More Ellison Garbage
I want to find Keith Ellison (D-MN) and give him a big hug. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Keith Ellison is the first Muslim elected to Congress. Since his election he has had to put up with the most shocking abuse I could ever imagine directed at a US Representative. Here is a rundown:
On November 15th, Glenn Beck of CNN said, “I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, ‘Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies…I’m not accusing you of being an enemy, but that’s the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way.”
On November 28th, Dennis Prager said that Ellison should not be allowed to take his oath of office on the Koran. In actuality, member of Congress take their oaths only by raising their right hands, any and all religious book, tomes, or tracts are used purely in a ceremonial photo-op after the swearing in.
On December 1st, Sean Hannity implies that using the Koran is similar to using “Hitler’s Mein Kampf, which is the Nazi bible?”
On December 7th, Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) sends a letter to constituents, which reads, in part, “…if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran.”
Since then, there have been general swirling - Goode refusing to take back his inflammatory rhetoric, Prager appearing everywhere that will have him, etc. Keith Ellison has maintained a calm throughout that is simply remarkable. He actually entertained Glenn Beck’s rambling diatribe, and responded to the flurry over Goode’s letter by saying, “I’m looking forward to making friends with Representative Goode…I want to let him know that there’s nothing to fear.”
For his (again) purely ceremonial photo-op, Ellison has chosen to use a copy of the Koran owned by Thomas Jefferson. But that didn’t stop the Chicago Tribune (and I presume others) from getting a couple more hits in just before the swearing in.
The Tribune’s editorial staff found it necessary to say that Ellison - not those that have unjustly attacked him - “kicked up a dust storm” with his desire to use the Koran. Luckily, the Tribune notes, Ellison has found a “exquisitely reassuring way to settle the matter” (emphasis added) by using Jefferson’s Koran. Reassuring can only imply that there is cause for us to have been worried. The bigotry this implies is astounding.
Keith Ellison is an elected representative of Minnesota. For his loyality to be questioned - time and time again - purely because of his religion is simply foul. As the Tribune notes, the Bible, the Torah, and the Book of Mormon have all been used in the past. But when it’s a Muslim and the Koran, despite the Tribune’s fake flattery, it’s okay to be as prejudiced as you want, with no rebuke from anyone. Prager and Goode have simply gotten more publicity from this whole matter. It’s not just embarrassing, it’s… I don’t even have a word for how low I think all this is.
Sphere: Related Content