Bachmann Yells Fire In A Theater-- 6 Innocent Sikhs Murdered By A Right Wing Psychopath

I'm in the middle of Tom Holland's fascinating book, In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire and the few pages I read everyday are like an oasis in the middle of my schedule. And I'm learning so much about the end of antiquity. Who knew God struck down Sodom and Gomorrah because of too much public flatulence? What's funny-- not that funny-- is that while I've been reading it a handful of right-wing Republican religious bigots and Crusaders, led by publicity hound Michele Bachmann, have been off on an anti-Muslim witch hunt. And-- wouldn't you know it-- some deranged neo-Nazi very much like a street level version of Bachmann and cohorts of hers like Steve King (R-IA), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), Tom Rooney (R-FL), shot up a Sikh temple-- or as Mitt Romney put it, "a sheik temple," thinking he "got" half a dozen of Bachmann's "terrorists."

Of course, you can't just blame Bachmann. Another deranged right-wing publicity hound, a more desperate Joe Walsh, is also working hard to stir up hatred against Muslim-Americans.

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Elk Grove Village Wednesday, Walsh warned that there is "a radical strain of Islam in this country... trying to kill Americans every week," which he called a "real threat that is much more at home now than it was after 9/11," CBS Chicago reports.

“It’s here. It’s in Elk Grove. It’s in Addison. It’s in Elgin. It’s here,” he said, according to the station.

Walsh also called for an end to political correctness among "godly" representatives willing to oppose the expansion of Islam, which he asserted "is not the peaceful, loving religion we hear about," according to Salon. That statement was reportedly met with applause.

Muslims in the communities Walsh targeted say they feel threatened by the politician's remarks, especially in light of the recent shooting in a Sikh temple in nearby Milwaukee.

"When elected officials, trusted by many, indicate that the enemy could be any Muslim living in your neighborhood, it gives rise to xenophobic vigilantism where fearful citizens target other Americans for simply looking different," Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Chicago, said in a statement.

So were the murders Bachmann's, Walsh's and the Republican Party's fault? Absolutely. And Muslim leaders are pointing right at Romney as a Bachmann-enabler. Alex Seitz-Wald reports that Muslim leaders are dismayed that Romney is still refusing to call her out on her bigotry and McCarthyism. The feeling in the community is that Romney's response--“I’m not going to tell other people what things to talk about. Those are not things that are part of my campaign.”-- is not exactly the kind of leadership Americans are looking for. Salam Al-Marayati, the longtime president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, told Seitz-Wald that “Romney has the responsibility to state where he stands because he cannot have it both ways. When he doesn’t comment, he is giving legitimacy to Bachmann’s point of view, and this is now going to be aligned with Romney’s point of view. Whether he personally believes it or not, this will be the perception. And perception becomes reality... Romney’s silence speaks volumes of where he stands on this issue, Running for president is not a dodgeball game.” It’s odd, Al-Marayati noted, considering that Romney was the candidate who gave Herman Cain the strongest rebuke during the GOP primary (though it was still pretty mild) for saying he wouldn’t hire Muslims to his cabinet. Al-Marayati said he “expected” that of a person “who belongs to a faith that understands religious [persecution] too well and knows the history of religious persecution in this country.”

But if Romney is too afraid of the bigots-in-the-base to speak up, there are a few Republicans speaking up against Bachmann's McCarthyism. Obviously McCain led off-- and was publicly reviled by all the crazies in the party. This week it was Chris Christie, who appointed a Muslim judge and publicly rebuked Bachmann and her cronies and called them out as bigots. After the story was reported the video was made "private," but here's another Christie video where he calls anti-Muslim bigots "ignorant."



He says he's "tired of dealing with the crazies" and laughs at the kooks who are whining about the "dangers" of Sharia Law. This certainly puts him at odds with the Republican base.

"I'll tell you that there is a gaze of intolerance that is going around our country that is disturbing to me," Christie said. "This is something that as a political leader you can think you understand as an objective observer, but you don't really understand until you become part of the story."

He said that two of his actions have "drawn the ire" of some conservatives around the country. The first was the nomination of a Sohail Mohammed, a Muslim attorney, as a superior court judge. Conservative web sites have criticized the appointment, saying Mohammed has defended terrorists and will employ shariah law. But Christie called Mohammed a friend and said that those who create hysteria about his appointment because are "bigots."

Christie went on to ask the Muslims in attendance to recommend members of their community for appointments, including judgeships. 

Christie also noted that he has been called out for his relationship with Imam Mohammad Qatanani, who is often described online as a "Hamas-linked cleric." 

"The fact of the matter is that in all my interactions over the years with the imam, he has attempted to be a force for good in his community, in our state, with law enforcement, with those of us who have gotten to know and work with us over the years," said Christie, who worked with the Muslim community as a U.S. Attorney in the aftermath of Sept. 11. "So I hope what you see is a consistent strain of conduct. I will judge people based on their relationships with me and how they conduct themselves."