More stories about Rep. Goode’s comments about Rep. Keith Ellison have appeared in the media since the first one, the story the AP moved at 3pm. First was Rob Hotakinen’s piece for the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, widely reproduced by McClatchy, followed by Rachel Swarns’ article in the New York Times. (It’s the latter story that’ll cause this story to mushroom in the next 24 hours.) The Star Tribune piece features a quote from John Cruickshank, the local fellow who passed the letter onto C-Ville Weekly in the first place, while the Times piece features a condemnation by Pelosi’s spokesman, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), and the first comment from Rep. Ellison on the matter. Goode still won’t comment, of course, and refuses to back down because, hey, why would he?
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Could Keith Olbermann be far behind? Except he is on vacation this week. I think this will be looked at somewhat similarly as we have been by saying, “WTF?”
I do agree with you that Christmas will kill this story, at least for the time being.
From the Times article:
Mr. Ellison dismissed Mr. Goode’s comments, saying they seemed ill informed about his personal origins as well as about Constitutional protections of religious freedom. “I’m not an immigrant,” added Mr. Ellison, who traces his American ancestors back to 1742. “I’m an African-American.”
Since the November election, Mr. Ellison said, he has received hostile phone calls and e-mail messages along with some death threats. But in an interview on Wednesday, he emphasized that members of Congress and ordinary citizens had been overwhelmingly supportive and said he was focusing on setting up his Congressional office, getting phone lines hooked up and staff members hired, not on negative comments.
“I’m not a religious scholar, I’m a politician, and I do what politicians do, which is hopefully pass legislation to help the nation,” said Mr. Ellison, who said he planned to focus on secular issues like increasing the federal minimum wage and getting health insurance for the uninsured.
“I’m looking forward to making friends with Representative Goode, or at least getting to know him,” Mr. Ellison said, speaking by telephone from Minneapolis. “I want to let him know that there’s nothing to fear. The fact that there are many different faiths, many different colors and many different cultures in America is a great strength.”