Ilhan Omar’s nonapology apology

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. infuriated much of her own Democratic Party with a casual anti-Semitic trope on Sunday evening, suggesting that Jews retain power through un-American moneyed cabals.

But waking up to the anger she had sparked, on Monday, the congresswoman decided she had to respond. She did a pretty awful job of it. This nonapology apology is not an apology.

Had Omar left out the final four lines, she might have drawn a line under this saga. But she didn’t do that, because she couldn’t. She had to leave in a little reminder that she isn’t really that sorry. Hence the “at the same time … AIPAC.”

Look, the issue here isn’t that Omar has no right to express concern about special interests. The issue is that Omar is evidently so arrogant that she cannot let the issue sit as it should, with an apology. Instead, she has to bring American Israel Public Affairs Committee up, yet again, as a proxy for the original “Benjamins” tweet. And so, we are where we are: with a congresswoman appearing to portray Jews as a fifth column in American politics.

We must now assume that Omar is either an idiot or a not-so-silent anti-Semite. She should hang out with British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.