If you’re a member of Congress, you have the ability to pick and choose which events you want to attend, and which you don’t. While I believe that every elected official should face their constituents often and openly, the goal of many in Congress is to do the exact opposite. With that in mind, it’s amazing how misguided some of them can be when choosing where and when to make appearances, and putting themselves in front of crowds that are… not their biggest fans.
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (Squad-MN) put herself in that position recently at a concert for Somali singer, Suldaan Seeraar. She went on stage then was promptly and rousingly booed off, by people in her own district. Best part? We have a video:
NOW… While that’s funny in and of itself, I thought this was interesting: rewatch the video above, and keep an eye on the singer, Suldaan Seeraa. While the crowd speaking their mind and letting Congresswoman Ilhan Omar have a piece of it, he doesn’t really look like he’s uncomfortable, he actually looks visibly confused.
Why?
Well, my working theory is this (and it’s a beautiful reminder that America is awesome) — in most places around the world, you can’t openly mock or even show displeasure with government leaders. I’d imagine that is more or less the case in Somalia.
If I were to guess, Suldaan Seeraar was told that a government leader was coming to give him some kind of recognition. In his mind, I could imagine him thinking, “sweet, they love me and this will enhance the performance.” Then, when the Congresswoman enters the stage and people begin to boo, my guess is that he thought, “WAIT, THEY CAN DO THAT!?”
Yes. Yes, we can do that because America rocks. Anyways… well done Minnesota. America haters got the boos that were coming to them.
