Christmas dinner, grilled steaks for me, has settled so it is time to ridicule someone. Today’s object of scorn is actually yesterday’s news but for whatever reason I didn’t get to it yesterday (or the day before) so here we are.
Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., made news recently by saying the nation’s immigration policy needs to be fixed lest we have a horde of Muslims flocking into the U.S. over the borders. Goode apparently arrived at this revelation after hearing that Congressman-elect Keith Ellison, D-Minn., planned to have his hand on the Koran when being sworn into office during a private ceremony. Not that it really makes a difference but Ellison would be sworn in officially earlier in the day with the other MCs, all of whom are only required to raise their hands while taking their oath.
It is kind of hard to believe that a member of Congress would make a statement such as Goode’s during this day and age. Of course, really hard line right-wingers have the belief that the nation was founded exclusively on Judeo-Christian beliefs. Thus that means we have to have symbols reflecting those worshippers and only those faiths in our government buildings. And if one will look a little closer they may see that really the right wants the Christian symbols used and not so much those of Judaism.
Nonetheless, as someone pointed out the other day on a talk show, it seems like a politician who takes a stand promoting any type of religious intolerance is betting on a losing proposition. So it all comes down to Goode either being a) an idiot b) believing in his own rhetoric or c) both. Unfortunately, too many in Congress seem to fall in category “c.” Isn’t representative democracy a wonderful institution?