What a difference 24 hours makes. The story was covered on NBC Nightly News last night, and made editorial pages nationwide today. Here’s some of the coverage.
All Things Considered
Melissa Block talks with NPR political analyst Ken Rudin about what Goode is complaining about, and finds his concern lacking. I had to cringe when they got to talking about how it is that he’s in office and Rudin pointed out that it’s a largely-white district. Translation: Fifth District voters are OK with this kind of thing.
The John and Ken Show
This show’s hosts spent some quality time ripping on Goode yesterday, and they certainly weren’t shy about it. The John and Ken Show is KFI’s drive-time show. KFI is the most listened-to radio station in the nation. (Via The Political Noise)
The Chicago Defender
The city’s African-American newspaper describes Goode as “an unrepentant religious bigot,” describing him as “a domestic enemy” and a “so-called Christian” who is “leading the parade [of bigotry].”
Los Angeles Times
Writer Joel Havemann points out that the RNC still will not comment, thus implicitly endorsing Rep. Goode’s statements, at least in the eyes of the public. Havemann makes the connection between this and Sen. George Allen’s gaffe at The Breaks — both men wrongly judged somebody to be an immigrant based on their heritage and then used that as a premise to insult them. And, sadly, both took place here in Virginia.
Roanoke Times
Mason Adams describes the security that surrounded Goode’s press conference in the Franklin County Courthouse. That security was put to work to turn away only one person: the chair of the Franklin County Democratic Committee. Adams interviews Rocky Mount business owner Mamdouh Mohamed Ibrahim, who moved there from Egypt six months ago. Says Ibrahim, “We’re all the same blood. I have a heart, you have a heart. What’s the difference?
CNN
They interview Rep. Keith Ellison, who displays a tolerance and a level of respect for Goode’s views that boggles the mind. Wolf Blitzer asks Ellison if Goode is a bigot, to which Ellison responded that he was not going to join in any name-calling. He would only say that Goode “has a lot to learn about Islam.” Those who choose to view Ellison as the representative of Islam and Goode the representative of Christianity in this dispute might want to consider which religion looks better in this exchange. The piece also points out that Sen. John Warner has issued a statement that implicitly repudiates Goode, stating that he believes that all congressional representatives have the right to “exercise the religion of their choice, including those of the Islamic faith utilizing the Quran.”
Washington Times
Reporter Seth McLaughlin asked Goode directly whether he opposes Muslims in Congress, and Goode, alarmingly, said only “That’s not in the letter.” McLaughlin, too, makes the connection to Allen’s career-ending racist remark.
And then there’s the editorials. My god, the editorials.
Boston Globe
These people don’t mince words. They write that “it’s hard to know where to start with this intolerant rant,” and proceed to ask all of the right questions and make all of the points that need making. They close out by pointing out the two Buddhists that will be taking office with Rep. Goode next month — Hawaii’s Mazie Hirono and Georgia’s Hank Johnson — and asking why Goode “seems unconcerned about the Buddhist threat to American ‘values.'”
Barre Montpelier Times Argus
They recite the facts, figuring that they speak for themselves, praising Ellison for taking the high road and damning Goode — and those addressed by his letter — for taking the low road.
Miami Herald
Short and to the point, they refer Goode to the Bill of Rights to clear up his confusion.
Boston Herald
They have a message for those of us in the Fifth District: “We’re not in the habit of telling voters in other states what to do, but if Virginia voters don’t give the inaptly-named Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. the bum’s rush in the next election they’ll have embarrassed themselves on a national scale.” They describe our congressman as an “ignoramus” and a “reactionary,” and describe his letter as a “bigoted rant.” They look forward to seeing Goode booted from office as soon as possible.
Washington Post
This is clearly the harshest of the bunch, presumably because they’re familiar with Rep. Goode. They object to his “colossally stupid bigotry,” and the “state of xenophobic delirium” in which he “went on a semi-public tirade.” The Post that worries that “Mr. Goode was evidently napping in class the day they taught the traditional American values of tolerance, diversity and religious freedom,” but point out that his “dimwitted outburst of nativism is nothing new.” The Post makes the excellent point that Rep. Goode’s comments are genuinely problematic for the United States, as he divides the world into Christian and Muslim and launches “a civilizational war against Islam.”
This next one isn’t an editorial, but worth calling up.
Anti-Defamation League
This well-known Jewish organization apparently performed the same hypothetical exercise that I did, so they wrote this letter to Rep. Goode to “express strong concerns” about his statement. The point to his “serious lack of understanding of the fundamental religious guarantees enshrined in the US Constitution” and highlight that Rep. Ellison is not, in fact, an immigrant.
I can only assume that this story has peaked at this point. Unless Goode fans the flames or some major protest or support movement appears, there’s really no more news that’s going to happen here. We’ll see more editorials, maybe some minor revelations, but this will probably slide out existence in the next few days.
So is it too early to try and figure out who can run against Goode in 2008 who will have a good chance of knocking him off?
Couldn’t we have found this out before the election?
Funny, Goode talked a lot about immigration in his statement but Ellison’s family has been in this country since the 1740’s. Oh well, facts can get in the way.
I am increasingly convinced that there are only two types of candidates that can win, and both must be from Southern Virginia. A veteran of Bush’s war in Iraq. Or a long-time, much-beloved former executive or top employee of a now-shuttered major manufacturing facility. And, in the spirit of Goode’s comments, I wonder if anybody other than a white, male, Virginia-born Christian can win in this district.
Alternately, we could convince L.F. Payne to run again.
Rahul,
Goode is completely safe in 2008. His margins of victory have been so huge for so long – even in 2006 when the national Democratic party wave should have made it as easy as it ever could be to knock Goode off. I’ve been a part of campaigns against Goode in 2002 and 2004 and spent a lot of time puzzling over this one. It just can’t be done. If Goode had written this letter a week before the election last November it would not have changed a thing.
However, the fact that Goode is about to be in the minority could make his job much less pleasant than it has been. Add to this the fact that the new Democratic party leadership might have it in for him as a turncoat (Goode first won his seat as a Democrat but later switched parties) and I could imagine Virgil Goode deciding to vacate the seat in favor of a run for Governor or Attorney General or something of that nature. I dare say that Goode could capture the GOP nomination for AG quite easily.
Barring that, your best hope for getting rid of Goode is the Virginia Democrats picking up those final seats needed to take control of the House of Delegates in time for the redistricting that comes at the end of every decade. I do not support jerry-rigging districts specifically for the purpose of one party capturing seats from the other. Even when it benefits me. But as it is currently drawn, the 5th district is ridiculous. Charlottesville, Albemarle, Nelson county and other central VA districts have little in common, economically or geographically, with the Southside area of the district which extends all the way down to the North Carolina border. Certainly that area should be part of a more compact district. This would involve a general reshuffling of district territory which could have the result of changing the literal political landscape for Goode such that he can’t win so easily. Or I guess it might just as easily make his district even safer for him. But the point is that it’s an opportunity for things to change.
For my own part, all I really care about is not having him represent me any more. If I can get redistricted away from him then I won’t begrudge the right of a majority of bigots in some other district to elect a bigot to represent them.
Maybe the best thing about Goode’s ill-advised letter finding its way into the news is that now it’s less likely he will be able to switch back to the Democratic Party, in order to stay in the ruling majority.
Kidding aside, a welcome bit of fallout from this episode might be that Goode will now become the national posterboy for the sort of throwback Southern demagogues that are on their way out.
I’m all for putting Virgil’s face and attitude on the national GOP. Karl Rove’s dream of attracting Hispanic American voters away from the Democrats–something at which Jeb and George W. Bush were quite adept and quite canny–gets deader every day. Maybe Virgil will have a chance to discuss his views with ex-Congressman Henry Bonilla, the recent GOP incumbent who lost his special election to another Hispanic-American in no small measure because of Republicans like Virgil Goode and Tom Tancredo. I demand that Virgil’s partisans organize, march on Washington, Denver, Dallas, Houston, Santa Fe, Albequerque, Phoenix, Tuscon, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Spread the word, people. You have nothing to lose but the future of the GOP!
I’m with you on that, Brian. Though I hate to see people like Rep. Ellison treated in this fashion, the strategist in me sees that this is the Republicans’ path to irrelevance.
Some Republicans claim (and fear) that we’ll soon be a majority-minority nation due to immigration and the immediate descendants of immigrants. If this is, indeed, inevitable, than their actions — which make clear to these immigrants that Republicans are their enemies — will surely doom them to minority status for decades to come. If it’s not actually inevitable, or even likely, then they’re simply inventing an issue to get their base riled up about.
I figure they’re either dumb or they’re liars.
Thanks for the mention.
I think it’s also worth noting that KFI (including the John and Ken Show) plays to Southern California conservatives, which are mainly of the “fiscal” or “libertarian” bent. So most of the time they just sound like Conservative leaning and rude moderates. And like most stations in large markets- they stream live on the web.
HISTORY TEST
Please pause a moment, reflect back, and take the following multiple choice test. The events are actual cuts from past history. They actually happened!!!
Do you remember?
1. 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by
a. Superman
b. Jay Lenno
c. Harry Potter
d. Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40
2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by
a. Olga Corbett
b. Sitting Bull
c. Arnold Schwarzenegger
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
3. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by:
a. Lost Norwegians
b. Elvis
c. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
4. During the 1980’s a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:
a. John Dillinger
b. The King of Sweden
c. The Boy Scouts
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
5. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:
a. A pizza delivery boy
b. Pee Wee Herman
c. Geraldo Rivera
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
6. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by:
a. The Smurfs
b. Davy Jones
c. The Little Mermaid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
7. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by:
a. Captain Kidd
b. Charles Lindberg
c. Mother Teresa
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
8. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:
a. Scooby Doo
b. The Tooth Fairy
c. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
9. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:
a. Richard Simmons
b. Grandma Moses
c. Michael Jordan
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
10. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:
a. Mr. Rogers
b. Hillary Clinton, to distract attention from Wild Bill’ s women problems
c. The World Wrestling Federation
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to take out the Twin Towers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by:
a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd
b. The Supreme Court of Florida
c. Mr. Bean
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
12. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against:
a. Enron
b. The Lutheran Church
c. The NFL
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
13. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:
a. Bonnie and Clyde
b. Captain Kangaroo
c. Billy Graham
d. Muslim male extremist s mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
14. In 2004 – Spain Railwayy bombings.
Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
15. In 2005 London Railway bombings
Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
AND NOW !
16. August 10, 2006 – 21 arrested in terror plot to blow up planes in midair enroute from London to the United States by detonating liquids stored in carry on luggage.
Muslim male extermists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
Nope, I really don’t see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you?
Like the Democratic and Republican parties. The legal (able to vote) hispanic communities are just as split over the issue of illegal immigration. So Goode may lose points for racisim, but not on illegal imigration crackdowns. That’s what I think anyway.
Great! Then maybe we can finally get rid of affirmitive action. I mean if everyone’s a minority (including white people) then why any need for it? :)
Profiling? Superman? Tom, what in the world are you taking about? Are you even aware of the topic that we’re discussing here, or do you just paste that into discussion forums randomly?
Tom, do you or do you not believe that Rep. Ellison is a terrorist?
Tom, Amen. There are other “Inconvenient Truths” out there, aren’t there?
The message Hispanic communities get from Goode is that they’re not “real Americans” no matter how they got here. I mean, he’s questioning the legitimacy of Ellison’s right to use the Qu’ran in a private re-enactment of a swearing-in, suggesting doing so is less than “American.” Ellison was born in Detroit. Hispanic-Americans born or legally immigrating here don’t find Virgil’s prejudice narrowly cut, but rather one that jacks them up against the wall like an illegal Salvadoran just off the truck looking for farm work. And, Virgil’s supporters don’t find it narrowly cut, either. Christian and Spanish-speaking, Christian and brown, Christian and Korean, Hindu, Buddhist, or Christian Asian or South Asian is all the same to them. That’s why he bitches about “diversity” in immigration policy (and blames it on Clinton, who hasn’t been in office since January 2001. Way to wank, Virgil.)
Tom,
We could sit here and come up with a list of bad things that have been done by white Christian males over the last 20 years or so – like the Oklahoma City bombing, the 1996 bombing of the Olympics by an anti-abortion activist, the unibomber’s numerous attacks, the guy who the FBI says did the anthrax mailings, etc. However, I will agree that for purposes of, say, airline security screening it unfortunately makes sense to give extra scrutiny to middle-eastern males within that age range.
But really, I don’t see what security profiling has to do with anything here. Security screening was not what Goode was talking about. Rather, Goode was clearly insulting the validity of the entire Muslim faith and appears to be suggesting that Rep. Ellison’s expression of religious faith should not be tolerated in our nation’s capital. He was specifically talking about American citizens – not the terrorists who snuck into America on temporary visas. This isn’t really about terrorism or security. It’s not about airport screening at all. It’s about a bigoted hatred of people who worship God differently than Rep. Goode does on the basis purely of their faith.
James – “Couldn’t we have found this out before the election?”
I wish James! Then he woulda gotten 60%+
Waldo – Alternately, we could convince L.F. Payne to run again.
What makes you think that L.F.’s position is much different? :) I’m a huge L.F. fan too! He was a good congressman!
I say we chip in to have this printed, framed, and sent to our congressman for a Christmas present to hang on his wall:
“We have abundant reason to rejoice, that in this land the light of truth and reason have triumphed over the power of bigotry and superstition, and that every person may here worship God according to the dictates of his own heart. In this enlightened age and in this land of equal liberty, it is our boast, that a man’s religious tenets will not forfeit the protection of the laws, nor deprive him of the right of attaining and holding the highest offices that are known in the United States.”
–Pres. George Washington to the Members of the New Jerusalem Church of Baltimore (a Swedenborgian congregation), ca. 27 January 1793; The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series (Charlottesville, UVa Press): 12:52-53.
“The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.
“It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my Administration, and fervent wishes for my felicity. May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy.”
-Pres. George Washington, Letter to the Congregation Kahal Kadosh Yeshuat Israel (Touro Synagogue), Newport, Rhode Island, 1790
Damn. There was a Virginian
I don’t know Waldo, I thought the discussion was on Goodes objection to the quran being used to swear in a Farrakan Muslim extremist into Congress?
My point was when it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, and it wants to kill all, white people, Jews, Christains, etc. is it a chicken?
Maybe we should all just roll over and play dead? Why object to anything that threatens what we cherish and believe?
Don’t we have the right to do that anymore without being lynched?
And go ask L F Payne how many minorities live in his neighborhood of Stoney Creek in Nellysford, Nelson Co. VA. HAHAHAHA. What a joke ot is that any of the UVA or VA Tech crowd would raise a stink about bigots or racist!
Please, Please, get out more and get a hearing aid and some clear lens glasses, and get a look at the real world.
This country be sold for 30 pieces of silver and our enemies are among us!
But please don’t hurt their FEELINGS!
One more time, real prominent so you don’t miss it:
Tom, do you or do you not believe that Rep. Ellison is a terrorist?
Waldo, I’ll take that one. “I dunno.” I would like to know whether the Minn. congressman has any sympathies with Cleric AlSadr.
(Tom, do you or do you not believe that Rep. Ellison is a terrorist?)
Ellison for $400, please, Pat.