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?