How the Ilhan Omar Marriage Smear Went From an Anonymous Post on an Obscure Forum to Being Embraced by Trump

wild

https://twitter.com/HouseDemocrats/status/1149856308801286148

And so it begins. Go House Dems!

“Just pointing out a pattern, right? We’re not talking just about progressives, [Pelosi is] singling out four individuals and knowing the media environment we’re operating in,” [Ocasio-Cortez] said, pointing out herself and other lawmakers have gotten death threats.

…The controversial viewpoint was shared just hours after Ocasio-Cortez accused Congress of using woman and minority groups as ‘bargaining chips’, auctioning and selling them off for their own political gain in a decades-old tradition.

…Saikat Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, attacked Pelosi and other Democrats in a tweet over the weekend, criticizing the Blue Dog Democrats and New Democrats – as the more moderate members of the party are known.

Chakrabarti referred to them as ‘New Southern Democrats,’ which is seen as a code word for segregationists.

“Instead of ‘fiscally conservative but socially liberal,’ let’s call the New Democrats and Blue Dog Caucus the ‘New Southern Democrats.’ They certainly seem hell bent to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did the 40s,” he wrote on Saturday.

…”If we don’t have progress on racial justice it will be because of the new Dems and blue dogs. Just like in 1940,” he later wrote.

…After her dressing down of social media manners in Wednesday’s meeting, Pelosi said her members were upset by comments from the unelected staffer.

“Our caucus is very upset about some of the comments that have come from the staff,”  Pelosi told reporters Wednesday after the gathering.

…Pelosi told lawmakers Wednesday morning it was better to do something than nothing for the migrant children being held at the border.

“Mitch McConnell would have been very happy if we passed nothing, and nothing was done. He doesn’t care about the children,” she said of the Senate GOP leader.

“But to have nothing go to the children. I just couldn’t do that. I’m here to help the children when it’s easy and when it’s hard. Some of you are here to make a beautiful pâté but we’re making sausage most of the time,” she added.

She warned them to stay unified against the GOP.

“We are up against this – a Republican Party, in the administration and in the Congress, that does not believe in governance – in honoring it’s responsibility to the people, does not believe in science, data, truth, evidence, fact to act upon,'” she said.

“So, don’t play into their hands. Every day some of our Members have to fight the fight for their re-election. It’s easy for me in my district, right? I never have to worry about whether a Democrat will represent that district, whether it’s me or somebody else. But, in their districts, it makes a difference for what we can do for the American people if we have the Majority,” she lectured.

“So, I hope there will be some level of respect and sensitivity for our – each individual experience that we bring to this Caucus. When we won the Majority in ’06, we were able to do great things for the country and, including a path to electing a Democratic President. This time we have that same opportunity.”

…Her lecture came after Ocasio-Cortez revealed she has not spoken to Pelosi in months and suggested she was given a series of major committee assignments in an attempt to keep her busy.

…Speaking with The New York Radio Hour, the freshman Democrat said she believes a significant amount of insincere pandering toward vulnerable groups occurs among lawmakers during legislative discussions.

“When it comes to women of color in Congress, particularly the freshman, it’s that we both have encountered and represent communities that have been auctioned off and negotiated off for the last 20 years – and we’re over it.

We see in these negotiations all the time – it’s like fighting for black communities or policies that help women,’ she said. ‘They’re bargaining chips. And they’re the first chips that are reached for in any legislative negotiations.”

Nancy Pelosi dismisses AOC’s incendiary charge that she targets ‘women of color’ | Daily Mail Online

????!

Oh, Dear Lord… She really doesn’t know how legislating works, does she?

The “insincere” jab at the overwhelmingly majority of her colleagues not only insults them but also insults the millions of people who put them in office. Is that really her intention? To insult Democratic voters? Interesting strategy for someone who seems like they want a national profile.

More importantly though, the whole process of getting a bill together and passed is about bargaining chips.

Didn’t she ever share bills with a roommate? Did she always get everything she wanted, every single time? Or did she sometimes have to compromise, negotiate, or -heaven forbid- have the savvy to give in a few times so she could cash the ‘favors owed’ in when she she really, really wanted something? No? Never? Completely unfamiliar concept then?

It seems like if a colleague is willing to pander to interests one represents and is advocating for, one might want to consider taking them up on it. Insincere or not.

And complaining about major committee assignments? That’s just backwards. That’s an opportunity to have an impact, a say, a seat at the table. Isn’t she there to work to get her viewpoint represented? Complaining about getting a seat at the table is pretty damn crazy coming from someone who also complains about power being too centralized in DC.

I mean the woman is actually complaining about taking part in the investigations of Trump. …While calling for moving forward with impeachment! She’s actually complaining about being asked to get done something she says she wants to get done.

Speaking of complaints… So, was her point that it’s OK to attack and harass other Democratic Representatives because she and her squad are getting threats from people who are presumably not Democrats and not Representatives in Congress? Yes, that is a cold thing to ask but it’s also a cold thing to allude to. Somehow Pelosi is culpable for some pretty unspeakable things that are happening to her because of her ethnic background? That’s cold. And ridiculous.

And she wouldn’t join the Select Committee on Climate Change? While she is out there touting the Green New Deal? So she cedes the opportunity to have a voice, to advocate for something she believes in, to people she doesn’t trust to do the right thing? That’s not looking out for the interests she represents, not even close.

Why not, instead of asking to set the agenda and run the committee she was too good to sit on, she asked to drop one of the other committees she sits on? One of the ones that it is such an insulting burden to have the opportunity to represent her constituents on?

And the staffer chiming in with race-baiting like that? In what world is it OK to call African-American legislators, especially ones from the south, segregationists? It’s bad enough that the story was the staffer’s words instead of the words of the person the voters elected to represent their district. What planet do you have to be from to not realize how out-of-bounds that is to say? One would think, after all the trouble she had from GOP about her age and appearance, that she and her camp would have more sensitivity and consideration.

Even his sorry-not-sorry ‘apology’ was a pretty vile thing to say, especially from the office of a Congresswoman, about potential allies.

“Outright disrespectful,” indeed.

There’s always a learning curve. Hope she gets her shit together and figures out how to work with people. It’d be a shame to have such a bright, rising star with seemingly a lot of potential end up being just a bunch of hype.

An intra-party struggle among Democrats that originated late last month over humanitarian aid was highlighted this week when Pelosi admonished representatives against engaging in public disputes with one another, particularly on social media.

“You make me the target, but don’t make our Blue Dogs and our New Dems the target in all of this, because we have important fish to fry,” Pelosi told Democrats during a closed-door caucus meeting Wednesday, according to a person in the room. “You got a complaint? You come and talk to me about it. But do not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just okay.”

…”How dare they try to play the race card at this point. It shows you the weakness of their argument,” said Democrat William Lacy Clay, an African American representative from Missouri, of the small progressive freshmen group. “It’s damaging to this party and the internal workings of the Democratic Party.”

…”They just want to score points—for whatever reason—that I find it juvenile now, their tactics,” the Congressional Black Caucus member elaborated. “I find their ignorance to be beyond belief about American history and about who are really segregationists.”

…”Because you can’t get your way and because you are you getting pushback, you resort to use the race card? Unbelievable. Unbelievable to me,” he continued.

Asked whether anyone in leadership should speak with Ocasio-Cortez about her comments, Clay responded: “I could care less. I could really care less. I agree with the speaker: Four people, four votes out of 247. Who cares?”

…Representative Val Demings, an African American woman from Florida, said she’s known Pelosi since 2011. Based on her experience working with the Speaker, Demings adamantly opposed the notion of racial underpinnings within Pelosi’s scolding of her caucus.

“I have never, in all of my interactions with her, ever thought that anything she has said or done, was racially motivated, other than to look out for people of color and to make sure that people of color that we represent in our communities have the resources just like anybody else, or to make sure that the Congress that we have—which we’ve all been bragging about—is the most diverse Congress in the history of our nation,” Demings said.

The Florida Democrat continued: “I hate to see when things aren’t working the way some people would hope they [would]…. If we differ on policy, I’m never going to call you a racist or sexist, because we different on policy.”

‘How Dare They Try to Play the Race Card’: Rift Between Nancy Pelosi, ‘The Squad’ Boils Over Among Democrats

mmmhmmm

 

Saying he was personally offended at the suggestion, the long-tenured member of the Congressional Black Caucus said Thursday that Ocasio-Cortez and three fellow progressive freshmen women who call themselves “The Squad” were lashing out because “they didn’t get their way” as the tensions between the old guard of Democratic leadership and the young, assertive lawmakers with outsized social network presences exploded into public view. 

…As Clay—who has been targeted for a primary challenge by Justice Democrats, the group that propelled Ocasio Cortez’s campaign—went off on the group, his colleagues rallied to the Speaker’s defense. 

“I don’t think that she’s singling out women of color,” said Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, a group where goodwill toward the speaker runs deep. 

…Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA), a member of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, said every member had a right to free speech. “I’ll speak for myself and say that, Ms. Pelosi, to me, is one of the finest leaders I’ve met and I’ve got to work with.”

…Asked about the issue as she exited the House floor on Thursday, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)—a lawmaker usually unafraid to speak her mind—just shook her head. 

“I don’t pay any attention to it,” she said. 

Black Caucus Member William Lacy Clay Says Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Using the Race Card in Pelosi Fight

Gotta love Auntie Maxine. Now there’s a woman with her priorities in order: getting shit done and not getting embroiled in self-sabotaging and childish games like hypocritical and counterproductive attacks on her own side.

Take notes ladies of the self-sabotage squad, take notes. Stop causing yourself and others needless problems, stop expecting leadership to support bills that won’t pass, stop making things about yourselves and start being part of the solution.

I mean, don’t you have enough enemies on the other side of the aisle? Did you really think you can promote your agenda without allies? Grow up or go home. You know damn well that public opinion can swing from one direction to the other so you must be aware that you can be primaried too.

 

“What a weak argument, because you can’t get your way?” Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s remark. “And because you are getting pushback, you resort to use the race card? Unbelievable. Unbelievable to me.”

…“It is a provocative statement,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. “The speaker has a lot of allies inside the caucus who are people of color. A lot – you know, like 99%.”

…Several other minority lawmakers said it wasn’t Ms. Pelosi who was in the wrong. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, called Ms. Pelosi a “proven leader with a lot of experience and maturity.” He questioned the relevance of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks.

…Saikat Chakrabarti, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, referred to members of moderate Democratic groups in a tweet last month as “New Southern Democrats” who are “hell bent to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did in the 40s.”

…Mr. Clay rebuked Mr. Chakrabarti – a former leader of the Justice Democrats, a left-wing activist group that has supported primary challenges to Mr. Clay and other veteran minority Democrats: “It shows you how ignorant and little history he knows, how ignorant he is to American history. How dare he.”

…Pelosi told reporters Thursday that she was “not going to discipline a member’s staff. That’s up to the member to do.” She added that she was unaware of his tweet “until members came to me, some almost crying, some very upset and angry about the language” used to describe members of the centrist Blue Dogs and New Democrats, prompting her to speak out at Wednesday’s caucus meeting.

…Leaving a private member meeting Thursday morning, Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said members were buzzing about Mr. Chakrabarti’s tweet and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s remark.

“Clearly the speaker has been inclusive of women of color,” he said. “When you have a caucus like we have, that has been as diverse as ours, the speaker has been very inclusive.”

The tweet was “insulting” and “a big issue,” Mr. Meeks added. “To try to compare this to what African Americans went through? . . . I think the African American community deserves an apology for that.” [emphasis: mine]

…Ms. Sewell said Thursday that the tweet was “offensive” and issued a statement noting that she was subject to bigotry while growing up.

“So, to even insinuate that I, or any other member of the New Dems, would promote policies that are racist and hateful or ones that would negatively impact communities of color is deeply offensive and couldn’t be further from the truth,” she said in the statement.

…At a Wednesday meeting in Ms. Pelosi’s office, Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., chairman of the New Democrat Coalition, told Ms. Pelosi in stark terms that moderates were irate about Mr. Chakrabarti’s tweet – specifically citing Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., one of several moderate black members representing Southern districts.

Ms. Sewell has tried multiple times to discuss the matter with Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Kilmer said in the meeting, but has not gotten her calls returned.

…Asked whether she thinks Ms. Pelosi harbors racial animus, [AOC]  said: “No, no, absolutely not, absolutely not.”

Dems defend Pelosi after Ocasio-Cortez says she targets ‘newly elected women of color’ | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

According to AOC Pelosi harbors no racial animus, and is in no way responsible or even remotely connected to the media environment the ladies of the “squad” operate in, let alone the death threats they receive but still it was appropriate to accuse her of racism?

How is the situation  these four ladies find themselves in remotely Pelosi’s fault?

How is it acceptable for one’s Chief of Staff to retain their position after attacking fellow Democrats so viciously and outrageously?

Why is it fair game for AOC to complain about the Speaker not reaching out to her (as if it is Pelosi’s job and not her own to resolve issues that she herself was having) over the last few months but then not have the decency to return her fellow Reps calls about the completely inappropriate race baiting feces her Chief of Staff spewed?

Why does AOC think its OK for her and her compatriots to slam other Democrats but its not OK for anyone to criticize them right back?

Is she really that naive and full of herself? Or is she simply OK with burning bridges to her allies, the ones who could help pass and enact the agenda she touts, and torching any chance of achieving any of her own stated goals because she didn’t get her way.? Either way it is a classic example of a type of progressive who, with their petulant protest votes and their refusing to compromise and work with people who see things differently than they do, obstruct progress instead enacting it.

Choosing to torch the ground and go nowhere over progress is self-defeating and if AOC doesn’t understand that she fade away with nothing to show for her time in Congress except noise and snappy tweets. Snappy tweets are great. Sometimes they even work to sabotage opposing narratives but they only amplify things . They don’t change anyone’s mind and they sure as shit don’t enact legislation or achieve any tangible goals.

I like to believe AOC’s priority is not to sabotage other Democrats but it’s starting to look like she cares more about making noise than passing laws and making positive change,

Some of the crap AOC gets she obviously doesn’t deserve but this stuff? These arguments and examples of either an unwillingness or inability to work with others on her own side? This is all of her own creation. She and her sabotage-ourselves-and-blame-others-for-it squad need to either grow up or go home and stop sabotaging things for everyone else.

Not that the Peanut Gallery has strong feelings on the toxic and destructive nature of princess-progressives who obstruct progress when they don’t get every little thing they want or anything! LOLOLOLOLOL.

The internal party fight spilled out into the open during debate over a border spending bill that passed the House last month. [With an eye on getting the bill passed] Pelosi allowed a vote on a Senate-passed version of the bill, without a series of amendments negotiated by progressives to protect migrants, at the behest of more moderate members.

…Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. — made it personal, suggesting in an interview with the Washington Post that Pelosi was deliberately targeting the four because of their race.

…Many members and staff remain frustrated, saying the freshman’s comments about race have angered many Democrats who say they went too far.

…Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, [called]  a bipartisan negotiating group known as the Problem Solvers Caucus [child abusers] for pushing for a vote on the Senate aid bill.

https://twitter.com/repmarkpocan/status/1144324911583780864

…The chief of staff to Ocasio-Cortez compared moderates to segregationists in a tweet that has since been deleted. The tweet [said] that two moderate groups, the Blue Dogs and the New Democrats, [should] be called New Southern Democrats, a group of Democrats who once supported segregation. He added, “They certainly seem hell bent to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did [in] the 40s.”

…Those comments enraged moderates and members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., the vice chair of the moderate New Democrat Coalition and a member of the CBC, released a statement condemning the remarks.

“To even insinuate that I, or any other member of the New Dems, would promote policies that are racist and hateful or ones that would negatively impact communities of color is deeply offensive and couldn’t be further from the truth,” Sewell said.

…[Pelosi] called on members to have “some level of respect and sensitivity” to the “individual experience” that each member brings to Congress, according to a transcript of her remarks provided by a source in the room.

…Pelosi went on to tell members to channel their frustrations into fighting back against Senate Republicans, not one another. She also reminded progressives that Democrats need to stay unified if they want to keep their current House majority.

…”I think we should realize who our real opponents are here,” Sewell said. “It is important that we resolve any kind of conflicts internally and not publicly.”

Pelosi Feud With Progressives Erupts In Public As Party Works To Unify : NPR

Mmmhmmm