The Star Tribune chides Omar

I think if Rep. Ilhan Omar were a Republican, her hometown newspaper would be ferreting out fellow Republicans for their response to her frankly expressed deep thoughts on Israel. As it is, the Star Tribune fails even to report them. I tried to do the work that the Star Tribune won’t do in the City Journal column “A question for Democrats.”

Omar was in the national news last week with her comments about Lindsey Graham. The Star Tribune could hardly avoid the story, although it could seek to mitigate the damage (as Washington correspondent Patrick Condon did).

Yesterday the Star Tribune chided Omar editorially in “A serious, unforced social-media error by U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.” The editorial expresses disapproval of Omar’s comments about Graham, but it can’t resist the temptation to place them in the context of Trump tweets and statements by former Rep. Michele Bachmann. Michele has been out of office for four years (and I miss her!).

The editorial culminates in friendly advice to Omar not to embarrass us: “More care with her future communications will serve her — and Minnesota — well.” Physician, heal thyself. The Star Tribune would have served Minnesota well by covering Omar with a modicum of competence.

The editorial largely fails to serve any purpose other than discharging an obviously unpalatable obligation. By contrast, the pseudonymous attorney Warren Henry shows how one might perform a useful journalistic function criticizing Omar in the Federalist column “CNN Does Not Know How To Question Ilhan Omar’s Conspiracy Theories And Anti-Semitism.”

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