Barack Obama: “Failure to act now would bring -- quote -- "irreversible catastrophe."”

The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views.

It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say.

Because if this becomes the new normal, there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her — or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same.

It is a decision about how do we face and embrace this finite amount of time we have on the planet.