Hajj-podge

GOP seeks investigation of Ellison pilgrimage

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/house/51433962.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUs

Group That Funded Rep. Ellison's Pilgrimage to Mecca Called a Front for Extremism

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/08/rep-ellison-makes-pilgrimage-paid-group-critics-extremism/

It seems unlikely that anything Ellison could do would anger his constituency enough to oust him. After all, he represents Minnesota's 5th Congressional District - a Democratic stronghold that easily overlooked his past ties to the "Nation of Islam" -- ties he sought (unconvincingly) to distance himself from during the campaign. Ever the victim, he lamented the fact that questions around his campaign focused on his past instead of on the issues. Boo hoo.

Now we are asked to overlook his pilgrimage -- paid for by yet another dubious group with whom Ellison has associated himself (the Muslim American Society of MN) -- and, seemingly, flaunting Congressional rules about receiving/reporting gifts in doing so.

(Of the MAS, Steven Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism has said it "was created actually as a front for the Muslim Brotherhood, which is a worldwide Islamic extremist organization that was started in 1920s...It has actually had some of its staffers convicted of terrorism, including Ismail Royer , convicted of waging war against the United States.") http://www.investigativeproject.org/382/muslim-american-society-american-friend-or-foe

Prediction: Another typhoon in a teapot -- Democratic colleagues and supporters will continue to paint Ellison as a voice of moderation and any Congressional action would likely amount to a figurative slap on the wrist (after all, our President has his own dubious associations, does he not?). Further anecdotal proof that you don't need a good excuse -- you just need the right cloud of apologists.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone -- oh, sorry, mixing my extremist metaphors again...

For further reading on MAS, see: http://www.investigativeproject.org/472/introducing-the-muslim-american-society