Ellison will take oath on Thomas Jefferson's copy of Koran....

[Virginia Dare]

there are so many ironies here, but probably the biggest one is that Virgil Goode represents the district where Mr. Jefferson once lived. But that was when truly great men populated Virginia. Men who weren't afraid to open their minds. Men who stood for principles and ideas worth upholding.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010300075.html

Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, found himself under attack last month when he announced he'd take his oath of office on the Koran -- especially from Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, who called it a threat to American values.

Yet the holy book at tomorrow's ceremony has an unassailably all-American provenance. We've learned that the new congressman -- in a savvy bit of political symbolism -- will hold the personal copy once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

[ellie]

1. That's pretty cool

using Jefferson's copy.

[Philosoraptor]

2. Well I'll be damned.

Jefferson read the Koran, that's actually significant, but probably will never be understood by the apes. I believe that the founding fathers also based part of their new nation's laws on certain native American laws. Another strange irony.

He was one amazing dude, flaws and all.

[jwirr]

27. Benjamin Franklin was the source of the Native American ideas

that came out of Penn's colony through the Quakers.

[Solly Mack]

3. That's a smooth move

[blogslut]

4. Brilliant!

Excellent move by Ellison!

[chimpymustgo]

7. Trump card. Now Virgil Goode can just STFU.

We need to keep an eye on Ellison. He's courageous and quite politically savvy.

[Ninga]

5. This is an excellent example of how being smart trumps smarmy and snide remarks.

Congressperson to be, Ellison, quietly and wisely has taken the high road with this one action.

I look for more of the same from Keith Ellison in the future.

[tanyev]

6. Bam!

STFU, Goode.

[AlCzervik]

8. Why did Jefferson hate Freedom® and Merika?

:D

Well done Mr. Ellison, well done.

[Philosoraptor]

9. VERY interesting article on this subject, with pat robertson comments

http://www.juancole.com/2005/05/is-bigotry-all-right-in-politics-john.html

[Virginia Dare]

14. Thanks, that was very interesting...

I cannot understand who died and made Pat Robertson the fucking authority on all things religious in this country. What a lunatic he is. He's another one that Thomas Jefferson would be mortified to claim as a fellow Virginian.

[enough]

15. GREAT 2005 article by Cole, thanks for bringing that up.

snip from Cole article>

American Muslims are Americans. They have all the same rights and duties as all other Americans. Period. Likewise Jewish Americans. Robertson's religious bigotry flies directly in the face of Thomas Jefferson's thinking on religious liberty, which he dares sully by passing it through his bilious venomous lips.

Here is what Jefferson actually wrote, in his 1777 Draft of a
Bill for Religious Freedom:

"that our civil rights have no dependance on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry; that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which, in common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right . . ."

In fact, it was Jefferson's more bigotted opponents in the Virginia legislature who brought up the specter of Muslims and atheists being elected to it in the world Jefferson was trying to create. He was undeterred by such considerations, which should tell us something.

Enlightenment Americans knew about Islam and just did not care to divide up human beings by religion. George Washington asked in a March 24, 1784, letter to his aide Tench Tilghman that some craftsmen be hired for him: "If they are good workmen, they may be of Assia, Africa, or Europe. They may be Mahometans, Jews, or Christian of any Sect - or they may be Atheists ..."

snip> much more

[Lurking Dem]

10. This is hilarious.

I can't think of a better, or more appropriate, way to say, "Fuck you!"

Kudos to Ellison!

[annabanana]

11. Ha!. . take THAT you blithering bigots!

Good move guy!

[cali]

12. Beautiful.

can't wait for the freepers to choke on that bit of info.

[crispini]

13. Bwahahahahaha!

Excellent! SO SMART! :rofl:

[rodeodance]

16. ha ha

[BlackVelvet04]

17. Goode is a blowhard

jackass and I don't know why he keeps getting re-elected.

Very smart move on Ellison's part.

[wicket]

18. Bless him

n/t

[Mad_Dem_X]

19. LOVE IT!

Says so much. :patriot:

[sarge43]

20. Cunning, but

he still should use a copy of the USC opened to Article 6.

[elehhhhna]

21. GOOD IDEA! They should ALL swear on the Constitution.

[jwirr]

28. They all, like *ss, swear to uphold the Constitution.

[sarge43]

34. I know that; you know that, but it seems to have sailed right

over Goode's head.

[Ian_rd]

22. Check and freakin' MATE!

Best political play of the month, Keith. Very, very nice.

[babylonsister]

23. Hot stuff! And I love that Jefferson owned a Koran! Take that, Goode! nt

[displacedtexan]

24. T. Jefferson to V. Goode: "Kiss my patriotic ass!"

[DinahMoeHum]

25. Considering that Ellison's ancestors were in the colonies at the time

of Jefferson, it's wholly appropriate.

:thumbsup:

[IndyOp]

26. Great comment from J.F. Kennedy about Jefferson --

Not directly relevant to Ellison - but a good quote about Jefferson.

John F. Kennedy’s held a dinner honoring 49 Nobel Laureates on April 29, 1962 at which he said:

"I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House -- with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

(Simpson’s Contemporary Quotations, 1988, from Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1962, p. 347).

"When Jefferson Dined Alone" By Jonathan Gross
http://hnn.us/articles/20061.html

[AspenRose]

29. Stone Cold BUSTED

Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha

That's the way you do it :D

Goode you just got OWNED }(

[Javaman]

30. If I recall, someone stated on here that no holy book is ever used

during the swearing in process of a an elected official.

True or not true? :shrug:

[sarge43]

33. Congresscritters are sworn in as a group

rather like enlisting :evilgrin:

If an individual wants to hold a Bible, Quran or a copy of Sports Illustrated during the process, his/her choice.

[Strawman]

31. That is great

[underpants]

32. Oh this is sooooooooooooooooooo SWEET

:rofl: