Fox contributor Charles asked, “Who uses their aging grandmother as a pawn to make a political point…? There’s something really wrong with someone that does that.”
- Brooke Goldstein in an opinion piece for Fox News wrote that Israel “was wise to deny entry” to Tlaib and Omar. Those two have “built their brands” on delegitimizing Israel. Had Israel permitted the visit, those two “would have used (the visit) to give themselves an international platform to spew their hate.”
What Representative Tlaib needs to do after making an idiot of herself is to follow President Trump’s advice: Stay home and tend to her constituents.
Of course, she will not. Her leftist, anti-Semite fanaticism won’t let her. When this kerfuffle settles, she will do or say something stupid. Donald Trump will point it out, and, once again, the Democrats will have to respond in outrage and risk showing everyone their true-blue radical-left selves.
Nevertheless, the Democrat party is beginning to come apart at the seams. The division over U.S.-Israeli relations is but one wedge issue that threatens party unity going into the next election.
The Democrats are at a generational crossroads. Nancy Pelosi won’t be able to hold things together much longer. She is closing in on 80. Young radicals like Ocasio-Cortez are demanding a say in steering their party leftward.
Then there are those superannuated goofs Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, who personify the ideological gulf in the party. Joe wants to continue the failed Obama legacy; Bernie wants to give Socialism another chance.
Our country’s only hope in the face of those unacceptable Democrat offerings is to reelect President Trump in 2020.
