Islam

Democrat Delivers Emotional Speech On Prison Reform At Islam Hearing [VIDEO]

Benjy Sarlin | June 16, 2011, 5:45AM

Rep. Peter King (R-NY)

Brushing aside protests from religious and civic leaders, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) held another Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday investigating Islamic radicalization in America, this one focused on terrorist recruitment in prisons. Like past entrants in his radicalization series, Tuesday's event featured plenty of contentious words from committee Democrats, including a dramatic and emotional speech from a Detroit Democrat recalling his own friends' experience in prison.

Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-MI) used his question period to deliver an impassioned address about the broader problem of prison reform, at times holding back tears as he discussed how the issue impacted his own life.

"We talk about political correctness, you know what pisses me off? I'm a damned member of Congress here and my friends have rotted in prison and those that have gotten out, they've never been the same again," he said. "Some of you who are Tea Party members, this is the waste we got to stop. We're spending too much money incarcerating young men, young black men, whose lives can be saved. It's not about Islam, it's abut the sentencing policy, it's about this prison system. We got to change that."

He added that based on his own discussions with prisoners who converted to Islam, inmates did so largely to gain protection from dangerous gangs and to make a clean break from their criminal past, not to engage in any kind of radical behavior.

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Glenn Beck

Anti-Islam Pastor: Glenn Beck's Jerusalem Rally Is A 'Scam' By A 'Mormon Cult Member'

Jillian Rayfield | May 17, 2011, 11:09AM

Bill Keller, an anti-Islam pastor from Florida, is highly offended that "Mormon cult member" Glenn Beck would organize a rally in Israel, calling it Beck's "latest scam on the Christian community, and an exploitation of Israel that plays on the love Christians have for the Jewish people and the land of Israel."

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Muslims

Pilot Refuses To Fly With Muslim Men On Board

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 6, 2011, 6:43PM

Updated with video and a response from ASA below:

Two Muslim men were removed from a Delta commuter flight operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines Friday after the pilot refused to fly with them on board.

Masudur Rahman, an Arabic-language instructor at the University of Memphis and Mohamed Zaghloul, a religious leader in the Islamic Association of Greater Memphis told the AP they were removed from a flight leaving Memphis International Airport, heading for Charlotte, after the pilot refused to takeoff.

According to Charlotte-area station WBTV, the men have "retained counsel and the US attorney's office has already been contacted about the incident."

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Osama Bin Laden

TX Teacher Suspended After Telling Muslim Student 'I Bet You're Grieving'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 4, 2011, 10:58AM

A Texas high school teacher has been placed on administrative leave following an incident where he allegedly told a 9th grade Muslim girl in his algebra class "I bet that you're grieving" on Monday following the death of Osama bin Laden.

According to one parent at Clear Brook High School in Houston who spoke about the incident to a local ABC affiliate, the teacher also said, "I heard about your uncle's death."

The parent said the student "understood that he was referring about Osama bin Laden being killed and was racially profiling her."

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Osama Bin Laden

Oregon Muslims Cancel Bin Laden Death Rally After Maine Vandalism

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 3, 2011, 3:55PM

A group of men gather in prayer during the first day of Ramadan at the Masjid An-Noor Mosque.

In Portland, Oregon, Muslims planned to hold a downtown rally Monday to celebrate the death of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and "call for unity and peace." But they called it off after concerns over reprisals.

It's at least the second small incident since bin Laden was killed that suggests not everyone is ready to move on now that the villain behind the attacks of 9/11 is finally no longer with us. Yesterday, police in Portland, Maine opened up a hate crime investigation after a mosque there was spray-painted with the phrase "Osama today, Islam tomorow [sic]."

In Oregon, there wasn't a direct threat like there was in Maine. But organizers of the unity rally were fearful enough that something bad might go down at the rally that they canceled it.

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Maine

Portland, Maine Mosque Vandalized In Suspected Hate Crime Following Bin Laden Death

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 2, 2011, 4:58PM

On Monday in Portland, ME the walls of the largest mosque in town were spray-painted with "Osama today, Islam tomorow [sic]" and other phrases, sometime following morning prayers on the day after American forces killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

The police chief is calling the incident at the Maine Muslims Community Center a hate crime.

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Osama Bin Laden

U.S. Authorities Homed In On Osama For Last Nine Months

Susan Crabtree and Ryan J. Reilly | May 2, 2011, 12:02AM

Osama bin Laden

It was the best kept and most closely guarded secret for the last nine months: a select handful of U.S. national security and administration officials tracked a high-value courier for Osama bin Laden to a dusty dirt road leading to a compound 35 miles north of Islamabad, Pakistan's capital.

After months of intelligence gathering and meetings at the highest levels of the U.S. government, a small team of Navy Seals Sunday raided the compound, engaged in a firefight and ultimately killed bin Laden, the notorious leader of al Qaeda who had evaded capture and death since masterminding the 9/11 attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.

TPM SLIDESHOW: Osama Bin Laden: 9/11 Mastermind, Longtime U.S. Enemy Killed In Pakistan

The CIA pinpointed the compound in August and first informed President Obama about the intelligence in September of last year. As evidence mounted in mid-February that bin Laden and his family were living in the compound, the President and the National Security Council began holding a series of "intensive" meetings about a covert military strike aimed at killing him, according to administration officials.

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Herman Cain

Herman Cain: Many American Muslims 'Not Dedicated' To U.S., Constitution

Jon Terbush | March 29, 2011, 4:11PM

If Herman Cain becomes President, he will only consider appointing Muslims to federal positions if he can be extra-sure that they will uphold the Constitution and not sneak Sharia law into the government.

In an interview with Fox News' Neil Cavuto on Monday, Cain sought to clarify remarks he made over the weekend to a Think Progress reporter, when he said that he would not appoint any Muslims to his cabinet or federal judgeships were he President. In defending that statement, Cain said that his concern is not with Muslims per se, but with Sharia law, and that he would need a "commitment" from prospective Muslim appointees that they would remain loyal to the Constitution before he would consider giving them a job.

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2012

Herman Cain: I Would Appoint Zero Muslims To My Administration

Jon Terbush | March 28, 2011, 5:12PM

Herman Cain

Former pizza tycoon turned talk-radio host turned presidential candidate Herman Cain said over the weekend that the Muslim faith "does not belong in our government," and that were he President, he would not appoint a Muslim to his cabinet or to a federal court.

Cain's comments came at the Conservative Principles Conference in Iowa on Saturday in response to a question from a Think Progress reporter who asked directly if Cain would "be comfortable" appointing a Muslim to a federal position were he President.

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2012

Herman Cain to Muslims: Stop Trying to Convert Us to Islam

Benjy Sarlin | March 21, 2011, 3:47PM

Herman Cain

Former pizza magnate and Republican presidential contender Herman Cain has no problem with "peaceful Muslims," just with those that are trying to convert Americans to Islam.

Cain explained his views on the American Muslim community in an interview with Christianity Today.

"The role of Muslims in America is not to convert the rest of us to the Muslim religion," he said. "That I resent."

His position was sound, he explained, because "based upon the little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion, you know, they have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them."

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Keith Ellison

Keith Ellison Shrugs Off Conservative Mockers

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 17, 2011, 1:19PM

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) isn't sweating the mocking his emotional testimony before Rep. Peter King's (R-NY) hearings on Muslim extremism last week generated from the right.

Asked by TPM Wednesday about the drubbing he's received from conservative pundits since he teared up before King's panel, Ellison basically said, what else is new?

"Well, you know, I don't anticipate some people will appreciate everything that I say and stand for," he said. "But I'll say this: American people realize that when we say freedom and justice for all, that means all. You know, Muslims too."

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Muslims

Gallup Poll: Barely Half Of Americans Think American Muslims Support the U.S.

Jon Terbush | March 10, 2011, 2:27PM

Protesters against a proposed community center and mosque near ground zero called Cordoba House.

Not only are Muslims being viewed with a skeptical eye in Congress, but adults nationwide appear to be wary of fellow Americans who are Muslim, according to a new Gallup poll.

The results offer a surprising view of just how suspicious Americans are of not only Islam in general, but of Muslims living within the United States. The poll was released the same day that House hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims, led by Rep. Peter King (R-NY) got off to a highly emotional start.

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Islam

Only Majority Of Conservatives And Tea Partiers Think Muslims More Prone To Violence

Jon Terbush | March 10, 2011, 11:45AM

As Rep. Peter King's (R-NY) hearings on the radicalization of American muslims get underway, a new Pew poll of American adults finds that conservatives and Tea Party sympathizers are the only two political demographics of which a majority believe Islam, more so than any other religion, encourages violence.

Overall, Americans are split fairly evenly on the question. Yet the stark ideological divide reveals how sharply the issue breaks down along party lines, with far more people on the right -- and particularly to the far right -- viewing Islam as a violent religion.

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Gretchen Carlson

Fox's Carlson To Muslim Cleric: Have You Committed Acts Of Terrorism? (VIDEO)

Andrew Jones | February 22, 2011, 12:48PM

Memo to any Muslim cleric being interviewed by Gretchen Carlson: Prepare to be asked if you are associated with terrorism.

On Fox and Friends this morning, the co-host had a contentious interview with Anjem Choudary, the head of the controversial UK-based Islamic group Al-Muhajiroun, who is planning a March 3 protest outside the White House to call for the establishment of Sharia law in America. And it reached a boiling point when Carlson asked Choudary if, given his background, he would even qualify for entry into the United States.

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Phillip Dennis

Texas Tea Party Leader On Obama's Faith: 'I Don't Know!' (VIDEO)

Andrew Jones | February 10, 2011, 8:49AM

Dallas Tea Party Leader Phillip Dennis

Dallas Tea Party leader Phillip Dennis became the latest conservative figure to express doubts about whether President Obama is a Christian or a Muslim on Hardball yesterday.

"Is Barack Obama a Muslim?" asked host Chris Matthews.

Dennis' answer: "I don't know."

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Judson Phillips

Tea Party Nation Doubles Down On Rhetoric Against Muslim Rep.

Eric Lach | October 27, 2010, 5:53PM

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)

Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips is defending an email he wrote calling on supporters to help "retire" Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) because, among other reasons, "He is the only Muslim member of congress." In an email to supporters sent last night and in an interview with The Daily Caller, Phillips said he wouldn't apologize for having a "problem" with Islam.

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Keith Ellison

Tea Party Nation: Retire Rep. Ellison For Being A Muslim

Eric Lach | October 25, 2010, 6:06PM

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)

This weekend, Tea Party Nation (TPN) sent an email in support of Lynne Torgerson, who is running against Rep. Keith Ellison in Minnesota. In the email, TPN lists the reasons Ellison should be "retired." Among them: "He is the only Muslim member of congress."

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NV-SEN

Angle: Sharia Taking Hold In The United States

Eric Kleefeld | October 1, 2010, 4:09PM

NV Sen. candidate Sharron Angle (R)

Sharron Angle is now getting on board the latest Republican bandwagon, warning that sharia -- the term for Muslim religious law, which the American right has conflated to refer to its branches within Muslim extremism -- is taking over parts of the United States.

The Mesquite Local News reports on a Republican rally that Angle attended on Wednesday, where she took questions from GOP supporters:

One of the last questioners asked about "Muslims taking over the U.S.," including a question about Angle's stance on the proposed mosque near Ground Zero in New York.

"We're talking about a militant terrorist situation, which I believe isn't a widespread thing, but it is enough that we need to address, and we have been addressing it," Angle said.

"Dearborn, Michigan, and Frankford, Texas are on American soil, and under Constitutional law. Not Sharia law. And I don't know how that happened in the United States. It seems to me there is something fundamentally wrong with allowing a foreign system of law to even take hold in any municipality or government situation in our United States."

It's quite interesting that Angle is warning against a system of religious law taking control of the United States -- she has herself alleged that the Democrats' policies violate the First Commandment to acknowledge God as supreme.

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NC-02

Anderson Cooper Takes On Anti-Mosque GOP Candidate (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | September 27, 2010, 1:06PM

Anderson Cooper and Congressional candidate Renee Ellmers (R-NC)

On Friday night, Anderson Cooper took on Renee Ellmers, a Republican House candidate in North Carolina who has now based her campaign on opposing the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque," the Muslim community center project all the way up north in New York City. And the interview sure was a sight to behold.

Ellmers is running against incumbent Democrat Bob Etheridge. Her ad declared: "After the Muslims conquered Jerusalem, and Cordoba, and Constantinople, they built victory mosques. And now, they want to build a mosque by Ground Zero. Where does Bob Etheridge stand? He won't say, won't speak out, won't take a stand." Ellmers herself then cut in: "The terrorists haven't won. And we should tell them in plain English, no, there will never be a mosque at Ground Zero."

For one thing, Cooper asked Ellmers about how her ad uses the terms "Muslim" and "terrorists" interchangeably. Ellmers actually tried to wiggle out of that: "Well, to be honest, I think that you could make that assumption, but, you know, that's -- that's not giving me the benefit of the doubt."

Cooper replied: "I mean, that's -- your words are very carefully selected."

"The words are carefully selected, but that is certainly not what I'm intending to say. I am not intending to say that all Muslims are terrorists," Ellmers replied. "Basically, what I am saying, sir, is that there were terrorists who attacked us. They were Islamic jihadists. And, as a result of that, we have seen the devastation on 9/11."

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Ann Coulter

Ann Coulter At Homocon: 'Marriage Is Not A Civil Right. You're Not Black.'

Megan Carpentier | September 26, 2010, 3:13PM

Ann Coulter at CPAC 2010

Ann Coulter doesn't mince words. And even when speaking to a gay conservative organization, GOProud, at their inaugural Homocon party on Saturday night, she apparently wasn't willing to start.

After a series of jokes about conservative that sounded -- and were received -- more like a stand-up act then a political speech, Coulter told the assembled (and predominantly wealthy) conservative gay crowd why they should oppose same sex marriage, adding, "I should warn you: I've never failed to talk gays out of gay marriage."

And then she did.

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'Ground Zero Mosque'

Obama On U.S. Muslims: 'We Don't Differentiate Between Them And Us -- It's Just Us'

Jillian Rayfield | September 10, 2010, 12:55PM

President Obama concluded his press conference today with a statement on the importance of protecting the rights of American Muslims. "We don't differentiate between them and us," he said. "It's just us. And that is a principle that I think is going to be very important for us to sustain."

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Barack Obama

Obama: It's Important For American People To Hang On To Religious Tolerance (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | September 10, 2010, 12:16PM

In his press conference today, President Obama remarked on the increased level Islamophobia in the United States, stressing that it is important for "the overwhelming majority of the American people to hang on to that thing that is best in us -- a belief in religious tolerance, clarity about who our enemies are."

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Islam

Poll: American Favorabilty Toward Islam Lowest Since Oct, 2001

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 9, 2010, 9:53AM

The site of the Cordoba House project

Fewer Americans have a positive view toward Islam today than in the wake of 9/11. According to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll of national views on the Cordoba House project in Lower Manhattan and the planet's second-largest religion, just 37% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Islamic faith. That's "the fewest in ABC/Post polls dating to October 2001 (albeit by just 2 points)," according to the release.

In an ABC/Post poll released Oct. 9, 2001 -- less than a month after the attacks on New York and Washington -- 47% of Americans said they had favorable attitude toward Islam. Today, as we near the ninth anniversary of those attacks, that number is lower by ten points. In those years, the percentage of Americans viewing Islam positively dropped in ABC/Post polling, hovering at around 40% before dropping to it's lowest point in today's poll, which comes after a summer of open vitriol toward Islam by many prominent conservative leaders. The last time this few Americans told pollsters that they had a favorable view toward Islam came when American forces were still hunting down Saddam Hussein in Iraq -- back in September, 2003.

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Barack Obama

Barbour: There's 'Not Much Known' About Obama's Childhood And College Years

Christina Bellantoni | September 8, 2010, 11:41AM

President Barack Obama and Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS)

Now you know what to get Haley Barbour for Christmas -- a copy of President Obama's 1995 memoir.

Barbour, the Republican governor of Mississippi flirting with a presidential bid in 2012, told reporters today that Americans know less about President Obama than "any other president in history."

Reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor this morning asked Barbour why so many voters wrongly think Obama is Muslim. Barbour said it's surely no "vast right-wing conspiracy," and that he has no reason to doubt Obama's Christian faith or his citizenship.

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'Ground Zero Mosque'

Boehner: Koran Burning 'Unwise' (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | September 8, 2010, 11:11AM

In an interview with ABC News this morning, House Minority Leader John Boehner condemned a Florida pastor planning a September 11 Koran burning ceremony, calling the ritual "unwise." But he also stopped short of imploring him to cancel the event -- and compared the book-burning to the creation of an Islamic cultural center.

"To Pastor Jones and those who want to build the [so-called Ground Zero] Mosque," Boehner said (drawing an equivalence between Koran burning and the Cordoba House Project in lower Manhattan) "Just because you have a right to do something in America, does not mean it's the right thing to do. We're a nation of religious freedom -- we're also a nation of tolerance. I think in the name of tolerance, people ought to really think about the kind of actions they're taking."

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Pres '12

Barbour: 9/11 Koran Burning A Bad Idea

Christina Bellantoni | September 8, 2010, 10:12AM

Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS)

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said today that he opposes a Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Koran on Sept. 11, and said he accepts "totally" that President Obama is a Christian.

"I do not think well of the idea of burning anybody's Koran, Bible, Book of Mormon or anything else," Barbour told reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

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'Ground Zero Mosque'

Grand Old Islamophobes? Polls Show Widespread Republican Concerns Over Muslims -- And Obama

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 1, 2010, 8:48AM

In a series of respected national polls this summer, great swaths of Republicans -- often encompassing the majority -- have shown themselves to be deeply worried about the prospect of Muslims gaining power in the U.S. and of President Obama's perceived connections to the faith. This isn't a fringy extreme or small but vocal minority. It's huge portions of the party that just recently was defending its use of the filibuster by pointing out all the Democrats who blocked Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s and pooh-poohed the idea of racial insensitivity among tea partiers. And now, lots and lots of Republicans across the nation are on the leading edge of an anti-Muslim paranoia that some U.S. allies abroad believe will harm American relations with the moderate Muslim world.

Meet the new Republican establishment: worried about Muslims, and worried even more that Obama might be one of them.

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Islam

Newsweek Poll: Republicans Think Obama 'Probably' Wants To Impose Islamic Law

Eric Kleefeld | August 31, 2010, 11:29AM

President Barack Obama

As Sam Stein has pointed out, a majority of Republicans suspect that President Obama wants to impose Islamic law, also known as Sharia, throughout the world, according to a new national poll from Newsweek. But even as they say this, a lot of them aren't completely sure.

The poll asked: "Some people have alleged that Barack Obama sympathizes with the goals of Islamic fundamentalists who want to impose Islamic law around the world. From what you know about Obama, what is your opinion of these allegations?"

The top-line result was definitely true 7%, probably true 24%, probably not true 36%, and definitely not true 25%. Among Republicans, however, it was definitely true 14%, probably true 38%, probably not true 33%, and definitely not true 7%.

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Cordoba House

Karl Rove: Cordoba House Imam's Role Under Bush No Big Deal, But Obama Plays Politics (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | August 24, 2010, 4:45PM

more at fox.com August 18, 2010

Former top George W. Bush operatives are really distancing themselves from the Bush administration's relationship with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. Karl Rove said last night on Fox News that he wasn't aware until "recently" that Rauf was sent abroad by Bush's State Department to talk about the Islamic faith.

Laura Ingraham, filling in for Bill O'Reilly, asked about Rauf "working" for the Bush administration.

"I'm not sure working is the right title," Rove said, trying to frame Rauf's role as part of "bureaucratic" State Department decisions that are determined "apolitically." Rove's evidence included the fact as a young Republican he was named to a youth delegation during Jimmy Carter's administration.

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OH-13

GOPer Ganley: Obama Says He's Christian, 'No Reason To Believe Otherwise'

Eric Kleefeld | August 20, 2010, 12:28PM

OH-13 House candidate Tom Ganley (R)

Tom Ganley, the Republican nominee for Congress in the OH-13 race against incumbent Democrat Betty Sutton, clarified his earlier comments that he did not have a position on whether President Obama is a Muslim -- now saying that he has no reason not to believe the White House's statements that Obama is a Christian. Furthermore, he also said that the question was "irrelevant" to his campaign.

Ganley told Roll Call yesterday:"I don't have a position on whether he's a Muslim." This line of questioning came in the wake of a Pew national poll showing that 18% of Americans think that Obama is a Muslim -- nearly twice the number from last year.

Later in the day, Ganley sent Roll Call a statement. "During an interview earlier today, I was asked a question about President Obama's religion that I felt irrelevant to the story being written about my campaign for Congress," he said. "I do not believe President Obama's religion has any impact on the need for jobs in Ohio's 13th district. According to the White House, our President is a Christian and I have no reason to believe otherwise."

OH-13

GOP House Candidate Ganley: 'I Don't Have A Position' On Whether Obama Is Muslim

Eric Kleefeld | August 19, 2010, 6:00PM

OH-13 House candidate Tom Ganley (R)

A Republican nominee for a big House race in Ohio is now declining to say whether he thinks President Obama is a Muslim.

"I don't have a position on whether he's a Muslim," said Tom Ganley, an auto dealer and self-funding GOP nominee for Congress in Ohio's 13th District, in an interview with Roll Call. This interview came in the wake of a Pew national poll showing that 18% of Americans think that Obama is a Muslim -- nearly twice the number from last year.

Ganley is running against second-term Democratic Rep. Betty Sutton, in a district that voted 57%-42% for Obama in 2008. He had initially been running for Senate, challenging Rob Portman for the GOP nomination, but was recruited by the party back in February to switch races and go for the House. He has already put $6.5 million of his own money into the race.

'Ground Zero Mosque'

Influential Mosque Opponent Promotes Religious Freedom Abroad For U.S. Government

Brian Beutler | August 18, 2010, 5:07PM

A protest against the 'Ground Zero Mosque' and Dr. Richard Land, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, inset.

As president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Dr. Richard Land is an influential opponent of the Cordoba House project in New York. But when he's not speaking on behalf of one of the most powerful religious bodies in the country, Land has a second -- some would say ironic -- ecumenical role: member of the federally created United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.

In his role as a commissioner, Land's job is to press for a U.S. foreign policy that advances religious freedoms around the world. Reached by phone today, Land maintained that there is no contradiction between his service on the Commission and his efforts to see the Cordoba House Islamic cultural center project moved farther north in Manhattan.

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Cordoba House

Anti-'Mosque' Geller: 'Strip Clubs Didn't Bring Down The Towers'

Christina Bellantoni | August 18, 2010, 4:47PM

Conservative activist Pamela Geller

Pamela Geller, one of the most prominent opponents of the proposed Islamic center two blocks from the former World Trade Center, said today in an interview the treatment of the "South Park" creators is a prominent factor in her quest to stop the center from being built.

Geller, author of the book, The Obama Administration's War on America, is the force behind the anti-Muslim group Stop Islamization of America and the Atlas Shrugs blog but insists her opposition to the Islamic center is not racist or bigoted. "It's a common decency issue," she said.

In a lengthy phone interview today with TPM, Geller cited her problems with Islam and its practices; offered spotty historic references and cherry picked the things she doesn't like about those "non-secular" Muslims while swearing she has no problem with most members of the Islamic faith.

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'Ground Zero Mosque'

GOP Muslims Fear Failure Of Bush Outreach Efforts After Anti-Mosque Furor

Brian Beutler | August 18, 2010, 11:10AM

Fmr. President George W. Bush (R)

After winning nearly 80 percent of the Muslim vote in 2000, George Bush bled much of it away in the post 9/11 era. The war in Iraq, the PATRIOT Act, detainment and other policies drove at least half of that support to John Kerry and third party candidates in 2004. But all the while, several influential Muslim Republicans, both inside the administration and out, were working hard to staunch the bleeding and build a donor base among wealthy members of the Muslim community.

Today, several of them say that their efforts are being undermined, if not completely destroyed, by Republicans stoking anti-Muslim sentiment by opposing the construction of the Cordoba House -- now known infamously and inaccurately as the "Ground Zero Mosque".

"We've been working hard, some Muslim Americans, some non-Muslims, to keep the Muslim American community and other minorities on the party side, to keep relationships going," says David Ramadan, a Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia. "All of that is threatened to be thrown down the drain."

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'Ground Zero Mosque'

George Bush Stays Out Of 'Ground Zero Mosque' Fray

Christina Bellantoni | August 17, 2010, 5:39PM

Former President George W. Bush

Republicans for weeks have been surfacing left and right to condemn the proposed Islamic center two blocks from the site of Ground Zero in New York City, but one GOPer stayed quiet. As the "mosque" debate boiled over this weekend the big question was whether George W. Bush was going to weigh in.

TPM asked, and the response from his spokesman today was simple:

"President Bush has no comment."

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TN-06

Muslim-Baiting GOP Candidate Loses House Primary -- Just Barely

Eric Kleefeld | August 6, 2010, 12:24AM

TN-06 House Republican candidates Lou Ann Zelenik and Diane Black

Lou Ann Zelenik, the Republican House candidate in Tennessee who made opposition to a local Muslim community center project a top issue for her campaign, has ultimately lost her Republican primary -- but not by much.

With 100% of precincts reporting, state Sen. Diane Black has 31% of the vote, followed by Zelenik with 30%, and state Sen. Jim Tracy also with 30%. On the Democratic side, attorney and Iraq War veteran Brett Carter has won with a similarly slim plurality of 30%, edging out attorney Henry Clay Barry and Iraq veteran Ben Leming with 29% each.

As we'd previously reported, Zelenik made opposition to the Muslim center a big issue for her campaign -- and attacked the other candidates for not opposing it enough. She boldly declared: "Until the American Muslim community find it in their hearts to separate themselves from their evil, radical counterparts, to condemn those who want to destroy our civilization and will fight against them, we are not obligated to open our society to any of them."

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Newt Gingrich

Gingrich: Forget Ground Zero -- They Can Build A Mosque Near Central Park Or Columbia Instead (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | July 27, 2010, 11:16AM

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich appeared last night on Greta Van Susteren's show, elaborating on his opposition to the building of a Muslim community center near Ground Zero in New York City. During his appearance, Gingrich ended up making it clear that he doesn't oppose mosques in all of New York -- just in this particular spot.

"You know, there are over a hundred mosques in New York City. I favor religious freedom," said Gingrich. "I'm quite happy if they'd come in and said, 'We want to build a community center near Central Park, we'd like to build a community center near Columbia University.' But they didn't. They said right at the edge of a place where, let's be clear, thousands of Americans were killed in an attack by radical Islamists."

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