Saturday, July 23, 2005

WHAT?

Tancredo: Well, what if you said something like, "If this happens in the United States and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims." You could take out their holy sites.

Campbell: You're talking about bombing Mecca?

Tancredo: Yeah. What if you said, "We recognize this is the ultimate threat to the United States, so this is the ultimate response." I'm just throwing out some ideas because you would be talking about taking the most draconian measures you could possibly imagine. Because other than that, all you could do is, once again, tighten up internally.


Who is this freakin’ idiot you ask?

Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo made that comment on a Florida Talk Radio show on Friday, July 17. What was he thinking? The funny thing is that he was asked about it and refuses to back down. Other than the possibility that this guy actually represents Americans in some way, there is something else disturbing about it…

Tancredo has begun his insurgent bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

Which is really just what we need in this age of delicate foreign relations, and I thought Bush was an idiot. Where do people get off making comments like that? And whatever happened to politics?

I heard a lady call into a talk radio station in Denver yesterday spouting similar garbage about Muslims should have to get national Ids to prove they had some special background check run on them or something. Telling the “harrowing” story about her husband (a Greyhound Driver) seeing a young man “kneeling, and then bobbing around up and down while chanting something, some kind of prayer or something” before getting on the bus!!! And how horrified she was that no one did anything about this guy. Apparently the brother was wearing a kufi or some other dress that she described as “middle eastern”. Apparently this bus driver was thinking that young man was making a prayer before doing a suicide attack… Come on!!!! Is this what the general American public thinks about Muslims? Walahi, I hope not. La hawli la rub!

7 comments:

UmmZaynab said...

Unfortunately, yes, I have heard this so many times that if a person sees someone praying or reading the Qur'an in the airport or on the plane that it means they're going to do something bad. One of those awful ladies on The View said it, remember, that they wouldn't want to sit next to somebody who was reading the Qur'an (was it Barbara "breastfeeding is gross" Walters? or one of the others?). I don't know what we're going to do on our 7 hour layover in Paris.

I saw Tancredo on CNN the other day with Jim Zogby and he wouldn't let Jim get a word in edgewise. He looked like a crazy person to be honest and his argument was so full of logical flaws. He said that actually said we should "threaten" that but not necessarily DO it, which is not only a lie (you can see from the quote) but anyone who has raised children should know (especially conservatives with their generally get-tough discipline attitudes) if you threaten something you have to be willing to actually follow through with it. But he doesn't care, he clearly has zip,zero, zilch respect for ANY Muslim or ANYTHING to do with Islam.

It so reminds me of the US and the Indians. I watched some parts the finale of Into the West last night and I was struck by how the attitudes and things they actually did-- like when they tried to say that the Ghost Dance was "well-known in these parts to be a dance of war" and the manipulation of the press.

By the way this morning's Post has this quote from Tancredo regarding his wanting to run for President: "Unless I misread the political tea leaves, there is a great deal of support for what I say".

UmmZaynab said...

Oops sorry I should have said this morning's Washington Post to be clear.

UmmLayla said...

UGH! What is up with The View? Is anyone still watching that junk? Comments like that really bring me down a notch. Until I became Muslim I would've said Americans aren't prejudiced (because I am American and I am not prejudiced). Then I started wearing hijab and joined the ranks of the minority and discovered quickly I was dead wrong.

Not to mention all the stuff about praying... I think people are OK with us being Muslim until they discover that we actually practice the religion. I think people have this idea that praying is somehow fanatical. Get a grip!!! I know that Islam is distinguished in this way... We have more visible and frequent rituals than other religions. I mean most people here in equate being "religious" with attending church every Sunday and having a "Jesus saves" bumper sticker on their truck... So I guess to the average bubba we do seem fanatic.

Maybe what we need is a TV show or something; you know "Desperate Muslim Housewives", or "Mohammed in the Middle".... Then maybe people could relate;)

Anonymous said...

Salamo Alekom,

I really like your blog, keep up the excellent work!

It is now, more than ever, that we need to dispel myths about our faith, and your blog is an excellent way of doing that.

Anonymous said...

Salaam 'Alaikum

It was Joy Behar who made that idiotic comment on that idiotic show.

The funny thing about Ghost Dance is that in their beliefs, it was basically Christianity. Only the ritual was different, what missionaries today would call a level two or three "contextualized" Christianity (except that Ghost Dance came from within the Indian culture, not from without).

Yet the Whites were so racist that they could not conceive of an Indian-led grassroots Chritianity movement, or a Christianity that wasn't European in nature -- and did not recognize the mention of Jesus (aleyhi salaam) or the Trinity or the references to the Bible or anything else.

Tancredo is supposedly looking to run in 2008. Is this him testing the climate and seeing how far he can go as a candidate? And what will the US Congress say or do (if anything)? This is a man who sits on an International Relations Committee -- besides being a political whose job it is to represent the people. Not to mention... he's giving Colorado a bad name... as if Coloradoans don't already have P. Coors to deal with.

-- Umm Zaid

Marian said...

It is very unfortunate that after all the "sensitivity" training federal employees receive, and I presume this Tancredo received it as well, he comes up with comments such as these. Is he truly representative of his constituency? I'm curious to find out. Salaam to you and your family, Marian

Colleen said...

Salaams

Gosh, and I thought Bush was bad...This guy makes Bush look real good (and thats a saaaad thing lol).

As for "The View", it runs here in Egypt and that Joy Behar is a real piece of work. She thinks whatever she says is so freakin' funny. I personally can't stand her. And this isn't the first time she has made remarks against Muslims.

If this idiot (Tancredo) runs for president and wins, I am staying right here in Egypt. I can't be in a country where a president has this type of mentality against Muslims.

Just my 2 Piasters...

Salaam, Love, and Hugs

Layla