On July 4, an inspiring column in the Denver Gazette by Luige Del Puerto, a native of the Philippines, expressed his pride and gratitude to be an American. He did so on the 12th anniversary of the day he and his wife took their oath of American citizenship – while holding their one-year-old son in his arms.
Most of us are familiar with the section of that oath that reads, in part, “I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all agents foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law…”
But he also cited the first part that reads: “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen.” That doesn’t mean one has to forsake their roots and fondness for another country. Italian-Americans, for example, who become U.S. citizens can still love Italy. But the U.S. now becomes your chosen first loyalty.
Of course, you can recite that clause with no intention of honoring it just to get the benefits of citizenship in a country you really dislike. And you can even run for Congress. Which gets me to what stimulated this column.
The antithesis of Luige Del Puerto’s heartfelt love of America is what I regard as two of the most detestable members of the U.S. Congress: Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), the first two Muslim women to be elected to the U.S. House. Both are members of the so-called Squad, a quartet of radical left-wing progressives that also includes the theatrical but merely annoying Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Tlaib and Omar are so acrimonious, they make AOC seems almost charming by comparison.
Tlaib is a Palestinian-American born in Detroit to Middle-Eastern immigrants. Her father was born in a Palestinian neighborhood of Jerusalem and her mother lived in the West Bank near Ramallah. Her 13th Congressional District is heavily Democrat. Biden carried it with 74% of the vote in 2020. It’s also known as “majority-minority,” with only 46% white, 44% black and a large Arab community. Tlaib isn’t just pro-Palestinian, which is understandable given her heritage, she’s militantly so and blatantly anti-Israel and antisemitic. She’s a social justice warrior who hates capitalism. Her demeanor is grating and even profane. At a progressive shindig in DC hours after being sworn into Congress following Trump’s election she screeched, “we’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the mother—–.”
At a recent Palestinian conference in Detroit, she accused Biden of “cowardice” for not supporting Hamas against Israel, and declaring, “We’re not gonna forget in November, are we?”
Biden talks a good game on supporting Israel but vacillates in practice when he pressures it to hold back on crushing Hamas for good. Outside of the rare congressional district with large Muslim communities — that will reelect Democrats anyway — it’s unlikely the anti-Israel Muslim vote will matter much in the election. It’s not worth pandering to and neither is Tlaib. If Biden’s concerned about losing the support of the foolish pro-Hamas anti-Israel college kids who temporarily obstructed campuses and the outside agitators who manipulated the protests he overestimates their number. And they’re certainly not going to vote for Trump, instead.
And then there’s Rep. Ilhan Omar who was born in Mogadishu, Somalia embroiled in a hell hole of civil war. She escaped with her family in 1991 at the age of eight to a camp in Kenya with 30,000 refugees for four years before immigrating to the U.S. when she was twelve, settling in Minneapolis. Omar was elected to the House from the 5th Congressional District, centered in Minneapolis, in 2018. The district has a large Somali community and has attracted many other African immigrants. It’s solidly in the Democrat camp giving 80% of its vote to Biden in 2020.
Omar’s attitude and politics mirrors Tlaib’s: radically progressive, antisemitic, and anti-Israel, calling for the “dismantling of its Zionist apartheid regime.” Omar was rebuked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a tweet equating Israel and the U.S. with Hamas and the Taliban, in response to which she branded her critics as Islamophobic. Whatever our and Israel’s imperfections, Israel is an ally; Hamas is the enemy of Israel, the U.S, and “infidels” like us everywhere.
Given their roots, this duo should thank the Heavens (or Allah) for their safety, freedom, and citizenship in America. It’s obvious their loyalty to America is subordinate to Islam, Palestinians, and Hamas’s dictatorial aggressors. To say nothing. of their disgraceful ingratitude.
Longtime KOA radio talk host and columnist for the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News Mike Rosen now writes for CompleteColorado.com.