A couple of weeks ago, Newt Gingrich came out with a gimmick:
The second morning of speeches at the Values Voter Summit here in DC was dominated by a man who is swiftly becoming the nation's spokesperson for Islamophobia -- former House speaker Newt Gingrich. Fresh off the release of his Islam-focused film "America At Risk," Gingrich told the crowd at VVS that it's time to take federal action to prevent Shariah Law from infiltrating courtrooms in the US.
"We should have a federal law that says sharia law cannot be recognized by any court in the United States," Gingrich said to a standing ovation from the audience. The law will let judges know, Gingrich said, that "no judge will remain in office that tried to use sharia law."
I roared....more below the fold...
I thought: "who could fall for that?" I figured (and still do) that it was an effort to inflame the dim-witted subset of the Republican base on yet another wedge issue. Sure, Sharia law is no threat to the US. But when someone says that, the inflamed base member would cry "see, YOU support Sharia law".
But I thought that this sort of stunt would fall flat; it just sounds to incredulous to believe.
But just a few days ago, I saw this hard hitting Alan Grayson ad:
Yes, I know that the video footage was edited deceptively; to see an even handed account go here. But that isn't the point of this post.
What caught my eye was this:
But the ad’s claim that Webster would "deny battered women ... the right to divorce their abusers" is a distortion. The claim is based on legislation he sponsored in the Florida House of Representatives 20 years ago. The bill, HB 1585, would have allowed Florida residents the option of a "covenant marriage," which would limit their divorce rights. Under the proposal, couples could dissolve a covenant marriage only in cases of adultery. But that would not have applied to anyone who did not choose to enter a covenant marriage. The legislation died in committee in June 1990. Webster has not advocated for covenant marriages as a congressional candidate.
Emphasis mine.
Here, I part ways with Fact Check; I see this Grayson claim as entirely correct.
For more about "covenant marriage", here is a website on it.
Now think about Newt Gingrich again. He was for making federal law to prevent courts from recognizing Sharia law, right?
Well, here is a Republican House candidate who once pushed to have a religious law/covenant recognized by....the courts!
My main point
Newt Gingrich's gimmick of "outlawing Sharia law" might well inflame the Republican base because they would subject US to religious type laws if they got the chance! They have already tried to!
So, do you still think that Kos was being too harsh with the book title American Taliban?