A Muslim Committed to Serve His Nation

Thoughts from Keith Ellison, the newly elected Representative from Minnesota’s 5th District and the first Muslim member of Congress:

Recently, I have become the focus of some criticism for my use of the Qu’ran for my ceremonial swearing in. Let me be clear, I am going to be sworn into office like all members of Congress. I am going to swear to uphold the United States Constitution. We seem to have lost the political vision of our founding document — a vision of inclusion, tolerance and generosity.

He goes on:

I do not blame my critics for subscribing to a politics of scarcity and intolerance. However, I believe we all must project a new politics of generosity and inclusion This is the vision of the diverse coalition in my Congressional district. My constituents in Minnesota elected me to fight for a new politics in which a loving nation guarantees health care for all of its people; a new politics in which executive pay may not skyrocket while workers do not have enough to care for their families. I was elected to articulate a new politics in which no one is cut out of the American dream, not immigrants, not gays, not poor people, not even a Muslim committed to serve his nation.

It’s a matter of choice that Rep. Ellison swore on the Qu’ran, but it’s a matter of principle that got him elected. Hopefully pundits will realize this as Rep. Ellison transforms from the “Muslim Congressman” to just a “Congressman”.

 

Clinton vs. Obama, Round 1

Two feature articles appeared today addressing the impending Clinton-Obama bout.

Here’s the New Republic’s take. And here’s thoughts from Eugene Robinson.

Both bring up an interesting point: is Barack Obama a political orgasm that simply won’t last, or is he the real deal? Many have pegged him to be so, but my faith is in Obama the sensible leader and competent politician, not the Time Magazine cover boy and supposed political newbie. He might have rock star status at the moment, but the next few months of primary campaigning will ultimately reveal his true political worth. But if he is the sure shot, then Clinton, Edwards, Richardson, and anyone else will have more than enough work ahead of them.

 

A Response

A pundit responds to my last post:

I gather from your article (if you could call it that) that you would rather pull all soldiers out of Iraq immediately, allowing the country to fend for itself in a full blown civil war?

Do you advocate the deaths of millions of Iraqi’s or are you only concerned about your ideology’s agenda?

These are questions that I feel you should answer, since you only seem to criticize without offering anything in the way of a solution.

The reader seems to believe in extremes; that because I favor a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq that somehow I believe in forsaking the Iraqi people, mass murder, civil war, selfishness, and propaganda. I enjoy intelligent commentary from my readers, but this isn’t even making a mountain out of a molehill. You can’t even call this twisting my words, because I have made no words to twist.

 

Bush, Iraq, and Lame Ducks

It took long enough:

President Bush acknowledged for the first time yesterday that the United States is not winning the war in Iraq and said he plans to expand the overall size of the “stressed” U.S. armed forces to meet the challenges of a long-term global struggle against terrorists.

We’ve gone from “mission accomplished” to “staying the course” to “we’re not winning, we’re not losing”.  Politics is a gradual process, but the self-supporting logic has become both obvious and sickening to a war-wary nation.

And what’s more, now strategists are calling for a temporary troop increase, proposing to deploy another 20-30,000 soldiers to Iraq.  This seems fit to the administration’s character: as if over 100,000 soldiers without sufficient equipment and a clear objective isn’t bad enough, let’s add another 30,000.

Even Democrats, straying from their campaign promises, are considering the increase as a temporary and necessary requirement.  Harry Reid seems to be going along with the Iraq mess, and Speaker Pelosi is nowhere to be found.  At a crucial moment such as this, shouldn’t these two be openly condemning the idea of troop increases, especially when the majority of the nation supports troop withdrawals?

Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi might be getting used to the attention and responsibilities of their new positions.  But in terms of a very early assessment, I’ll give them what I consider to be a fair and objective grade: lame ducks.

 

Don’t Call it a Comeback

As of 3:30 yesterday, I officially joined the California Alumni Association.  I am a college graduate.

My life, as of late, has been filled with obligation.  Law school applications, research papers, final exams, and two jobs ultimately filled up my schedule.  I didn’t have much time for myself, let alone the blog. 

But that’s all over now.  As Semisonic once said, every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. If that’s the case, call this the rebirth of Delightfully Tacky, a new beginning in both my blog and my life.

Being the obsessive policy wonk that I am, I often found myself briefly scanning the news wires with spare moments at work or in the library.  I’d write down brief thoughts, talking points to myself that I promised I would discuss later in greater depth.  But if I have learned one thing in my budding journalism career, it’s this: there’s nothing more worthless than yesterday’s newspaper.

It’s unfortunate, because these past few months have been eventful, the fodder my blog ravishes on a daily basis.  How has history defined our time, and how will the future unfold?