A Second Hand Conjecture

UPDATE 2: Rick Moran takes Goode to task for his political pandering and does it without accusing Goode of equating Ellison’s election with a threat to our traditional values.

UPDATE: The New York Times makes the same false accusation:

In a letter sent to hundreds of voters this month, Representative Virgil H. Goode Jr., Republican of Virginia, warned that the recent election of the first Muslim to Congress posed a serious threat to the nation’s traditional values.

That’s not what Goode said in his letter, and while it will be fun watching the meme grow and grow, this reflects very poorly on my State. It doesn’t seem to be asking too much to get the story right … oh, wait, yes it does.
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Leading off a story linked with the frontpage headline “Rep.: Muslim in U.S. House a ‘Threat’“ FoxNews reports that:

A Republican congressman from Virginia told FOX News he is standing by his warning that a newly elected representative’s decision to use the Koran in taking the oath of office poses a danger to the traditional “values and beliefs” of Americans.

Rep. Virgil Goode Jr. made the comments in a letter sent earlier this month to hundreds of constituents who had written to him about Rep.-elect Keith Ellison of Minnesota, a Democrat and the first Muslim in Congress.

The problem? Rep. Goode said no such thing. Fortunately the full text of letter was linked and I quote in full here:

WASHINGTON — Letter written by Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.) in response to constituents commenting on Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) using a Koran to take the oath of office:

Thank you for your recent communication.

When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand.

I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran.

We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country.

I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped.

The Ten Commandments and “In God We Trust” are on the wall in my office. A Muslim student came by the office and asked why I did not have anything on my wall about the Koran. My response was clear, “As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, The Koran is not going to be on the wall of my office.” Thank you again for your email and thoughts.

Now, not only do I not subscribe the hysteria manufactured over Rep. Ellison taking his oath of office over the Koran, I don’t agree with almost anything that Goode has to say in his letter. It is blatant pandering to his electorate’s fear of/uneasiness with foreigners, and in particular Muslims, that frankly wreaks of provincialism and religious intolerance (not to mention sounding somewhat racist). However, what Virgil Goode did not say was that Rep. Ellison being in the House was a “threat” nor that his taking his oath on a Koran poses a danger to our traditional beliefs and values. Those were blatant lies and the sensationalist headlines and paragraphs should be amended post haste.

What Goode did say was that both legal and illegal immigration pose a threat to those values, which in a sense is true since as more people from different cultures enter our country, the culture of the country is bound to change. His constituents voiced a concern about Ellison and Goode, like the good ole’ boy politician that he is, used that opportunity to lay some groundwork for his next election (essentially saying: “Support me and my positions on immigration, or this whole country will be Muslim faster than you can say ‘Allah’”). The funny thing is that, Goode could have said every last thing he is accused of saying by FoxNews and it wouldn’t hurt his election chances one bit. He is virtually unbeatable in is district, no matter how you draw it, or what you say about him. The people of the Shenandoah Valley [ed.: old mistake I've made for years, now corrected] south central Virginia love him. Always have, always will. Which only serves to underscore that this is an obvious attempt by FoxNews to whip up some sensationalism.

In short, Rep. Goode may have made some contemptible allusions, but he did not at all say what he is accused of saying.

[tags] Rep. Virgil Goode, Fox News, media sensationalism,

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