Goode Gone Wild

The story of Virgil Goode's letter to his constituents, attacking incoming Rep. Keith Ellison for... um, being Muslim?... has jumped from the blogs into the traditional media. The New York Times had the story yesterday, and today the Washington Post editorial board hits Goode hard, calling him "A Bigot In Congress."

BIGOTRY COMES in various guises -- some coded, some closeted, some colossally stupid. The bigotry displayed recently by Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., a Republican who represents a patch of south-central Virginia, falls squarely in the third category. Mr. Goode, evidently in a state of xenophobic delirium, went on a semi-public tirade against the looming peril and corrupting threat posed by Muslim immigration to the United States. "I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America," he wrote in a letter to constituents.

The inspiration for Mr. Goode's rant is Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat who last month became the first Muslim elected to Congress. Mr. Ellison, who was born in Detroit and converted to Islam in college, has decided to use the Koran during a ceremonial swearing-in, as is his constitutional right. This does not sit well with Mr. Goode, who, obnoxiously referring to his congressional colleague-to-be as "the Muslim Representative from Minnesota," warned ominously that current immigration policy would lead to an outbreak of elected Muslims in this country and unfettered use of the Koran.

Forget that Muslims represent a small fraction of immigrants to America. And leave aside the obvious point that Mr. Goode was evidently napping in class the day they taught the traditional American values of tolerance, diversity and religious freedom. This country's history is rife with instances of uncivil, hateful and violent behavior toward newcomers, be they Jewish, Irish, Italian or plenty of others whose ethnicities did not jibe with some pinched view of what it means to be American. Mr. Goode's dimwitted outburst of nativism is nothing new.

Let's point out the word "ceremonial swearing-in," because it's important to understand what's worked up Mr. Goode. It's a photo-op, not an official ceremony of any means. Goode is defending the right of citizens who don't want to see people pictured with the Koran. That's what this is all about. And his particular views on the evils of Muslim immigration make no sense considering Mr. Ellison can trace his ancestry in America back to 1742.

Ellison, for his part, took the high road in the NYT article.

Since the November election, Mr. Ellison said, he has received hostile phone calls and e-mail messages along with some death threats. But in an interview on Wednesday, he emphasized that members of Congress and ordinary citizens had been overwhelmingly supportive and said he was focusing on setting up his Congressional office, getting phone lines hooked up and staff members hired, not on negative comments.

“I’m not a religious scholar, I’m a politician, and I do what politicians do, which is hopefully pass legislation to help the nation,” said Mr. Ellison, who said he planned to focus on secular issues like increasing the federal minimum wage and getting health insurance for the uninsured.

“I’m looking forward to making friends with Representative Goode, or at least getting to know him,” Mr. Ellison said, speaking by telephone from Minneapolis. “I want to let him know that there’s nothing to fear. The fact that there are many different faiths, many different colors and many different cultures in America is a great strength.”

Well, yes, but of course, Virgil Goode doesn't understand what it means to be an American. He doesn't understand why settlers came to America in the first place, to escape religious persecution and to practice their beliefs freely. He doesn't understand the meaning of the Bill of Rights, the idea of "no religious test" for public office. He's an ignorant nativist, and I agree with the Washington Post, he is unfit for public office defending a document about which he knows nothing.

Incidentally, he won't apologize. But this interview with Fox News shows that he's feeling the pressure (and if you're feeling the pressure on Fox News, well, you're in trouble).

David Asman: So you do believe there're too many Middle Easterners here now?
(brief pause)

Rep. Virgil Goode: No, I — I said there were — and the Diversity Visa program needs to be ended. It shouldn't have been adopted to begin with, in my opinion.

Asman: But do you think there are too many Middle Easterners in the United States right now?

(brief pause)

Goode: Uh — I'm not gonna say 'yes' or 'no' on that. I'd like to know the exact number. I don't have the exact numbers.

This is going to get even worse for the GOP, as now it's become a feeding frenzy. Every Republican lawmaker will be forced to defend Goode's remarks. It's become a creature of the media now, and this is the kind of easy thing to which the cable nets can devote three hours or so per day.

Way to go, Rep. Goode. You're not only a bigot, but you're kicking your own party while it's down.