* Also known as the “Kerry Apology”

I know he isn’t a Senator. Slip of the typing. Something tells me that given his current stance and his AIDING AND ABETTING he will be. The GOP loves a good Christian crackpot.

And I’m not backing off my stance. Promoting this stuff is aiding and abetting the terrorist cause whether you want to admit it or not. He who spreads the stupidity is just as guilty as he who started it.

I’ve got my own ideas about casualties and cost but I won’t go there. Its Holidaymas.

I notice you backed off the “aiding and abetting.” Good. Admitting the msitake is step one to reform.

And -PSSST- Goode ain’t a senator.

Am I saying they are afraid of this ridiculous phobia that he is propogating and what it could lead to if left unchecked? Yes. And they probably should be. And so am I.

Why? Am I Muslim? No. But I am a citizen of a country whose tenets include freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and separation of church and state, and any time a public official promotes the idea that one religion is somehow more harmful than another, or should be shunned in favor of another, I get queesy. Really.

Every generation we’ve had to have someone to fear/hate. Today it’s Muslims because some are terrorists. Used to be Soviets because some were spies and KGB guys. With Kennedy it was Catholics – I’ll never get that one. At one point it was anyone whose heritage was Japanese – because they all have to be spies after Pearl Harbor, right? Let’s not forget those Germans (’cause everyone of those is a Nazi right)? Way back in the day it was the Irish – just because, it seems. Before that it was anyone black because they were lesser than everyone else and should be happy to be slaves. Before that it was the native Americans – well, we need your land so die, will you?

Do you not see a pattern here (and not just in the US – it’s everywhere in the world where you can cite these examples), or do you just refuse to recognize it? Ignorant people breed fear and hatred of things they do not understand. Come to think of it that’s the only thing I can say for the Senator – the terrorists do it on purpose. He just does it out of sheer ignorance.

I’m not apologizing for any of the nastiness of our history and neither should you – I didn’t do it therefore I shouldn’t have to. I do take from it that there is no reason to repeat those types of mistakes, which is what will happen if this guy actually gets a foothold with this tripe.

Why should they be afraid?

Yes, it’s a trick question…

Promoting the idea that we should be afraid, thereby living in TERROR of all Muslims because there are TERRORIST Muslims in the world is ludicrous, backward, and exactly what Osama and his buddies want. It is promoting them dually, in fact, because it – 1. makes people afraid of anyone Islamic and therefore spreads hostility to normal, peaceful Muslims, and 2. makes those normal, peaceful Muslims hate the crackpots who are afraid of them when they weren’t the ones flying the damned planes, were they? Are you going to tell me of the over three thousand dead in that catastrophe that not one of them was a peaceful Muslim just working in the towers or on one of those planes – that amongst our innocent dead every one of them was of Judeo-Christian faith? That’s just unreasonable and you damned well know it – just as unreasonable as fearing a group of people for the atrocities committed by the few. Sen. Goode might as well be a cheerleader for terrorism, because they’ve certainly beaten him and now he’s trying to sell his phobia to others.

I’m not buying. If this guy wanted to fundraise he should have said “Hey let’s get that rat-bastard Osama and fry his ass.” Now there’s a cause I’d give him every red cent for.

By the way – I have several peaceful Islamic friends and only one of them is actually from the Middle East. He’s a Saud. The rest are – this will scare you and the Senator I’m sure – born and bred white everyday joe average hard working Americans who converted prior to 9/11 and are now scared that state senators can get away with being so obviously anti-freedom of religion. Wow that kind of sounds like they’re terrified …

Virgil Goode – Nazi?

Am I saying this: That Virgil Goode is a Nazi? No, I am not. I’m just saying that some people are saying Virgil Goode is a Nazi. Or, at least, Nazi-esque. That’s it.

–WKW

Well, confession. I actually did not realize the definiton of bigotry was, in addition to hate, ‘intolerance.’ So from that standpoint, Goode could be considered a bigot.

But I have qualms. We all pretty much are intolerant about something or somebody, from the trivial to the not so trivial. I might technically then be intolerant of progressives, OW of conservatives or Republicans. But what does that mean – if neither of us act on it illegally? Maybe some of its true – in general. We all make choices and have ‘people’ likes and dislikes. That shouldn’t be illegal or even objectionable – unless we act negatively upon it. Its kind of like we are verging over into ‘thought crimes’.

And isn’t it equally ‘bigoted’ to impute to Republicans (‘GOP bigot eruption’) the thoughts and actions of Goode?

LM, Does it occur to you in a post decrying fear, ignorance and bigotry, you accuse the government (certain individuals therein) of aiding and abetting terrorists?

And my Christmas moratorium prevents me from copmmenting on your accusation of the suffering we are casuing in the Mideast.

“Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

Now I know it’s a movie quote. I know it’s from a fictional puppet created by Lucas and Frank Oz. That makes it no less accurate when applied to the real world.

The idea that this guy “fears” Islam and “fears” Muslims demonstrates a purposeful ignorance of the religion and an “up yours” attitude to the millions of its peaceful practitioners worldwide, not just in his country or (feel bad for them) his constituancy. Islam is nothing to be feared. Extremists are to be feared, and Islam certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on them, does it?

Do I care what the guy has on his office wall? No. It’s a personal preference – it’s his office. As long as he isn’t decorating my office I won’t decorate his.

Do I care that he’s flaunting the idea that it’s okay to irrationally “fear” a religious populous who are for the most part peaceful, good citizens? You bet. Right there is proof that not only are the terrorists winning, but that certain members of our government, like this turkey, are aiding and abetting them by playing to the “fear” and spreading it in the news, their goofy fundraising letters, etc. It’s insulting and insipid – not only to the Muslims but to every rational religious person of other faiths as well, and it’s exactly what Osama and his ilk have been after – escalate the fear to outright hatred to make the US the bad guy. The US will then invade and start wars, causing the suffering of both its own people abroad and millions of residents of the Middle East, the majority of which are indeed Muslim. These oppressed people will rise up against it, making Osama’s job that much easier. This is not brain surgery, nor is it without precedent.

Anyway, I’ll take the advice of a puppet over this nunce any day of the week.

As for being “soft on bigotry,” when there is something for me to do or say about it, I have, and I will.

But back to the topic: Actually, Goode’s own words match up pretty exactly with the definition Frank supplied for “bigot”:

One who is strongly partial to one’s own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.

Let’s look at what Goode said:

“I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America”

Notice that his fear is not confined muslim terrorists, but of muslims as a group. They represent a threat to “traditional beliefs” i.e. his own beliefs. We must therefore not tolerate their entry into the U.S.

Strongly partial to his own religion? check

Intolerant of those who differ? check

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,”

Here again he’s not expressing fear that muslim terrorists or criminals might slip through a lax immigration system, he’s afraid that more muslims might be elected by their fellow citizens in the democratic process. He doesn’t object to their policies or their misdeeds, he objects to their religion.

Strongly partial to his own religion? check

intolerant of those who differ?
check

Then there’s the 10-commandments incident: the issue is not whether Goode can put on his wall whatever he wants. He can. The issue is that he crows in this letter about being a bigtime asshole to a young constituent.

He could have responded to the young person respectfully, saying that since space on his office wall was limited, he preferred to put there something that had personal meaning to himself and to the majority of his consitutents.

Instead, he makes clear in no uncertain terms to the young person that his/her religion was not welcome on his wall, in his office, in this country and never would be.

And he’s proud of it.

Strongly partial to his own? check

Intolerant of those who differ?
check

Bigot? check

Frank and Dugger: soft on bigotry.

Really now, who could possibly imagine such a thing?

Imagine, hell. I can point to one.

The name David Duke ring any bells? As in, former congressman from LA? As in, occasional poster at Stormfront.org (a neo-nazi group)? The former Grand Wizard of the KKK? You remember the KKK, right? Racist, far-right domestic terrorists?

If you want to get partisan, I’d remind you that Duke was originally a Democrat of the nearly-extinct old-South dixiecrat variety. (Other than Zell Miller, can anyone point to any on the national scene who haven’t long ago switched to the GOP?) His political ambitions didn’t really go anywhere until he switched to the GOP in ’88. He then won a seat in the US Congress (one term only) as a Republican and has been a Republican ever since. Not that the party wants anything to do with him, but I’d like to hear more Republicans loudly denounce him and his kind before they go demanding we do so for McKinney, et al.

I’ll give Duke this, though: he certainly has no problems with Muslims. His anti-semitism has made him pretty popular in places like Iran and Syria where he has spoken at Holocaust-denial conferences and claimed that Nazi Germany was “very moderate” compared to modern Israel. But then, the original Nazis were all the rage in the Arab world for the same reason, anti-semitism.

Correction: he has no problem with Arabs as long as they’re not here. He remains president of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization, a group dedicated to halting all non-white immigration. He’d probably get along with Mr. Goode just fine since they seem to share that particular view.

To be fair, Duke has taken an anti-war stance. He agrees with the sane world that it is only creating more terrorism. Of course, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Goes to show how stupid the war is if even an idiot like Duke can see it.

Oh, by the way, I’ve never heard Duke denounce the violence of the KKK or Stormfront or White Power anywhere. Maybe he has, but really quietly since they are his biggest fans.

Like I said, it’s not necessary to imagine such a thing as you describe. I’ve been reading about this particular asshat for over 20 years.

Is your argument so lame here that you can’t stay on topic? I say yes.

Imagine if a Congressional candidate were a former member of a right wing militia. He refuses to denounce the militia’s self – proclaimed right to engage in violent acts as they see fit to advance their goals.

Should he be a Congressman?

I say no.

What do you say?

America becoming a Christian theocracy would mean these folks would run my life. Same story with a Muslim theocracy, but the chances of that happening here are worse than Oliver’s chances with Jessica Alba. (Sorry, man.)

I’ll agree with Dugger on one area — who the hell cares what Rep. Goode puts on his wall?