It seems Rep. Goode (R-VA) isn’t interested in a procedure that would connect his brain to his mouth, perhaps because said mouth is so full of foot at the moment. He’s refusing to back down from his fear-mongering over the election of Keith Ellison, a Muslim, to the House of Representatives. And he’s tied the whole thing to immigration. Legal immigration.
ROCKY MOUNT, Va. – A congressman said Thursday that he will not retract a letter warning that unless immigration is tightened, “many more Muslims will be elected” and use the Quran to take the oath of office.
…”I will not be putting my hand on the Quran,” Goode said at a news conference Thursday at the Franklin County Courthouse. [Duh, asshole. Nobody asked you to.]
…Goode also told Fox News he wants to limit legal immigration and do away with “diversity visas,” which he said let in people “not from European countries” and “some terrorist states.”
“Not from European countries”, huh? Sounds like code for “not white” to me.
In his letter, Goode wrote that strict immigration polices are necessary “to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America.”
“The Muslim representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and 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,” he wrote.
Um, sir, you do know that Keith Ellison was born in Detroit? Of course, he is black, so I guess that translates to immigrant in the depths of what passes for your mind.
Del, who pointed me to yesterday’s story, asked a very good question in a follow-up email. Where is the Republican leadership on this? Trent Lott was booted from the top job in the Senate for saying we’d all be better off if Strom Thurmond had been elected back in the day. George Allen lost a close race for re-election at least in part because he referred to an American citizen of Indian descent as “macaca”. Do we, as citizens, permit a sitting Representative to state in no uncertain terms that those of a particular faith shouldn’t be allowed to serve in Congress?
Sen. John Warner (R-VA) has issued a statement saying that he respects the right of congressional members to freely “exercise the religion of their choice, including those of the Islamic faith utilizing the Quran”, and I’m glad he has, but is that response sufficient for the entire party? Rep. Goode is not some random kook shouting on a street corner. His statements, wacky though I may find them, carry weight. According to him, he’s getting lots of support for his constituents. So is it okay for an elected representative to pander to the ignorance and prejudice of the lowest common denominator, or should we hold our government officials to higher standards?
I’m horrified by Rep. Goode’s remarks, but I also support his right to make them. I draw a bright line in the sand when he tries to translate his bigotry into public policy that runs counter to the explicit protection for religious freedom guaranteed by our constitution, but I’m not sure where the gray area between words and actions ends.
UPDATE: Wheeler weighs in.
What do you think?
All right, since I’ve been doing all this pointing and questioning, I’m going to put on the devil’s advocate hat (horns?) for a minute. Virgil was simply sending a letter to his constituents. A lot of copies, to be sure, but still. The only reason the general public even knows about this is a copy mistakenly got mailed to a Sierra Club guy who’d written Goode about something else. (Yes, that’s very funny.) So, is this (choke) really just a matter of freedom of speech, just like Goode’s defenders are saying? Isn’t he entitled to say whatever he wants about Islam in private correspondence with his constituents?
Of course, that doesn’t answer the question about Republican leadership response. Neither Lott nor George Allen made their offensive remarks into microphones on the House floor. What I think the comparison between the incidents shows is that the Republican party has realized that it is extremely impolitic to ignore racism when it is directed at African-Americans. (Or maybe they’re genuinely offended and repulsed by it, who knows?) “Creed-ism” towards Muslims—and I honestly don’t think Mr. Ellison’s skin color had anything to do with Virgil’s remarks—well, they don’t know how they should react to that yet. So they’re being very cautious.
A visit to Virgil Goode’s website is certainly informative. Some commenters on this issue seem to be under the impression that he is a newcomer to Congress. “The Republicans should vet their candidates more carefully,” “Somebody needs to have a talk with Mr. Goode,” etc. But folks, this will be his sixth term up there. He was elected to the state house, or assembly as they call it, at age twenty-seven and hasn’t been out of political office since. Clearly, he understands his constituents, and they love him to pieces.
(Also, if I’m doing the math right, he’s sixty years old, and he sure looks good. Must be all that clean living.)
“So, is this (choke) really just a matter of freedom of speech, just like Goode’s defenders are saying?”
sure. everyone is free to make a complete jacka** out of themselves.
i wanted to post about this yesterday, but it made me so mad i had to wait until this morning.
I support Virgil Goode, I contributed to his campaign and will do so again.
How many non-muslims hijacked planes on 9/11 ???
This is a fact, not Bigotry.. Most Terrorists are muslim.
Illegal immigrnats are breaking laws and the government does not seem to care. Why should I be expected to follow laws and speed limits when Illegals have no regard for laws and no fear of enforcement.
andy,
i hope you are kidding, because if not you are one stupid s.o.b.
kathy,
i know its bad manners to insult another blogger’s commentators, but come on!
Mr. Williams, are you being facetious, or did you simply google Rep. Goode and leave this amazingly ignorant comment on every blog that mentioned him?
Let’s see — how many US citizens hijacked planes on 9/11? I believe the answer is zero. Keith Ellison is a US citizen, born in Detroit, and duly elected to Congress by the constituents of his district.
Perhaps it is true that most terrorists are Muslims at this particular point in time, but that does not make most Muslims terrorists.
Finally, Rep. Goode says he wants to limit legal immigration because failing to do so would mean more people who happen to be Muslim would be elected to public office. Aside from the illogic of his assumption, our constitution explicitly forbids religious tests for those who serve in Congress. As Rep. Goode was just elected to a sixth term in Washington, I would think he would have become somewhat familiar with our basic governing document by now. But why let the facts get in the way of his — and your — prejudices?
I read this earlier today on the Internet and I about crapped my pretty panties.
How can someone, in this day in age, be so CLEARLY ignorant and proud about it?
And then someone like Andy comes around…
*WOW*
Well, I’m worried that this is a new GOP strategy — painting the party of Ellison and “Barack Hussein Obama” as the party of scary evil Muslims (presumably as a warmup to 2008, when Republican assume, I imagine, that Obama will be on the ticket in the #1 or #2 slot).
My fear is that what Goode is doing right now can work — not because most Americans agree, but because more people are sure he’s right than are sure he’s wrong. (Most Americans, alas, are decent people but are confused and uncertain about Muslims.) If you say something like this about blacks, even whites, in large numbers, will be appalled (as Michael Richards learned recently). If you speak ill of Jews, Gentiles will be horrified (see: Mel Gibson, Judith Regan). But there just isn’t that automatic horrified reaction to anti-Muslim bigotry. The GOP knows this, so Goode is being given a free ride.
Sorry, Steve. WordPress seems to pick random comments to go to moderation. Not to worry; if it happens again, I’ll approve yours ASAP.
It just makes me ashamed to be from Virginia. Goode’s constituents, interviewed on CNN yesterday, were uniformly ignorant, including one woman who felt Ellison should use “the King James,” because that’s her favorite and she thinks “It’s Virgil’s, too.” Lovely.
Del,
I admire your attempt to be open minded here and follow your logic. But here’s where it breaks down for me. If someone made the comments about Christians that Goode made about Muslims, would that be “free speech” according to the masses? Bill O’Reilly would get so lathered up, he would light himself on fire in Times Square.
On second thought, maybe I should talk about Christians the way Goode talked about Muslims…….
Songbird,
I prefer the NIV, so I’m probably going to fly a plane into the Empire State Building. Now those people that read the Message, they’re worse. They’ll probably call down Satan and his legions of doom to march on the Christian city of Washington.
Steve, I’m sorry you were in mod while I was saying the same thing you had already said. “I agree with Steve.” There.
Bill, I already talk about Christians, or “Christianists,” the way Goode talked about Muslims. They are childishly superstitious, easily manipulated by their cynical leaders, and dangerous to our country. I still believe Goode has the right to say whatever he wants in his correspondence with his constituency, and no longer think (as I did at first) that his fellow Congress members should officially censure him. However, his fellow Congress members should darned sure express their revulsion at his ignorance and bigotry, which AS STEVE SAID they are reluctant to do.
And as for the folks who put him in office…what a drooling pack of yahoos. The King James Bible, ha ha! At least she didn’t call it the “St. James.” Yeah, it’s a relief that this isn’t all happening here in Alabama—but at the same time it’s scary because we KNOW what we’ve got going on here and now we learn that this kind of thinking and behavior is not a Heart of Dixie aberration but is reproduced all over the country.
And of course, to be fair, all over the world. Merry Christmas, everybody! Hail the Heaven-born Prince of Peace, indeed.
I actually posted on this today myself. I’m like you, I defend his right to say whatever he wants, but I’d also defend my right to kick his bigoted ass.
I do have to disagree with one of your points though, he IS “ome random kook shouting on a street corner”. Unfortunately, he also happens to be an elected official. And THAT’S the real shame.
Good post.
Thanks, Poobah. And you’re right — he is some random kook.