Anti-Semite Congressman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota endorsed Bernie Sanders for her party's nomination yesterday at a rally in Minneapolis. Omar said that she's thrilled to support a candidate who "will fight Western Imperialism."
Look, Omar is not known for either the depth of her understanding or knowledge of the world. She's an ideologue who doesn't care much about facts or truth. Still, it's funny to hear Omar rail against Western imperialism. That's a line that's like 60 years out of date. Up until 1960, nearly all of Africa and Asia consisted of colonies of European countries. This led to huge empires controlled by Western powers. At the time of World War II, over 25% of the people in the world lived in either the British or the French empires. There really was Western imperialism. Then those empires disappeared. Today, the British empire consists of the UK and a few tiny places like the Falkland Islands (population 2500) and Gibraltar where the residents consistently vote to remain part of Britain. France's overseas territories consist of places like the western half of St. Martaan in the Caribbean and an island or two elsewhere. Simply put, there is no meaningful Western Imperialism left in the world.There are only three countries that are actually trying to expand into empires: China, Russia and Iran. None qualify as standard bearers for Western Imperialism.
I realize that Sanders is an unrepentant Communist who seems stuck in the 1960's. Nevertheless, one would think that someone would tell him and Omar that dredging up rhetoric from old speeches of Fidel Castro or Nikita Khrushchev is not a good way to win over many thinking Americans.
Of course, who knows how the other candidates will respond. Maybe Biden will start shouting "54.40 or fight". Warren can tell her rallies, "White man speak with forked tongue."
Look, Omar is not known for either the depth of her understanding or knowledge of the world. She's an ideologue who doesn't care much about facts or truth. Still, it's funny to hear Omar rail against Western imperialism. That's a line that's like 60 years out of date. Up until 1960, nearly all of Africa and Asia consisted of colonies of European countries. This led to huge empires controlled by Western powers. At the time of World War II, over 25% of the people in the world lived in either the British or the French empires. There really was Western imperialism. Then those empires disappeared. Today, the British empire consists of the UK and a few tiny places like the Falkland Islands (population 2500) and Gibraltar where the residents consistently vote to remain part of Britain. France's overseas territories consist of places like the western half of St. Martaan in the Caribbean and an island or two elsewhere. Simply put, there is no meaningful Western Imperialism left in the world.There are only three countries that are actually trying to expand into empires: China, Russia and Iran. None qualify as standard bearers for Western Imperialism.
I realize that Sanders is an unrepentant Communist who seems stuck in the 1960's. Nevertheless, one would think that someone would tell him and Omar that dredging up rhetoric from old speeches of Fidel Castro or Nikita Khrushchev is not a good way to win over many thinking Americans.
Of course, who knows how the other candidates will respond. Maybe Biden will start shouting "54.40 or fight". Warren can tell her rallies, "White man speak with forked tongue."
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