If I took Ken Santema’s advice, I wouldn’t comment on Bill Fuhrman’s response to the Aberdeen American News‘s question to its Reader Panel on whether he is satisfied with the results of the Presidential election:
Satisfied! Trump could exchange the existing Islam worshippers in and around the White House with Christians, reinstate the National Day of Prayer, disallow the Quran in schools, totally eliminate Sharia law from our land and more closely examine incoming refugees [Bill Fuhrman, in Reader Panel, “Mixed Feelings on Election Results,” Aberdeen American News, 2016.11.15, p. 6A].
But no, I have be one of those bad old “social justice warriors” and say that Bill Fuhrman epitomizes the Trumpist ignorance and bigotry that puts our Constitution and nation in peril for the next four years. In brief:
- Article 6 of the Constitution forbids religious tests for public office.
- The National Day of Prayer needs no reinstating, since it has been preserved and proclaimed regularly by President Barack Obama.
- Banning Qurans from school is as Constitutional as banning Bibles from school. I welcome the study of both in public schools, though not at the expense of studying math, language, science, and other required classes, and not in any way that encourages belief in either religion.
- There is no Sharia law in the United States, thanks to the First Amendment and strict separation of church and state.
- We examine refugees very rigorously before allowing them into the United States. We scrutinize Syrian refugees even more rigorously.
Bill Fuhrman represents the worst of the bigotry and ignorance that propelled a sexist, racist fascist to the Presidency. I remain unapologetically at war with such bigotry and ignorance.
THIS IS WAR — “Liberal groups steel themselves to battle Trump,” by Anna Palmer and Daniel Lippman:
~ “Liberal groups are preparing for war under Donald Trump. Top Democratic operatives are huddling this week in a series of meetings to strategize about which groups will run point on everything from safeguarding women’s access to health care to fighting any increase in deportations to preventing attacks on Muslim Americans. Fundraisers have also been pitching top liberal donors who are gathering in Washington this week for a meeting of the Democracy Alliance, a secretive club of wealthy progressives, to commit tens of millions of dollars for a 2018 field campaign to stave off potentially massive losses in the midterm elections.”
~ “There is also discussion of forming a liberal equivalent to the right’s Judicial Watch, which spent much of the past eight years as a thorn in the Obama administration’s side filing legal petitions under the Freedom of Information Act — and tormented Hillary Clinton with aggressive investigations into her email habits. Advocacy organizations like NARAL and the Sierra Club have also channeled the raw emotions coming out of last week’s election results into a massive push for donors to cut checks and to sign up thousands of volunteers. … Planned Parenthood … is even hearing from worried patients about whether they should get an IUD because it could ‘outlast the Trump administration as a form of birth control.”
For the record I never said to not comment on racism and bigotry when seeing it. But blanket calling large group of people racist and bigots will have ramifications when seeking office. There is a big difference between commenting on something and labeling large groups of opponents something.
But either way it really doesn’t matter. I probably won’t have time to blog now with what I have going on, so you won’t have to worry about what I say.
People “worry” about what you say, Santema? That’s a bit ego inflated. And, calling a piss-ant hate group a “large group of people’ is inflated also. Please, educate me on the difference between commenting and labeling within the context of fighting bullies.
Pining for the replacement of “Islam worshippers” by Christians is the definition of religious discrimination. I would like to hear the defense of this Islamophobic small minded fear monger from the “don’t call us out for being discriminatory” crowd.
Ban the Quaran in schools? Do you also want to ban the Bible as Cory said? This country was built on religious tolerance.
My guess is that this guy has never met a Muslim, doesn’t know the first thing about Islam, and if he wasn’t riled up by right-wing media, would never give two thoughts to the influence of Muslims in this country.
What could have less effect on this man’s life than the things that he lists: replacing Islam worshipers around the White House with Christians (Ummmm, OBAMA IS A CHRISTIAN!, idiot), but what effect would this have on his life if there were more Christians and less Muslims around the White House? What effect on his life would banning the Quaran in schools have? What effect would banning Sharia law that doesn’t exist in this country have? And what effect on his life would more closely examining refugees have?
LOL Mr. Lansing, that was beautiful. Yes, the dude is pretty full of himself for sure. We all hang on every morsel he allows us to parse.
Heidelberger eloquently states (statesmen do that – noun ~
a skilled, experienced, and respected political leader or figure.): Bill Fuhrman represents the worst of the bigotry and ignorance that propelled a sexist, racist fascist to the Presidency. I remain unapologetically at war with such bigotry and ignorance.
~ One is either a social justice warrior or a social justice apologist … or a “fence rider” learning about the issue. Mr. Santema, by weighing in, labeling and deriding Mr. Heidelberger as a warrior, who sacrificed his campaign to the right side of history, has chosen his position … apologist for bigotry.
Well lookee here- http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/us/politics/fbi-hate-crimes-muslims.html?_r=0
Attacks against Muslims increased this past year and SPIKED in the last week. Say it ain’t so, Drumpfaholics.
Yes, the large group of people that assembled to hear and cheer Ron Branstner in August spewing the same hate-filled and rampantly false claims, a group that included our complicit Senator-Elect Al Novstrup, is as bigoted and ignorant as Bill Fuhrman shows himself to be with his comment in the newspaper. I agree that my making that statement has ramifications for people running for office. The ramification that concerns me most, however, is telling the truth and fighting bigotry and ignorance.
Let me say that I have appreciated Santema’s contributions to the blogosphere. He has offered a reasonably honest conservative perspective independent of the sitting up and begging for scraps from party leadership that makes Pat Powers’s efforts so grating and useless.
However, faced with bigotry and willful ignorance from his conservative neighbors (Islam worshippers in the White House? really? as if that’s either factual or relevant?), Santema has chosen an irresponsible agnosticism. Perhaps Santema is planning his own run for office and is thus withdrawing from blogging to reduce his exposure to criticism from the conservative base.
We need more truthtellers in the blogosphere. The health of our Republic depends on it. Again, that is far more important than pandering for any votes.
Cory, thank you for speaking against the intolerant among us here in god’s country.
PR, I will continue to speak against bigotry and ignorance. I have no tolerance for for such errors.