Keith Ellison, Syria and the Coming Conservative Smear
Today's announcement that a Congressional delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will meet with Syrian President Bashir Al-Assad during a four nation Middle East swing was sure to raise the ire of the White House. But because the bipartisan group includes the Muslim Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison, the predictable conservative catcalls of treason are also almost sure to follow.
During the visit, the delegation will visit Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Israel, where Speaker Pelosi will address the Knesset. But the White House, which severed contacts with Syria following the February 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri in Beirut and continues to reject the Iraq Study Group's call for renewed diplomacy with Damascus, heaped scorn on the Pelosi team. On Friday, Tony Snow stand-in Dana Perino offered up the usual "mixed messages" talking point:
"We think it is a really bad idea. People should take a stop back and think about the message it sends and the message it sends to our allies."
But Perino's mild rebuke will pale in comparison to the venom almost certain to come from right-wing radio and the conservative blogosphere. After all, Rep. Ellison, who joins Henry Waxman (D-CA), Tom Lantos (D-CA), Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Nick Rahall (D-WV) and David Hobson (R-OH), took his January 2007 oath of office on the Koran. And as you'll recall, that was sufficient for the mouthpieces of the right to question Ellison's patriotism - and allegiance.
Then, the right-wing rage dominated cable news and the floor of the House. On November 14, 2006, CNN's Glenn Beck demanded of Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, "Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies." In December, Virginia Congressman Virgil Goode declared that "I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States," adding "there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office." In a January 2007 op-ed titled "Save Judeo-Christian Values," Goode continued his anti-Muslim drumbeat, denouncing opponents of his immigration policies for leaving the United States "vulnerable to infiltration by those who want to mold the United States into the image of their religion."
Last December, the White House criticized similar visits to Syria by Senators Kerry (D-MA), Dodd (D-CT), Nelson (D-FL) and Specter (R-PA) as "not helpful" and "not appropriate." This time, we can expect a hellstorm of rage from the Bush administration's amen corner. The Muslim Ellison and his traveling companions can expect to hear that they are offering "aid and comfort to the enemy" or "pampering the terrorists" or even "supporting Islamo-fascists and undermining America's Christian values."
So while President Bush issues his clarion call to "muster the resolve to defeat this evil in Iraq," his allies will point to Keith Ellison as the evil to be defeated at home.
UPDATE: ThinkProgress notes the silence from the White House on travel to Syria by Republicans Robert Aderholt (R-AL) and Frank Wolf (R-VA).
Since we are nation of 'diversity' then all religions should be equally under the microscope in the public forum. Therefore, since mainstream Islam is often silent on whether they support or condemn radical Islam (we know elements fund radical Islam) I would like to hear hear Rep. Ellison state clearly how Islams's sharia law and a secular United States are compatible. Even Jesus the Christ when queried about matters regarding church and state asked to be shown a coin and responded:(Matthew)
Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"
21"Caesar's," they replied.
Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
Since sharia law does not recognize secular government this is a valid question. Whether one is christian, hindu, jewish, buddhist, taoist, sikh, et cetera Christ's answer is pertinent and incidental to our culture.
Rep. Ellison, please educate us?