Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Islamophobia in Michigan

In this country nowadays, it's not unusual to see large amounts of prejudice and hatred toward Muslim-Americans. It's been elevated for the past 11 years and it doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. This is 2012. I thought we had moved past racial and religious bigotry.

It was reported today on ThinkProgress, that the gentleman running for the 11th congressional district seat in Michigan, Dr. Syed Taj (D), has now been graced with Tea bagger bigotry. And it's ugly.

Here is the commercial that is running, painting him as an Islamic extremist hellbent on taking over the United States and all that yadda yadda.
 

Let us analyze this mess, shall we? 

First, this commercial links Dr. Taj to the Democratic Socialists of America. From the statement on his campaign site, Dr. Taj states, "The ad claims Dr. Taj relies on funding from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Dr. Taj’s FEC filing is publicly available; the Taj Campaign has not received any funding from the DSA. A physician colleague, who also happens to be on the DSA board, hosted a fundraiser in his home at which individuals made donations to Dr. Taj’s campaign." See? You know what should be frightening the hell out of everyone? Millionaires and billionaires who give excruciatingly large amounts of money to super PACs run by shady, crooked people like Karl Rove and the Koch brothers. They are people who are literally BUYING our democracy and taking away our voices. Chevron just donated $2.5 million dollars to defeat President Obama. That is what is worrisome!

Next comes the obvious line of attack. The cheap shot. Since Dr. Taj is Muslim, he HAS to be a terrorist or some sort of supporter of Islamic extremists, right? Well, duh, according to this ad. My god, the man even states he wants Muslims to have POWER! Because, of course, why should we give Muslim-American's a voice in our government? Who do they think they are?! Human beings?! But what really gets me is the "Too extreme for Michigan. Too extreme for America." Extreme in what ways? They never mention that, but I think it's safe to assume what they mean. It's utterly asinine.

Notice the pac who is putting on this ad? The Freedom's Defense Fund? Guess who runs that one. Jerome Corsi. You may remember him from such masterpieces as "Obama Nation" and "Unfit For Command" about John Kerry. Corsi is an extreme birther, truther, and idiot extraordinaire. You might be asking yourself, "wow, I thought he fell off the map? What's he up to these days?" Oh you know, being a racist bigot, screwing with elections, hanging out with Republican presidential candidates. Yup. Corsi is spending his time lately with Mittens! He claims he's part of the press corps, but no one believes it's that simple. We should be VERY concerned that this is the company that Romney and Paul Ryan choose to keep.

Whether it's religious bigotry, hatred and disdain of women, loathing immigrants and people who are of different backgrounds, the GOP has become a toxic sludge that is poisonous to the very ideas of justice, freedom and liberty that we cherish. The right-wing speaks of a deep loving obsession for the Constitution but when it comes time to act, they do the total opposite of what these founding documents stand for. Think about this video when you go to vote. This is just a glimpse into a meek, hate-filled future if the GOP is allowed to make gains on November 6th.

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