The Toxicity of Rashida Tlaib

This article first appeared in New English Review.

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) is arguably the most obnoxious person in Congress, and given the number of obnoxious people inside the beltway, most of whom reside in the Democrat party, that is quite an accomplishment. She is angry, foul-mouthed, and a Jew hater to boot. Given her Palestinian heritage, that pretty much comes with the DNA.

This week, Tlaib has once again crossed the line of decency with her tweet reminding us of the 12^th anniversary of the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014.

The facts are these: On the day of the incident, Brown had just stolen items from a local convenience store and manhandled the clerk as he walked out the door. A police officer, given the description, spotted Brown walking down the middle of the street and stopped him. While the officer was still seated in the patrol car, Brown punched him, reached in the car, and tried to take the officer’s gun away from him. The struggle continued outside the car, and while the officer was pointing his gun at Brown (justifiably given the circumstances at this point), Brown tried to bullrush the officer, who, justifiably fearing for his life, shot and killed Brown.

What followed was nights of rioting in Ferguson, an investigation by the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Eric Holder, and their finding that the shooting was, in fact, justified. Claims that Brown had raised his arms and said, “Don’t shoot” were disproven. The officer subsequently resigned his position in the midst of death threats to the department and has basically disappeared in fear of his life. But 12 years later, along comes Tlaib with her tweet that Brown was “murdered”. What is she trying to do, start more riots?  Perhaps Tlaib is now trying to inspire her followers to track the former officer down (which is one reason I am not mentioning his name, although it was made public).

The fact is that Tlaib is a toxic individual who, time and time again, embarrasses her party, which now seems incapable of feeling embarrassed given the recent success of their most extreme elements in recent primary elections. The fact that she keeps getting re-elected in the 12th Michigan district, which includes parts of Dearborn and Detroit, speaks volumes about her constituents.