The Ultimate Puff Piece

Yesterday, I wrote something about the House's vote to support Israel and hold the terrorists accountable, citing Jim McDermott's vote to not hold the terrorists accountable. At first, I counted this as just another wacky McDermott vote but I wasn't satisfied with that. Instead of leaving well enough alone, I did some digging. After doing a Google search, I found this article from 2004, which I can only characterize as the ultimate puff piece:

American Muslims mingling in a ballroom at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in downtown Seattle last night showed no outward sign of the pressure many are feeling. At the annual banquet for the Seattle chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the issues of war abroad and civil rights at home surfaced at the podium, and participants were ready with opinions when asked.

Yet this formal gathering of more than 300 people breathed the warmth and intimacy of a close-knit community. Children dressed in their best filled the room with a family feeling. Men from Africa, the Middle East and Malaysia greeted each other with broad smiles, tight bear hugs and soft kisses to the cheek. Young women mostly wore headscarves, and a few had their faces veiled.

One overt political note was sounded as U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, was introduced and given CAIR's public-official-of-the-year award for his support of the Muslim community.

CAIR has a decent enough public image but they've got some character flaws. Here's a brief summary of those flaws:

For starters, it's on the wrong side in the war on terrorism. One indication came in October 1998, when the group demanded the removal of a Los Angeles billboard describing Osama bin Laden as "the sworn enemy," finding this depiction "offensive to Muslims."

and:

The same year, CAIR denied bin Laden's responsibility for the twin East African embassy bombings. As Hooper saw it, those explosions resulted from some vague "misunderstandings of both sides." (A New York court, however, blamed bin Laden's side alone for the embassy blasts.)

In 2001, CAIR denied his culpability for the Sept. 11 massacre, saying only that "if [note the "if"] Osama bin Laden was behind it, we condemn him by name."

and:

The conviction of the perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing it deemed "a travesty of justice." The conviction of Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind sheikh who planned to blow up New York City landmarks, it called a "hate crime." The extradition order for suspected Hamas terrorist Mousa Abu Marook it labeled "anti-Islamic" and "anti-American."

and:

When President Bush closed the Holy Land Foundation in December for collecting money he said was "used to support the Hamas terror organization," CAIR decried his action as "unjust" and "disturbing."

Yesterday, I said that McDermott hated Israel and America and I stand by those statements. Today, I'll add that McDermott likes and supports terrorist appeasing organizations like CAIR. The fact that he gladly accepts their awards is insulting to people who care about America.

It's time the people of Washington's 7th District fired him this November. It's time they elected Steve Beren.

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Posted Saturday, July 22, 2006 12:16 PM

June 2006 Posts

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