The States

Stories related to state governance and politics.

King’s Bigotry and Obama and the Muslims (Again)

March 9, 2008 in Campaign 2008, Democrats, Iowa, Republicans, The States by Tony Steidler-Dennison | No comments

(Via Informed Comment.)

Congressman Steven King of Iowa, who has decided to further disgrace Congress by seeking a fifth term there, delivered himself of the sort of bigotted and ignorant comments about Barack Obama that we have come to expect from the rightwing Republicans who have made such a mess of our economy and of the world.

King is the man who dismissed torture at Abu Ghraib as mere “hazing,” and maintained that his wife was in more danger in Washington, D.C. (with all those black people, he apparently meant) than civilians were in Iraq. He also said that the 72 virgins in paradise promised to Muslim martyrs probably all looked like Helen Thomas (the distinguished octogenarian Arab-American White House reporter).

In short, King is not just a garden variety conservative. He is something close to being a white supremacist.

So King begins by saying the opposite of what he means:

‘ “I don’t want to disparage anyone because of their race, their ethnicity, their name - whatever their religion their father might have been,” he said. ‘

But of course, he does want to disparage Barack Obama on racist grounds. And he goes on to do so.

“I’ll just say this: When you think about the option of a Barack Obama potentially getting elected President of the United States — I mean, what does this look like to the rest of the world? What does it look like to the world of Islam?” ‘

I presume it would look like America is less racist than the Muslim world had thought, and therefore much less like the bigot Steve King. The left-leaning Beiruti newspaper al-Safir predicted recently that Obama will never be president, because he is being effectively smeared as “a Muslim,” and soft on terrorism and insufficiently supportive of the Israeli far right.

Back to Peasant, I mean, King:

‘ He continued: “I will tell you that, if he is elected president, then the radical Islamists, the al-Qaida, the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11 because they will declare victory in this War on Terror.” ‘

I see. And why would al-Qaeda dance in the streets that a Christian of white Kansas and Kenyan heritage, who promised to bomb them in Pakistan, had become president?

Full post here.

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IA-03: Boswell and Fallon pick up the pace

March 9, 2008 in Campaign 2008, Democrats, House of Representatives, Iowa, Republicans, The States by Tony Steidler-Dennison | No comments

(Via MyDD.)

Welcome to my latest diary on the Democratic primary to represent Iowa’s third Congressional district. It’s been a while since my last summary of how the race is going, because I got sick recently and spent a week in the hospital.

Both candidates have stepped up their campaign activities in the past month, and I’ll bring you up to date in this diary.

For background on Ed Fallon’s challenge to incumbent “Bush dog” Leonard Boswell, see this diary, which has biographical information on both candidates, and this diary, which outlines the main arguments for and against each candidate.

I’m covering this race more frequently and in more detail at the Iowa progressive community blog Bleeding Heartland.

I have not seen any public polling on this race, and I have not heard anything about the results from Boswell’s internal polling.

Boswell is taking the challenge seriously. Since the beginning of the year, he has been e-mailing constituents more regularly. This past week I got my first call from a field organizer for Boswell as well as a direct-mail piece touting the incumbent’s record on the economy. Also, Boswell held a telephone town-hall meeting on Tuesday, but I was not able to listen in.

I was intrigued to read that in mid-February Boswell signed on to House Resolution 333, which calls for impeaching Vice President Dick Cheney. One benefit of Fallon’s challenge is that it has pushed Boswell toward some progressive positions he might not otherwise have taken. Another example (which Fallon likes to point out) is that Boswell did not sign on to the Safe Climate Act when it was introduced in March 2007. However, after word got around that Fallon was planning to declare his candidacy, Boswell signed on to that legislation in December.

Full post here.