By Judi McLeod ——Bio and Archives--December 28, 2018
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“Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib, who at 42 years old is the first Palestinian-American woman elected to the House, raised eyebrows when she announced she would lead a delegation to her mother's native West Bank rather than partake in the traditional freshman trip to Israel. She said she hoped to humanize the plight of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territory and show new members a part of the story that's not been included in the usual voyage sponsored by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. She's also a vocal supporter of the "BDS" movement, which advocates for boycotting, divesting and sanctioning Israel for its treatment of Palestinians.” (U.S. News) “During freshman orientation, it was Tlaib who joined Ocasio-Cortez in calling out former White House adviser Gary Cohn for telling the newbies, "You guys are way over your head, you don't know how the game is played." "No, Gary," Tlaib responded, "YOU don't know what's coming – a revolutionary Congress that puts people over profits." Her response earned more than 11,000 retweets and close to 49,000 likes. “She also took to Instagram to reveal what she would wear for her swearing-in ceremony: a maroon-colored Palestinian gown, known as a thobe. Instead of a Bible, she'll take the oath on a Quran. "It's a real huge symbol," she said. "It's history. It's culture."
“Ilhan Omar, a 36-year-old Democrat from Minnesota, will become the first U.S. lawmaker to wear a headscarf or hijab on the House floor. With her November victory, Omar becomes the first woman of color to represent Minnesota in Congress as well as the first Muslim refugee and first Somali-American. “When a conservative talk radio host complained that Omar would now make Congress "look like an Islamic republic," she took him on directly. "Well sir, the floor of Congress is going to look like America," she wrote. "And you're gonna have to just deal.”The new radicals elected to Congress are both female and minorities meaning that no one will be able to touch them with the proverbial 10-foot pole. Some Democrats can already see what’s coming:
"The freshman class as an aggregate will have more power than the leadership," says Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat about to start his second term.The balance of power is shifting in the House. Leadership doesn't matter nearly as much. Ordinary members of Congress have a much bigger platform. The size of your Twitter following and the size of your external base makes a huge difference.” (U.S. News)Meanwhile, the outgoing year of 2018 was one dominated by Fake News and visceral hatred unleashed worldwide by all of those suffering from the incurable Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). Deplorables must brace themselves for there will be ZERO Peace in the Valley in a destined to be worse 2019. As Ilhan Omar, the 36-year-old Democrat from Minnesota, soon to become the first U.S. lawmaker to wear a headscarf or hijab on the House floor, puts it: “We did not come to play”.
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