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Islamophobia still has its place at CPAC

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 19:34:00 +0000

Though, for the most part, the fringiest conservatives were shut out of CPAC this year, one unofficial panel hosted by Breitbart.com did not disappoint, bringing out "The Uninvited" anti-Islam activists for a panel on national security. Speaking to a packed room, Pamela Geller, Frank Gaffney, and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, talked of the Muslim Brotherhood's infiltration of America, and, more imminently, of the CPAC conference.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who introduced the panel on Saturday and called the speakers "the world experts on global jihad," bemoaned that the FBI has “scrubbed out” derogatory references to Islam or Muslims because their Muslim advisers told them they had to. He also couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk illegal immigrants, who he called "undocumented Democrats."

Former Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey warned of Islam's "need to impose sharia on the world," noting that "there has been a systematic purging of references to Islamism, lest offense be given to Muslims." And where is the government finding out what will give offense to Muslims, Mukasey asked. From groups like CAIR and ISNA, "both of which are branches of the Muslim Brotherhood."

Florida advances Sharia ban

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:58:00 +0000

Florida is once again mulling a ban on sharia law, this time passing a bill out of the state's Senate Judiciary Committee that would prevent courts from considering "foreign law" when handing down legal decisions.

From the Miami Herald:

The bill, SB 58, bans courts or other legal authorities from using religious or foreign law as a part of a legal decision or contract relating to family law. Florida law would supercede foreign law regarding divorce, alimony, the division of marital assets, child support and child custody. The bill is ready to be heard on the House floor but it has more committee stops in the Senate. Last year, the bill passed the House but died in the Senate.

John Brennan is a secret Muslim, says anti-Islam activist

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 21:59:00 +0000

A former FBI agent and current anti-Islam activist believes that John Brennan, President Obama's pick to head the CIA, is secretly a Muslim and therefore "unfit for duty" in the government.

On Friday, John Guandolo, the vice president of the Virginia-based Strategic Engagement Group (SEG), appeared on the Boca Raton-based radio show of Tom Trento, the president of the anti-"Shariah Islam" group The United West, formerly the Florida Security Council. Guandolo described how Brennan has supposedly "interwoven his life professionally and personally with individuals that we know are terrorists and he has given them access" to top officials in the federal government and "brought known Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood leaders into the government and into advisory positions."

Guandolo continued that what "some would say is most disturbing, Mr. Brennan did convert to Islam when he served in an official capacity on behalf of the United States when he served in Saudi Arabia" and it "was the culmination of a counterintelligence operation against him to recruit him" by foreign operatives.

Here's a 10-minute clip from the segment, which had a total runtime of close to 3 hours:

Meanwhile, Michigan is also considering a ban on Shariah law

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:56:00 +0000

As the protests in Michigan continue over the new right-to-work law, the state Legislature is now considering passing a ban on Shariah law.

The bill, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Dave Agema, would block “foreign laws that would impair constitutional rights” in the state. The Associated Press reports that though the bill "doesn’t specifically mention the Islamic legal code called sharia," its "supporters have said they are concerned about the use of sharia spreading."

From the AP:

It wasn’t immediately clear whether a vote would be taken before the lame-duck session ends. Lawmakers have said they would like to wrap up by Thursday, and they focused Tuesday on giving final approval to divisive right-to-work bills that bar unions from collecting mandatory fees from workers they represent under collective-bargaining agreements.

Agema explained: “They want specific laws applied to their specific groups. They do not want to be under our law." He added that those who are angry about the bill have "ulterior motives."

Threats to Thanksgiving: A right-winger’s guide

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 20:00:00 +0000

If you are preparing for a relaxing Thanksgiving, be forewarned: Liberals want to undermine your holiday cheer.

Here's our guide to the most sinister forces of what some conservatives are calling the "War on Thanksgiving":

• Barack Obama: Let's start at the top. Last year, the president was alternately trashed by conservatives for not mentioning God in his Thanksgiving Day YouTube address and for describing the Obama family's Thanksgiving Day plans thusly: "Like millions of Americans, Michelle, Malia, Sasha and I will spend the day eating great food, watching a little football, and reflecting on how truly lucky we truly are." Social conservative Bryan Fischer was quite angry about the "luck" thing, saying that it really "grinds my gears" to hear the president talk that way, and this "is the most offensive thing that I've ever heard President Obama say: that we are lucky, that everything we enjoy in America is the result of pure luck. It's not. It has to do with our values, it has to do with our faith in God, it has to do with God's providential care."

Pam Geller compares Jewish group to Nazi sympathizers

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:20:00 +0000

For some people, stoking fears about Islam and Shariah is an election year issue (ahem, Rep. Michele Bachmann), but for others, like influential Islamophic blogger Pam Geller, it’s a life's mission. Geller led the campaign against the so-called Ground Zero Mosque in lower Manhattan and is one of a handful of activists at the core of the anti-Shariah movement; a few months ago, she paid for controversial ads on New York City buses and subways defaming Islam as “savage.” The campaign provoked a backlash, including vandalism and lawsuits, but the law sided with Geller’s right to free speech in both cases, with a court ordering New York's transit authority to display the ads and arrests for some who defaced her ads.

GOP embraces anti-Shariah

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 19:32:00 +0000

While leaders like Speaker Boehner and Sen. John McCain were rightly praised for taking a strong stand against Rep. Michele Bachmann’s witch hunt against Muslims in the U.S. government, don’t give the party of Lincoln a pass on Islamophobia just yet. In Tampa this week, GOP leaders adopted a plank to their platform supporting a ban on foreign law and aimed at Shariah, the Islamic religious law that many conservatives insist is secretly insinuating itself in the U.S. The platform still has to be approved by the entire convention in a vote next week, but generally, most things approved by the platform committee make it into the final platform.

TPM’s Ryan Reilly reports that the man behind the effort to add the amendment is none other than Kris Kobach, Kansas’ secretary of state who moonlights as an anti-immigration activist. Kobach wrote Arizona’s infamous SB-1070 “papers please” immigration law, and advised a handful of other states on their similar laws cracking down on undocumented migrants. Kobach is (or at least was during the primary) an adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, and likely the man behind Romney’s “self-deportation” immigration policy.