I'm shocked. SHOCKED!!!

Cynics would say that they're playing a subtle wink-wink game on this question. Others would say that McCain camp doesn't have the message discipline to coordinate such a game.

Either way, he's on the losing end.

http://strategy08.wordpress.com

This is truly despicable.

Will the Obama campaign jump on this, or will they stay quiet?

Yet more terrible news for Senator Obama. This guy just can't catch a break....

cmon...you didn't really expect them to disavow did you?

this is the same campaign who put a swiftboater on their "truth squad".

"The threat we face is from radical Islamic extremism."

here is what we are really facing in terms of a threat!

"The threat we face is from radical republican extremism."

Bullshit....you are out and out lying now. McCain's old POW pal said "muslims"...McCains says islamic extreemists...you know what he thinks, you just want him to cut off his friend at the knees like your guy did with his "Lifelong mentor and pastor." McCain has more class and loyalty to an old friend that to do that. Even if he has to get static from the far left nut jobs around here.

Apparently,

radical Islamic extremists = all Muslims

for the John McCrapshoot campaign. Er, no?

Not exactly a clear statement there.

What this old man has to say doesn't matter--he has spent his best shots when Kerry allowed him to derail his campaign. These people are disparate, the only thing they have left in their favor are the voting machines with no paper trail. The dems had better be very worried about the votes being stolen, very worried. That is the biggest worry at this point of the game.

Day should be Keith Olbermann "Worst Person of the DAY".

"either we kneel or they're going to kill us."

This is news to me. Did Bud Day read it in a restroom stall while waiting for a plane in Minneapolis?

Wee-hee! So McCain keeps Gramm on as economic adviser, and now keeps this guy close. Ducks on a pond. We can all write the ads ourselves.

One name:

Representative Keith Ellison, a Muslim in the House of Representatives, and he's great, and we're fine. Thank you very much.

And I quote, by Keith Ellison:

“Aren’t you a Muslim?” “Will you be the first one in Congress if you win?” “Will you swear your oath on the Qur'an?” “Do you oppose terrorism?”

I’ve heard them all. But although I’ve been asked a few intrusive, repetitive, and even silly questions about my faith, life has been good.

First, a fairly small number of conversations revolve around religion. Whole days – even weeks – have gone by without me being asked to speak on behalf of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world. But more importantly, I’ve been able to pursue my work on behalf of my constituents. I have been effective on issues such as peace, ending the war in Iraq, credit justice, and environmental sustainability. My colleagues have been tolerant and inclusive. I have not had a single unpleasant face-to-face encounter with a member of congress over religion. Individual leaders in the Bush Administration have been open and inclusive. I accompanied Speaker Pelosi on her trip to the Middle East, and I’ll never forget the warm reception she received from the women who poured out of the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus just to shake her hand or take a picture.

Of course, there have been a few bumps.

For example, officers in a training class reported that a Minneapolis police lieutenant made comments that implied that I was a terrorist. The comments were rebuked by the Mayor and Police Chief, and the incident is currently under investigation. Commentator Glenn Beck asked me to “prove” him that I was not working with “enemies”. Another conservative commentator opined that I should be barred from serving in Congress if I swear to uphold the U.S. Constitution on the Qur’an.

Of course, there’s more, but those incidents prove my main point: there is much reason for hope. I did win the election. I am making progress on a broad swath of progressive issues. I continue to be inspired by the courage of people standing up for peace, for shared-prosperity, and health care reform.

While some Muslim friends and acquaintances have recounted shabby treatment in post 9/11 America, in the next breath they have told me about how they are opening up businesses, sending kids to college, or prospering in some other way. It’s common for some bright young Muslim person to tell me about their own political ambitions. “You might have been first, but I’m gonna be in Congress too.”

Some have pledged to get more politically engaged or to support candidates who have the backbone to speak up for civil and human rights for all. But every prescription I have heard has been solidly within the heartland of American civil redress and our democratic political process.

This should not be surprising, given that 71 percent of Muslim Americans report that they believe that you can make it in America if you work hard, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll. Only 64 percent of Americans on average reported the same level of confidence in American economic and social mobility.For Muslim Americans, the United States is the land of opportunity.

I don’t want to diminish those occasions, however, where Muslim Americans have been persecuted or mistreated. These cases exist. Just ask James Yee, former United States Army chaplain and captain, who was threatened with the death penalty, kept in solitary confinement for seventy-six days, and forced to undergo sensory deprivation because he voiced concerns about the treatment about Guantanamo detainees. All charges were later dropped and he was cleared to resume duties. Instead, he accepted an honorable discharge. Today he lectures widely about the importance of upholding our constitutional heritage even in the face of a terrorist threat. Or ask Brandon Mayfield, a lawyer, who received a rare public apology from the FBI, when it admitted that his fingerprints were mistakenly linked to one found near the scene of a terrorist bombing in Spain. The blunder led to his imprisonment for two weeks, and eventually a settlement of $2 million. There are other cases as well.

Though rare, these cases are not unimportant. They are widely known incidents, and could overshadow the more typical story of participation and prosperity. As the injury is widely known, the remedies and apologies must be also widely known. But the more important lesson is that tragedies like 9/11 can cause us to react out of fear and rage against our neighbors and fellow loyal Americans.

American Muslims are an asset to the country, not a threat. Unfair suspicion and profiling does not serve the national interest or honor our hard earned reputation as the beacon for civil and human rights around the world.

I can’t speak for every Muslim, but I remain confident and hopeful about the prospects for America’s Muslims because, in the end, America is about religious tolerance, inclusion, and fairness.

End quote.

Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress when he won the open seat for Minnesota's 5th congressional district in 2006.

Posted by Keith Ellison on July 27, 2007

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/muslims_speak_out/2007/07/born_and_raised_in_the_us_a.html

90% of all the world's current armed conflicts involve intolerant Muslims unable to get along with their neighbors. If they can't tolerate others (e.g., Jews are not allowed in Saudi Arabia and preaching Christianity there carries a death sentence) why should they be tolerated?

I don't understand why so many people are surprised that a member of McCain's entourage would make a statement like this. Look at the history of this country, white men used to tell their women that the Blacks wanted to rape and violate them in other ways, then during WWII they told the women the Japanese men wanted to do the same thing, then it was the Mexicans and now it's the Muslims that want to do harm. This is a very prejudice and fearmongering country.

McCain won't disavow this guy or anybody in the rabid-rightwing base because he's smart enough to know they'll turn on him in a new york minute if they sense their power-hungry, angry, rage and fear-based egos aren't being stroked sufficiently.

It's all a game. And the people losing in November if he's elected is everybody but the psychos.