Friday, October 16, 2009

Lobbying While Muslim

Stupid is as stupid does.

The Council on American Islamic Relations is being accused of planting spies on the Hill to influence policy (you know, like the health insurance lobby). My guess is that these members of Congress leveling the accusations probably also think that there is a secret cabal of Jews who control all of the world's money.

Rep. Keith Ellison immediately came to mind, when I saw this story. He is one of two Muslims in Congress (Andre Carson, D-IN, is the other). I found this article regarding Ellison, and this current episode of madness. He and Carson better watch themselves while driving. Black and Muslim? Dude, they are so going to be profiled.

I wonder if Muslims have a greater understanding now of what black folks in this country can, and continue to, experience. All of the suppositions, innuendo, and presumptions heaped upon a body can wear that body down. Like black folks, Muslims are getting a good lesson in how the actions of a few (real terrorists who practice some form of Islam) translates into the treatment of the many (all of the other people who happen to practice Islam). I wouldn't wish that type of treatment on any group.

As to those members of Congress trying to channel their best McCarthy, I wonder when they will begin proposing segregation policies directed at Muslims (Lord knows their supporters are clearly up for that). I am sure that they could learn something from our internment of Japanese Americans and German Americans to provide some guidance. Perhaps they will breathe more easily when the "Muslim Menace" is successfully quarantined from the rest of society, American citizen or not.

I hope Ellison lets his genuinely mentally challenged colleagues have it.

Dumb asses

UPDATE: I just found this post at Think Progress that asks an interesting question about the authors of a book that the members of Congress used to support their claims against CAIR.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

As you acknowledge there are very real Muslim terrorists around the world and they have a track record of using religious charities to support terrorist financing. So taking a look at non-profit Muslim organizations shouldn’t necessarily lead to invectives from you.

I haven’t read the book but the authors are a former State Department official and a Stanford professor—not automatically crazies.

As for McCarthy, you should read The Secret World of American Communism published by Yale after the Cold War opened Soviet archives. Is it your view that there weren’t Communists active in the US, or just that he shouldn’t have gone after them?

Your invocation of the treatment of Japanese and Germans and of how blacks and Muslims are stereotyped really taps into your worldview. Again, we come back to the different perspectives of liberals and conservatives. You (a liberal) seem to see America as a land covered in oppression, injustice, and misery. Conservatives recognize that we have problems to solve, but tend to believe that for all our issues America has gotten a lot of things right over the years. I think we’ll get this one right to.

Anonymous said...

Cheer up! Your guy is President, the Ds have both houses of Congress, and some form of health care is going to pass. The right should be grumpy, but you lefties should waking up happy every day!

hscfree said...

Please, many conservatives barely acknowledge the idea of problems. I think many of them would like it if we pretended that everything was all wonderful and perfect. I tend to like balance, though you are convinced that I see the U.S only through the lens of problems. When in reality, my study of American history really did re-invigorate my sense of how great this country really is. But I got there by studying the acknowledged (and sometimes not so acknowledged) problems that the country has gone, and continues to go, through.

I would guess that if American history from a conservative perspective would put something like slavery and segregtion a sentence or two. The civil rights movement, women's movement, native american interactive history might get a little attention. Actually, American history from a conservative perspective would probably highlight the communist ties that some in the civil rights movement had (as opposed to the overall point of the movement), or highlight the most radical aspects of the women's movement (as opposed to the opportunities that opened up through the hard work of women across the political spectrum), and i doubt that gay rights would be mentioned.

All that I've just written is hyperbole, but it seems to be the way you approach your strawman liberal.

Of course there were real communists in our midst. It was an ideology that people thought would be helpful to their situation. And when they realized the ineffectiveness of the ideology, people left it behind. within the civil rights movement context, the people used that former association with communism on the part of supporters as a way to discredit the entire premise of the civil rights movement.

Anonymous said...

See the piece in today’s WP online by Aseem Shukla on the celebration of Diwali at the WH for a reason to feel good about the country. Though, perhaps you believe this religious celebration shouldn’t even take place at the WH?

Anonymous said...

We don’t have to look at the broad sweep of American history. Let’s look at your blog. Perhaps not a representative sample, but let’s take the first page of your blog. Seven entries. Five of the seven are generally negative or outraged about something. I know you had some very positive items on the parks, and some neutral ones on music or the seasons in the recent past, but I think 5 negative items out of 7 is probably a pretty accurate snapshot. You could go back and do a tally from the very beginning. Is it fair to say that you see more that is wrong with the country than what is right?

hscfree said...

Actually, I posted that information from the White House on my facebook page. Remember, I was in charge of diversity for an organization in my past life. Which should be a reminder, that even though I may not agree with something, I am still willing to help celebrate aspects of it.

hscfree said...

I disagree with you, because my posts, that you say are negative, are focused on the antics of a particular segment of the population. I see what they are doing as negative, and I point it out. That is not a reflection of my sense that the country as a whole is in trouble.

You might want to check a site like RedState or the Corner (National Review) to see what real negative criticism about the country looks like.

Unknown said...

Call me non-multi-cultural, but if there is a religion out there in serious need of reform, it would be Islam.

Cue the "Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance" ... I just ain't buying it. Religion in general is pretty bad for society, but a religion that has not changed significantly in more than a few centuries is scary -- in light of the nuclear age.

ALL religions have had their violent tendencies, I know. But one would be hard pressed to find pillars that advocate violence (the oft-quoted and spot-on Verse of the Sword) enshrined in the alleged God's holy word.

Recruiting wise, Islam has a definite hard edge (in what other religion can one lie, cheat, kill, steal and have a free pass as long as one does it for Allah) over the love-thy-neighbor types.

It's revealing that most moderate voices -- coming out of the U.S. -- are considered not "authentic" Muslims.

And that debunks the whole U.S. Muslim conspiracy thing. It's like having Richard Gere as a Bhuddist expert on a talk show. Really?

Islamic "republics" are a prime example of that "wall of separation" between church and state. If we can learn ANYTHING in the U.S., it would be that the Moral Majority and other such offshoots have NO place in government. Secularism, baby ... that rocks!