Today marked a turning point of sorts. The House of Representatives voted 407-23 in favor of the Democrats’ revised, anodyne resolution condemning all forms of bigotry. As Scott has noted, Nancy Pelosi retreated to this meaningless resolution because many House Democrats weighed in to support Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitism. Faced with a rebellion in the ranks, Pelosi backed down. She now denies that the resolution had anything to do with Omar.
That is quite a change from the long-ago days (less than a month ago, actually) when Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer issued a statement saying, among other things, “Congresswoman Omar’s use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel’s supporters is deeply offensive.” The Democratic Party leadership’s climbdown is complete: today, as predicted, Omar voted for the resolution that began life as a censure of her anti-Semitism.
So Pelosi has been humiliated, and Omar and her friends are ascendant. Via Twitchy, some observations from the House:
I’d laugh too, if I had just taken over the Democratic Party. I think we have crossed a Rubicon of sorts. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and the Congressional Black Caucus–which supported Omar unanimously, as best one can tell from news reports–are in the driver’s seat. Anti-Semitism is now accepted by the Democratic Party.
Never mind lame attempts to change the subject like the multiple tweets from presidential candidates to the effect that it is not anti-Semitic to criticize the policies of the government of Israel. Of course not, but that is not what Omar did, and not what she got into trouble for doing. She has criticized, rather, American supporters of Israel who she says were bought off by “Benjamins” and are loyal to a foreign power. And she has tried to bring about the destruction of Israel, an important American ally, by supporting the BDS movement, which seeks Israel’s obliteration.
The Democratic Party is not the first to embrace anti-Semitism. A number of European parties did so in the early decades of the 20th century. The political calculus is straightforward: there are only a few Jews, a slow-growing (if growing at all) demographic, while there are lots of anti-Semites, especially among our fast-growing Islamic population. That is, of course, Omar’s base.
We witnessed today the birth of a new Democratic Party. And so far, I haven’t seen a single Democratic officeholder complain about it.
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