Kudos To Gov. Christie (R-NJ)

It' not often that I will praise a Republican, but even Halley's Comet pays us a visit every now and then.

Gov. Christie' response to people who objected to his appointment of Sohail Mohammed, a Muslim-AMERICAN judge, to a state bench deserves a big round of applause.

They are criticizing him because he is a Muslim American…I was disgusted, candidly, by some of the questions he was asked by both parties at the Senate judiciary committee…Sharia Law has nothing to do with this at all — it’s crazy! It’s crazy. The guy’s an American citizen…This Sharia Law business is crap. It’s just crazy, and I’m tired of dealing with the crazies. It’s just unnecessary to be accusing this guy of things just because of his religious background. (Via Think Progress)

Perhaps a few others can follow suit.

And here is an extensive video of Gov. Christie's remarks on the Sohail Mohamed/Sharia Law controversy. With a standing ovation for him, no less.

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Blind to Their Own Insanity

In a post titled "Insanity", the Constructive Curmudgeon complains that the press is trying to cover up the religious motives of the Ft. Hood killer (he is a Muslim and the Curmudgeon runs a right wing Christian blog.)

The Curmudgeon closes with the following question: "Now consider what the press would do if a Christian soldier turned on his own while shouting, 'Praise to King Jesus'." Luckily for him, our Christian soldiers are a bit more discreet when they do their killing in the name of JC. In other words, they do the killing without the shouting. Jeremy Scahill summed it up for The Nation.

Oh, by the way: The press on those who kill in the name of Christ? Unless you read non-mainstream press or watch Democracy Now, hardly a peep.

Deconstructing Sen. Lieberman's Ignorance of Terrorism

R.J. Eskow of the Huffington Post has written an excellent deconstruction of Sen. Lieberman's misuse of the word "terrorism". As a bonus, it applies to other Islamophobes, like my favorite target for misinformation and ideological hatred (of the Christian kind), Mr. Groothuis of The Constructive Curmudgeon.

On the Fort Hood Killings and Islamophobia

The man responsible for the slaughter of 12 comrades and the injuries sustained by many others at Fort Hood was a Muslim. So the Islamophobic crowd has lost no time decrying Islam and Muslims, as if all Muslims were equal. You can see what I mean below.



No one questions that the action of Major Hasan are unspeakable and no one doubts that Islamic terrorism is a problem. But no one should forget that we do not yet know if this is an act of terrorism or simply one of rage (big difference), nor that many Muslims serve honorably in the U.S. military, day in, day out. Often these soldiers are subjected to the harassment and the suspicions of their comrades, but they still choose to discharge their duty with honor among many difficulties. That's why I am posting the picture below, as a reminder that bigotry and hatred are as worth fighting against as terrorism is.


You should read this article, too, from the Huffington Post.