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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   18410 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 29, 2024

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Ilhan Omar speaks to her own people, in her own language, and she is getting blasted for it.

The video itself, from what I think is the most original source I could find.

The headlines I've collected:

Ilhan Omar Deportation Calls Grow From Republicans

'Squad' member grilled for remarks about allegiance: 'Somalians first, Muslims second'

Rep. Ilhan Omar Faces Backlash on Social Media Following Viral Speech on Somalia

From her own, preferred, translation:

We Somalis are people who love each other. It is possible that some of us are rough with each other, but when the going gets tough, we are people who have each other’s backs. We are sisters and brothers, supporting each other, people who know they are Somalis and Muslims, coming to each other’s aid and aiding their brothers and sisters.

And the other day, when we heard that some Somalis, or those who say they are Somalis, entered an MoU with Ethiopia, many people called me and said, “Ilhan, you should talk to the US government; what is the US government going to do about this?”

My response was: the US government will do what we ask it to do. We should have this confidence in ourselves as Somalis. We live in this country. We are taxpayers in this country. This country is one where one of your daughters sits in Congress. While I am in Congress, no one will take Somalia’s sea. The United States will not back others to rob us. So, do not lose sleep over that, O Minnesotans. The lady you sent to Congress is on this, and she is as cognizant of this interest as you are.

I would like to tell President Hassan Sheikh that we are impressed with the great work you have done. You have made it known to those living in Somalia and other places that, in spite of the many challenges we face as Somalis, we are nonetheless competent people. People who believe in their country and will not allow it to be endangered.

Thus, I want to congratulate the Somalis in Minnesota and everywhere on how united you are. How you all stood by our president, because he needs our solidarity. Somalia belongs to all Somalis. Somalia is one. We are brothers and sisters, and our land will not be balkanized. Our lands were taken from us before, and God willing, we may one day seek them, but what we have now will not be balkanized.

I thank you all for how you always welcome me and honor me; may the Lord honor you. Peace and blessings of God be with you.

Nothing here is news to me. I also think Omar should be expelled from Congress and deported, but that's because she's committed immigration fraud to bring her brother into the US by posing as his wife. It's always been obvious to me that she's simply not American, will never be American, and can never be American. She's Somali, and here, in her native tongue, talking to her coethnics, she admits as much. Look at her preferred translation again, and consider who she lumps herself with.

We Somalis are people who love each other.

We are sisters and brothers, supporting each other, people who know they are Somalis and Muslims, coming to each other’s aid and aiding their brothers and sisters.

This is the part that has been translated into Somalis first, Muslims second, and Americans not at all (emphasis mine). She does, eventually, say Minnesotans:

So, do not lose sleep over that, O Minnesotans. The lady you sent to Congress is on this, and she is as cognizant of this interest as you are.

The video subtitles do not translate Minnesota, but it's clearly recognizable (sounds like "rare minnesoto" at ~1:38).

You have made it known to those living in Somalia and other places that, in spite of the many challenges we face as Somalis, we are nonetheless competent people.

Somalia belongs to all Somalis. Somalia is one. We are brothers and sisters, and our land will not be balkanized. Our lands were taken from us before, and God willing, we may one day seek them, but what we have now will not be balkanized.

The "brothers and sisters" refers to Somali muslims, not the Scandinavian or German ethnics who have been in Minnesota for generations, those who are being replaced by Omar and her ilk. Not the yankees who moved west from New York and Pennsylvania. Solidarity is for blacks and muslims, not whites, not Americans.

I'm not trying to hide my biases here. I've long thought it obvious that this woman was a foreign agent, representing foreigners in the US congress at the expense of Americans. That offends me deeply. I can't even call her disloyal, because she's very clearly loyal to who she considers her own. I'm glad more people are noticing, and I hope that she is punished for her misdeeds eventually. I simply wish I could say, America for the Americans, our lands will not be taken from us, but I unfortunately that sentiment is only available for foreigners.

Hopefully Tlaib is next.

Man, I thought the immigration fraud argument was stupid when it came up years ago, and I think it’s stupid now. Are you the same guy who brought it up on Reddit? Because I’m pretty sure you’re citing the exact same tabloid. Do you have anything more credible?

  • -16

Why do you think it's stupid? Do you think it's simply not true? Or that it is true but doesn't matter? Or that she should have been able to bring her brother over at any time, so she was justified? What? Because I'm fairly certain it's true, and no, I don't have anything that could be cited on wikipedia to mollify you. Just local reporters that have dug around, which is where the story first got legs, and rumors in the Somalis in Minnesota.

Fill me in as a bystander, please. I am not adversarial to this point of view. In fact, I despise Ilhan Omar and would like the claim to be true because it's politically damaging to an adversary and hilarious. I just haven't actually seen any evidence that meets a remotely stringent standard of epistemology. Is there better evidence than it sounding plausible, being damaging to an adversary, and hilarious?

If you'll forgive links to PoliFact and the Daily Mail, I think these give a rough overview of the information involved.

https://www.politifact.com/article/2019/jul/18/did-ilhan-omar-marry-her-brother-her-hometown-news/

Basically she married Hirsi, divorced him, married Elmi but kept filing taxes with Hirsi, divorced Elmi and remarried Hirsi (she later divorced Hirsi and married a staffer of hers but I don't think it's relevant here, other than perhaps revealing she doesn't shy away from divorce).

I think the evidence does look like something shady went on with her marriage to Elmi, which may have been around getting him into the US so he could go to school. Though I note he was a British citizen and getting an F-1 visa is pretty straightforward as a British citizen in my direct experience. No evidence here that he is her brother however.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9891015/Claims-DNA-match-proves-Ilhan-Omar-married-brother.html

Here we have a claim that a Republican activist compared DNA from a cigarette claimed to have been smoked by Omar with DNA from a straw claimed to have been used by Elmi and that it showed a genetic match. However we have only their word that was the case, and they could have simply submitted DNA from any two siblings, as of course the lab wasn't present at the collection. Taking advantage of a pre-existing rumour to manufacture evidence? Or a true fact?

Apparently social media posts may lend credence to the idea Elmi is gay, which may speak to being part of an immigration scam marriage, but then again he is also apparently living back in the UK.

If I were pressed, given my knowledge of Islamic family practices, I might think Elmi was likely a cousin or close family friend. It's not unknown for marriages to cover for gay men in general, so I suspect their marriage wasn't "real". The DNA test is I think hopelessly tainted, so whether he is actually her brother is up in the air. Though it's possible someone with more knowledge of DNA tests might be able to see something those in the results that is dispositive.

I don't really believe you have any firsthand knowledge of Somali rumors.

Of course I don't. It's second and thirdhand.

I also don't have firsthand knowledge from the local reporters, because I'm not local.

That it’s not true. I spent some time trying to dig up my response from the last time it came up, but had no luck. Reddit’s search tools have only gotten worse.

I believe my argument boiled down to “why does this cigarette have so much credibility?”

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