Herman Cain

Herman Cain Strikes Again: Says TN Mosque Project Is 'Not Innocent'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 15, 2011, 9:46AM

GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain

Can Herman Cain go a month without saying something incendiary about Muslims in America? Signs point to no.

At a campaign stop in Murfreesboro, TN yesterday, Cain sounded off on the mosque project in the city that kicked up some anti-Islamic fervor -- and a little apparent hate crime action -- last year.

Asked about the project by reporters after a rally in Murfreesboro, Cain took up the party line of the opponents, who say the mosque is pushing sharia law on an unsuspecting populace in the home of Middle Tennessee State University.

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2012 elections

GOP Candidates To Be Served With 'Marriage Vow' Pledge In Iowa

Eric Kleefeld | July 7, 2011, 10:16AM

Republican presidential candidates going through Iowa will now be asked to take new marriage vows -- that is, a pledge to uphold traditional marriage.

David Brody at the Christian Broadcasting Network reports, the actual title of the document is "The Marriage Vow -- A Declaration of Dependence Upon Marriage and Family." It is being put forward by the social conservative group the Family Leader, headed up by 2010 gubernatorial candidate and 2008 Huckabee state campaign chair Bob Vander Plaats.

Among the points for candidates to pledge are personal fidelity to his or her spouse, opposition to gay marriage and support in legal fights for the Defense of Marriage Act, opposition to sex trafficking and pornography, and opposition to "anti-women" Sharia Islamic law.

Hmm...a strict Sharia adherent would also oppose gay marriage and pornography, and likely demand the legal defense of DOMA. Oh well.

Republicans

The Winners And Losers Of The GOP's First 100 Days In Power

Brian Beutler | April 19, 2011, 10:33AM

Republicans have controlled the House of Representatives for just over 100 days. In that time, they've worked with Democrats to prevent a government shutdown, and worked alone to pass a budget. They've put the big entitlements on the table, and proposed slowly phasing out one of them -- Medicare -- altogether. In so doing, they've fundamentally shifted the center of the debate on Capitol Hill significantly to the right.

Along the way some individuals have enjoyed the limelight, others have suffered embarrassments, and yet more have just gone along for the ride. But in the end it's not about the personalities -- John Boehner, Harry Reid, or even Barack Obama. It's about the very things that have born the brunt of the impact of the new direction in Washington. Here are our top five winners and losers at the 100 day milestone.

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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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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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Values Voter Summit

Gingrich Calls For Federal Ban On Shariah Law In US

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 18, 2010, 12:05PM

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

The second morning of speeches at the Values Voter Summit here in DC was dominated by a man who is swiftly becoming the nation's spokesperson for Islamophobia -- former House speaker Newt Gingrich. Fresh off the release of his Islam-focused film "America At Risk," Gingrich told the crowd at VVS that it's time to take federal action to prevent Shariah Law from infiltrating courtrooms in the US.

"We should have a federal law that says sharia law cannot be recognized by any court in the United States," Gingrich said to a standing ovation from the audience. The law will let judges know, Gingrich said, that "no judge will remain in office that tried to use sharia law."

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Morals, Morals, Morals! Conservatives Gather For Values Voter Summit]

Gingrich made a not-so-subtle reference to the right wing meme about freshly-minted Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan which claims that Kagan is "sympathetic" to Shariah and -- as some suggested during her confirmation hearings -- might allow it to be recognized as law in the United States.

But beyond the Kagan hit, Gingrich's anti-Shariah talk inserted him directly into the most extreme end of the Islamophobic push-back against mosque projects all over the country.

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