Another headache-inducing controversy featuring Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) appears to be winding down, with paralyzed Democratic leadership handing Omar yet another victory.  Last time the House caucus was gripped with recriminations over an Omar outburst -- in that case, it involved anti-Semitism -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plan to rebuke the Squad member unraveled when the hard left loudly defended the backbencher.  A resolution to condemn anti-Semitism was embarrassingly watered down into a meaningless and weak "all bigotry matters" statement.  Clearly feeling vindicated, Omar took a victory lap, congratulating herself for starting an important conversation by employing anti-Jewish tropes.  She'd won.  And now she's won again, as her radical and hateful ideology becomes normalized within the Democratic Party.

In case you missed it, Omar published a tweet last week that lumped the United States and Israel together with, terrorist organizations, including Hamas, as having committed "unthinkable atrocities."  Indeed, she listed the United States first in her list of "crimes against humanity" perpetrators.  This stirred anger among some Jewish Democrats, who released a relatively harsh joint statement rejecting Omar's premise.  Squad members mobilized to once again smear their fellow traveler's detractors, reflexively accusing them of Islamophobia, racism, and harassment.  Omar herself echoed these attacks, which predictably invoked her religion and skin color as protective shields against criticism, no matter how well deserved.  The Minnesotan's tone changed abruptly within hours, clarifying that she didn't really intend to draw the comparison that she'd made, coinciding with a statement from House Democratic leadership slapping her on the wrist and thanking her for the clarification.

After Hamas distanced itself from Omar -- thanking her for her support of their causes, but refusing to be compared to the US or Israel -- Pelosi clearly wants this entire episode to be over.  But she's also evidently quite anxious to avoid any strife with the Squad, keenly aware that her thin majority cannot afford defections or whip count drama, so she's now insisting that her mild rebuke of Omar wasn't even a rebuke at all.  She is actively arguing that there was no accountability delivered.