If you’re an oligarchy who wants to discredit an elected representative, there are several ways to do it.  Quote mining is a popular pastime for graduates of Ivy League schools of journalism with six-figure salaries.  Sometimes their private life is an easy target.  But the most effective way is to criticize their views.  You can even be intellectually honest if you’re lucky.  Sometimes the target’s views are odious and unpopular.  But what if that’s not the case?  What if the target supports populist policies?  In this case you’re going to have to get a bit dirty.  The UK establishment pretends that Jeremy Corbyn is an antisemite without ever pointing to anything antisemitic he’s ever said.  If you say it enough, some people will believe it. 

Washington is in a pickle; some of the newer members of Congress are funded by their constituents instead of corporations and other special interest groups.  Today I’m talking specifically about Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar.  Establishment bootlickers have already tried the antisemitic smear on her.  They said that her public uttering of the indisputable fact that the Israeli lobby donates to politicians invoked an antisemitic trope about Jews controlling the world with their money.  That worked to an extent, but some people are still listening to her.  They tried quote mining also.  They deceptively clipped out four words, “some people did something,” from a long and thoughtful speech to trick Americans into thinking she was trivializing 9/11.

So it’s time to bring out that age-old Americanism: calling the target un-American and it’s modern derivatives of anti-Americanism or claiming that they “hate America.” This one really only works well in America and a few other places, since normal countries aren’t creepy patriotic cults.  Also, you have to be a special brand of stupid to fall for it.  It’s easier to pull it off if the target is brown or black, and if they wear some type of religious head garb not common in the Christian world that is a major bonus.


Every single politician running for office claims there are flaws in their country’s system.  No one says, “This country is perfect in every way, so vote for me.” Trump’s campaign slogan was “Make America great again,” which strongly implies that it’s not currently great.  If you fell for the metal gymnastics that Omar’s criticisms of America make her un-American, you really need to reevaluate your life.  This is a childish assault on logic.  By this same logic, a mother who scolds her child for running out onto a busy highway “hates her child.”

Of course they can’t point to any policies she supports that are destructive to America, so they just make stuff up.  At a recent rally, Trump launched a new volley of lies into the public consciousness; among them are that “She pleaded for compassion for ISIS recruits,” “al-Qaeda makes her proud,” and that she “has a history of launching viscous antisemitic attacks.”

He also pointed out some factual things she said and claimed they weren’t true.  He said that Omar thinks “Terrorism is a reaction to our involvement in other people’s spheres.” I guess he expects us to believe that the massive increase in terrorist attacks this century coinciding with the onset of Americas Forever War in the Middles East is a total coincidence.  He also said Omar “blamed us for Venezuela.” Again, another factual statement.  Venezuela was doing fine before US sanctions.  A study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) found that more than 40 thousand Venezuelans have died since the imposition of sanctions in 2017 due to lack of access to medicine, food and medical equipment (but mostly medicine).  Believe it or not, this is NOT due to evil socialism hating life-saving medicine or whatever we’re supposed to believe.

These lies are incredibly dangerous.  Anyone who believes anything Trump says already has a tenuous grasp on reality, so if they are now convinced that Omar is a supporter of al-Qaeda and ISIS, I can easily imagine an assassination attempt.  She’s already received many death threats.

I’ve been pointing out the absurdity of US propaganda for years, so I’m not often surprised by the boldness of their lies, but Ilhan Omar being a supporter of al-Qaeda is particularly laughable.  One very quick Google search reveals that.  In fact, one can make a solid argument that she is the MOST ANTI-al-Qaeda member of Congress out of all 535 members.  She’s possibly the biggest congressional critic of Saudi Arabia (her main competitor being Tulsi Gabbard).  John Kerry admitted in a congressional testimony that Saudi Arabia funds ISIS and Al-Qaeda, and Hillary Clinton did the same in a leaked email.  Omar is in favor of cutting all ties with the Kingdom.  Meanwhile Trump is selling them hundreds of billions of dollars in weapons, much of which end up in the hands of ISIS.  The US is also de facto aligned with al-Qaeda in Syria and Yemen, acting as their air force on multiple occasions.  As Tulsi Gabbard so eloquently tweeted: “Trump is Saudi Arabia’s bitch.”

Trump calls Omar a “leading voice of the Democrat Party.” I think I demonstrated  last week how absurd that talking point is.  If you think the Pelosis of the party are defending their comrade, you are severely misinformed.  Omar’s refusal to pledge allegiance to the United Corporations of America makes Nancy “I’m the best fundraiser in Congress” Pelosi look just as bad as it does Trump.

Of course, in reality, the gullibility of the Trumpians and right-wing Democrats on this issue mostly comes down to the hijab.  America’s grossly dumbed down media has trained them to react emotionally, instead of thoughtfully, to everything.  And they’re scared.  All the dull-mindedness and patriotism mostly comes down to fear.  And right-wingers are some of the biggest cowards in the world.