Dem Rep. Jan Schakowsky: C'mon, Omar comes from a different culture

Via the Free Beacon, she makes a good point.

It’d be unfair to ask Omar to fully assimilate basic American cultural sensitivities until she’s a senator.

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Gotta say, although I realize Democrats are in “any weapon to hand” mode, I did not expect them to cite the lingering foreign-ness of a Muslim refugee turned congresswoman as an argument in her defense. In any other context, accusing Omar of being ignorant of certain American norms because she was born abroad would earn you an indignant 27-tweet rebuke on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter feed. Of course the xenophobic mainstream of this country thinks Omar is “less American” than they are. Of course they look at a dark-skinned woman in a hijab and conclude, “She could never relate to any culture besides her own.” This is why voices like Omar’s are so critical, to counter these vicious stereotypes!

Now here’s Schakowsky protecting Omar by treating her like she’s E.T. trying to figure out the Speak & Spell.

It should be noted, and has been noted, that Ayaan Hirsi Ali is also from Somalia and her “foreign-ness” hasn’t prevented her from grasping the nuances of anti-semitism. It should also be noted that she and Omar each migrated to a western country at around the same time, Hirsi Ali in 1992 (when she was 23) and Omar in 1995 (when she was 14). That’s not to say Omar should be measured against Hirsi Ali in her advocacy of western values; virtually no one is as stalwart as Hirsi Ali in that regard. But it is to say, as mannnnnnny other immigrants to the U.S. could attest, that 20+ years is plenty of time to form a basic appreciation of, and sensitivity to, your new home country’s norms — especially when your Jewish allies have tried repeatedly to educate you about them.

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Why, an immigration hawk might suggest that if immigrants can’t, or won’t, learn to respect American norms about anti-semitism in the span of 20 years, perhaps we should consider limiting how many immigrants we accept.

Anyway, at the rate we’re going with Democratic wagon-circling around her dual-loyalty smear, I assume this saga ends with Pelosi apologizing to Omar.

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