Dave Gaubatz and the Insidious Gang of Four: Yet Another Display of Public Racism and Ignorance

By Ibrahim Abdil-Mu'id Ramey

It never ceases to amaze me how tiny minds can claim so much intellectual territory.

In this instance, it's not the ravings of the (un-elected) lunatic "Right", but the specious claims of four elected members of the U.S. House of Representatives, joined by one Dave Gaubatz, formerly of the Mapping Sharia Project, a lunatic that even respectable Republicans dismiss as 'off the hook'.

Their allegation? Simply that Muslim interns from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), have attempted to "infiltrate" the U.S. House of Representatives, presumably to supplant the venerable Constitution with Sharia, thus effecting the demise of the Republic and the triumph of "radical Islam" in the land.

The four House members – all conservative Republicans (surprise, surprise) are John Shaedegg (AZ), Paul Broun (GA), Trent Franks (AZ), and Sue Myrick (NC) who, with Gaubatz, announced this week the publication of a new book called The Muslim Mafia.

Their intent is to not only bash a respected national Muslim organization, but to paint all Muslims as un-American, subversives and terrorists who seek to infiltrate the political establishment as Fifth Column agents of some nefarious global Islamist conspiracy.

As evidence of our hostile intentions, they unveiled their star witness: a young man who misrepresented himself for the purpose of securing a summer internship with CAIR, only to reveal his true patriotic allegiance in this great undercover "tell-all" against Muslims.

But does Gaubatz offer any credible proof that CAIR, or any other national Muslim organization, is operating in a way that is a threat to democratic principles, or in violation of our laws? No.

Give me a break. If brains were dynamite, this crowd couldn't even blow their noses.

Had the aforementioned members of our Congress done their homework, they would clearly have concluded that any association with this nut would be a horrific embarrassment to their constituents, their offices, and their colleagues in our national legislature.

Gaubatz has, for the record:

• Claimed the existence of vast depots of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD's) in Iraq (a false claim that even the CIA now denies).
• Called President Obama the front-man for a "Communist" takeover of America.
• Made publicly defaming and racist slurs against African-Americans.
• All while openly excoriating and insulting 1.5 billion Muslims by slandering Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and the religion of Islam.

Not only does this unprincipled and false attack on CAIR goes beyond an expression of political dissent and free speech, it is utterly vile, repugnant, and drenched with the radical hatred that even political conservatives are loathe to publicly embrace.

I have often said, and I continue to state, that people should be free to criticize and even condemn actions that jeopardize the security and integrity of society. When individual Muslims are guilty of these things, then the charges are more than justified. But the hatchet-job directed against CAIR is painfully similar to the "Communist" smear directed against Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement.

Like J. Edgar Hoover back then, this group apparently believes now that if you tell a lie enough times, and express it loudly enough, people will believe that it is true.

It's no surprise that all of this is happening at a time when the public profile of Muslims is rising, and when our national community is coming into its own in terms of political sophistication and electoral clout.

This "Gang of Four" is quite aware of the demographics related to the 2006 Senate election in Virginia, when a mobilized Muslim vote provided the margin of victory for a Democratic party candidate and, in the process, changed the partisan balance of power in the Senate.

And, for the record, the last time I checked, it's legal for CAIR, or any other non-profit organization, to offer internships for young people interested in government policy.

How can someone "infiltrate" Congress – an institution that they already own as a right of their American citizenship?

Neither CAIR nor the larger American Muslim community has anything to apologize for, or to hide.

We proudly exercise our right to free political association and free religious expression.

We are not criminals, and we are not carrying out the agenda of any criminal organizations.

We will continue to mobilize not only Muslims, but millions of other decent people in this society who reject the politic of slander and division.

And in conclusion, I remind these "patriotic" members of Congress that their association with open racists and religious bigots like Dave Gaubatz is as un-American as it gets.