Yesterday, Politico reported that four Republican U.S. Representatives, Reps. John Shaedegg (AZ), Paul Broun (GA), Trent Franks (AZ), and Sue Myrick (N.C.) accused the Center for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) of placing Muslim spies in Congress and requested a formal investigation into CAIR from the House Sergeant at Arms.
I don't know what's more offensive, the blatant violation such an investigation would be of the First Amendment or the disgustingly bigoted anti-Muslim sentiment.
The accusations against CAIR are based on a "strategy document"-supposedly obtained from CAIR-containing a public policy and lobbying plan that includes "placing Muslim interns in congressional offices." The absurd claim that there is something wrong with Muslim-Americans wanting to intern on Capitol Hill makes my stomach turn.
Rep. Shadegg even called for an IRS and DOJ invesgiation into CAIR:
CAIR is an organization "members of Congress should be aware of and that should be investigated by the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service."
These unwarranted, ludicrous calls for terrorism investigations into political activist groups based on their constituencies’ nationality and religion are eerily similar to accusations of "terrorism" made 50 years ago against peace activist and civil rights groups, like the NAACP.
It’s worth noting that this isn't the first time government officials harboring anti-Muslim sentiments pointed their discriminatory fingers at CAIR. In February 2009, the North Central Texas Fusion Center distributed a "Prevention Awareness Bulletin" with the ridiculous warning of a conspiracy between CAIR, peace activist groups, former Congresswoman Cynthia Mckinney, the U.S. Treasury Department, and hip hop bands-yes, hip hop bands, and actually "hip hop fashion boutiques" as well. Fusion Centers are the mysterious, almost totally unregulated, "all crimes, all hazard" hubs for federal, state, and local law enforcement, the private sector, and Department of Homeland Security analysts to share information. The Texas "Prevention Awareness Bulletin" has thankfully become a "what not to do," but there are still no real checks on Fusion Centers' actions.
Now, again, CAIR has had to stand up for itself because of religious discrimination, and CAIR communications director Ibrahim Hooper has poignantly asked
"There's a Muslim Staffer Association. Should they be investigated?"
and
"All they can come up with is that we are politically active? The terror threat is that Muslims are politically active?"
I admire CAIR’s response here. There are some other choice words that come to mind when one hears about this kind of absurdity.
These racist, anti-Islamic accusations should kill the political careers of Reps. Shaedegg, Broun, Franks, and Myrick. These Members certainly have the free speech rights to call for whatever investigations they want, but in a free society, whose principles value all religion or no religion and condemn racial discrimination, we should not tolerate our Congressional Representatives targeting citizens because of their race or religion. With all the glass ceilings we’ve broken, and all equality milestones we’ve reached, particularly in the past year, we must be better than giving credence to asinine allegations about House of Representatives staffers serving as Muslim spies.