Keith Ellison and his consitutional oath

Keith Ellison, newly elected congessional representative from the MN 5th district, and the first Muslim to serve in Congress, plans to take his oath of office on the Qur'an. This has sparked outrage from the folks who haven't figured out that there is more than one way to be American. These people fear that the republic will crumble should Keith exercise his right. As Keith observed, atheists and agnostics are protected. Why not Muslims?

If people are really exercised about this, why not offer everyone an opportunity to swear on the Cosntitution? That's what it's all about, isn't it? But the flaming radical talking heads seem to have forgotten that, as they and their pals in the current administration seem to have forgotten many things about who we are and what used to make us great. For them, there is only one way to be an American, and that is their way. Amazingly, one commentator blogged that allowing Keith to exercise his right would do more damage to the United States than 911. Wow!

Even with all the warts of our system, the fact that someone like Keith can get elected, even from a never-vote-republican district like this one, speaks well for our future and badly for those who would like to turn us into a norte americana banana republic.

James A. Baker: not just for Florida anymore

I do find it interesting that people seem to be giving the Current Occupant a free ride on the James Baker appearance. This is probably because JB is more or less smart and politically aware, having served a number of Republican pols over the years. This seems, to us in the hinterlands, as a major improvement. You can hear the folks in flyover land whispering, "Well, at least there's someone in DC who knows the score." We feel this way because it's so apparent that the Current Occupant doesn't know the score, or even that there is a score. As Garrison said in today's column, the CO has the attention span of a 12-year old. Frankly, even 12-year olds with ADD have a better attention span.

Anyway, here we are, giving the Current Occupant a free ride because James A. Baker has flown to the rescue at the behest of Poppy. Have we forgotten already that it was JB who engineered the "election" in 2000 in Florida? Not so fast, folks. Let's keep on paying attention. We're not out of the woods just becuse the Dems won Congress.