Newt Gingrich
Singling Out Islam: Newt Gingrich’s Pandering Attacks
The former House speaker regularly calls for treating Muslims differently — and his discriminatory remarks are mostly forgiven.
It’s interesting to observe what qualifies as beyond the pale in American politics. For bigoted newsletters written two decades ago, Ron Paul is deemed by many to be disqualified from the presidency. I don’t fault anyone for criticizing those newsletters. I’ve done so myself. They’re terrible. So is the way he’s handled the controversy. But isn’t it interesting that Paul has been more discredited by years-old, ghostwritten remarks than has Newt Gingrich for bigotry that he’s uttered himself, on camera, during the present campaign? It’s gone largely ignored both in the mainstream press and the movement-conservative organs that were most vocal condemning Paul.
That’s because Muslims are the target. And despite the fact that George W. Bush was admirably careful to avoid demonizing a whole religious faith for the actions of a small minority of its adherents — despite the fact that Barack Obama too has been beyond reproach in this respect — anti-Muslim bigotry in America is treated differently than every other kind, often by the very same people who allege without irony that there is a war in this country against Christians.
In the clip at the top of this post, Gingrich says, “Now, I think we need to have a government that respects our religions. I’m a little bit tired about respecting every religion on the planet. I’d like them to respect our religion.” Of course, the U.S. government is compelled by the Constitution to afford protection to religion generally, and “our” religion includes Islam, a faith many Americans practice. That’s just the beginning of what Gingrich has said about this minority group. In this clip, he likens Muslim Americans seeking to build a mosque in Lower Manhattan to Nazis building next to the Holocaust Museum. He once suggested that the right of Muslims to build mosques should be infringed upon by the U.S. government until Christians are permitted to build churches in Saudi Arabia, a straightforward suggestion that we violate the Constitution in order to mimic authoritarians. He favors a federal law that would pre-empt sharia law — though not the religious law of any other faith — from being used in American courts, which would be the solution to a total non-problem.
And no surprise, for he regularly engages in the most absurd kind of fear-mongering. To cite one example:
I think that we have to really, from my perspective you don’t have an issue of religious tolerance you have an elite which favors radical Islam over Christianity and Judaism. You have constant pressure by secular judges and by religious bigots to drive Christianity out of public life and to establish a secular state except when it comes to radical Islam, where all of the sudden they start making excuses for Sharia, they start making excuses that we really shouldn’t use certain language. Remember, the Organization of Islamic Countries is dedicated to preventing anyone, anywhere in the world from commenting negatively about Islam, so they would literally eliminate our free speech and there were clearly conversations held that implied that the U.S. Justice Department would begin to enforce censorship against American citizens to protect radical Islam, I think that’s just an amazing concept frankly.
If Gingrich believed all of this it would be damning. I’ll leave it to the reader to decide whether it is more or less damning that his tone, and much of his substance, is in fact a calculated pander. Justin Elliott at Salon demonstrated as much when he delved into how Gingrich used to talk about these issues:
Gingrich’s recent rhetoric represents a little-noticed shift from an earlier period in his career when he had a strikingly warm relationship with the American Muslim community. As speaker of the House in the 1990s, for example, Gingrich played a key role in setting aside space on Capitol Hill for Muslim congressional staffers to pray each Friday; he was involved with a Republican Islamic group that promoted Shariah-compliant finance, which critics — including Gingrich — now deride as a freedom-destroying abomination; and he maintained close ties with another Muslim conservative group that even urged Gingrich to run for president in 2007.
The article goes on to note:
Gingrich’s warm relations with the Muslim community continued well into the mid-2000s. Around 2004, for example, he participated in a planning meeting of the Islamic Free Market Institute, according to an activist who also attended the meeting. “His tone was nothing like what you hear today,” recalls the activist. “He was very positive, very supportive. His whole attitude was that Muslims are part of the American fabric and that Muslim Americans should be Republicans.” By the standards of the Gingrich we know today, the Islamic Free Market Institute was essentially engaged in “stealth jihad.” The now defunct group, founded by conservative activist Grover Norquist in 1998 to woo Muslim Americans to the GOP, was involved in educating the public and policymakers about Islamic or Shariah-compliant finance. Its 2004 IRS filing reported the group spent tens of thousands of dollars to “educate the public about Islam[ic] finances, insurance, banking and investments.” To most people, there’s nothing nefarious about Islamic finance — there is a large international banking business centering on special financial instruments that are compliant with Islamic strictures against interest, and so on.
So in 2004 Gingrich attended a planning meeting of a group devoted to promoting Shariah-compliant finance. Fast forward to 2010 and here’s what he said in his speech to the American Enterprise Institute: “[I]t’s why I think teaching about Sharia financing is dangerous, because it is the first step towards the normalization of Sharia and I believe Sharia is a mortal threat to the survival of freedom in the United States and in the world as we know it.”
If an American politician suggested, of Christians or Jews, that they should be required to take a special loyalty oath before assuming office; that the government should restrict where they’re permitted to build houses of worship; that laws should be passed singling out their religious law as odious; that they don’t count when Americans talk about “our” religion; that their main lobbying group should be aggressively investigated: if any American politician said any of those things, they’d be regarded as an anti-religious bigot engaged in a war on Christianity.
Whereas the accusation that there’s something wrong with Gingrich’s rhetoric is met on the right with righteous indignation, as if he is the put-upon victim of political correctness or the elite media.
In the 1980s, the Ron Paul newsletters played on white anxiety about urban crime and racism toward blacks. It was awful. And apparently America didn’t learn its lesson, for Gingrich 2012, like Cain 2012 before it, is playing on majority anxieties about terrorism and xenophobia toward Muslims. This is particularly dangerous in the civil-liberties climate produced by Bush and Obama, where American citizens can be deprived of their liberty and even their life without charges or due process, a protection that is especially valuable to feared minorities.
February 1st, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Newt Gingrich gets away with anti-Muslim bigotry because American-Muslims allow him to get away with it. If he had substituted the word Muslims for blacks or Jews it would’ve been a different story.
I don’t wish to blame the victim but when African Americans and Jews were discriminated against and were the victims of fear and hate, they took to the streets. They built civil-rights organizations. They used the democratic process to get their people elected. Most of all they made it unacceptable for racists to cling to power or spew bigotry in the mainstream media or in the mainstream platform.
On the other hand, Muslims in America and Europe allowed themselves to be a punching bag. They have not done the same things as African-Americans and Jewish-Americans. When bigotry is launched against them American-Muslims either keep quit, or muster up ineffective political resistance.
The problem is that American-Muslims are divided. There is a schism between indigenous Muslims and immigrant Muslims and further schism within each of these two groups.
But anti-Muslims such as Newt Gingrich do not see this schism. They see all Muslims as one and the enemy. They don’t see Ahmadis, NOI, Sunni, Shia, Quranists, Sufis, etc.
Hence to defeat the onslaught of anti-Muslim bigotry Muslims first need unity.
February 1st, 2012 at 1:31 pm
@Believing Atheist,
We are simply scapegoats for everything gone bad. If we leave the country, who are they gonna blame next? Jews, Blacks, Chinese?? Right now it’s us. Sadly, things will get worse before it gets better. It’s how it’s been with all groups. It took African Americans 350 years to get their rights, it took Jews 50 years to get their rights, and hopefully it’ll be less for us. we protest but we never get any media coverage. We are hoping to start our own media. It will happen it’ll take time. Unfortunately, we have too many slackers who are either too lazy or too scared to say anything esp. now that NDAA passed.
February 1st, 2012 at 1:49 pm
Nice article Amago! I hope you didn’t out yourself in the links to theatlantic above.
February 1st, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Believing Atheists,
I completely agree. Besides some groups and individuals such as CAIR, Muslims do next to nothing to fight against the depraved bigotry hurled against them.
It is totally unacceptable for Islamophobes like Gingrich or Santorum to hold power or try to gain power. Mitt Romney, with his associations with Walid Phares, anti-Shariah bigotry as numerous times espoused by him, and his warmongering as well make him unfit.
In response to niqab/hijab banning in Europe for example, there should be massive active protests by Muslims. They should make it clear that Islamophobic rhetoric and legislation simply shall not be tolerated. They should take to the streets as well.
February 1st, 2012 at 2:10 pm
khushboo,
I don’t care if NDAA has passed, if someone ever tried to imprison me for speaking out against bigotry I would refuse to comply, and I would tell them that Obama, McCain, Levine, and the rest of the depraved establishment that they can take their Orwellian unconstitutional pieces of legislational shit and shove ‘em…
February 1st, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Geez, what a maroon
February 1st, 2012 at 4:58 pm
does anyone have any figures, accurate ones of how popular or how unpopular this Gingrich creature is, what are his chances of winning the GOP nomination? any polls or info on how he compares with his rivals?
For those who want another Dem term, this is a blessing, these nutters will ensure an Obama victory.
So far there is not one winnable candidate for the GOP
February 1st, 2012 at 5:18 pm
@beliving athiest.
When Muslims are ‘treated differently’, denied or restricted, what usually happens is we form our own groups.
You might read the history of some of the groups the west calls ‘terrorist organizations’, and find that they have thier roots in replacing the societal institutions that deprive us of participation in regular society.
In fact, Loonwatch is a very good example. I dont know the religion (if any) of the person who created it, but it is what the media doesnt report about Muslims and Islam that is important to us in the west.
So, there is no need to expend energy and treasure to ‘fight back’ against the lies and hate. We…have…each…other.
…and we will defend ourselves as well.
February 1st, 2012 at 7:05 pm
Oh, Hell, we know he’s a bigot. Muslims are one of his targets, but not the only one. He’s talking meaner all the time. Poor kids should be forced to janitor for their better-off classmates in the *public* schools…and most of us can guess he means kids who aren’t white. Now that Moby Dick with Buttocks got said and same handed to him in Florida, he’ll crank it out on Mormonism, too. Commenting on Newt being a bigot is almost like commenting on turds stinking. It should be done…but don’t think we don’t know.
February 1st, 2012 at 8:40 pm
You’re right Nur and there’s no way I’m mentioning the names of groups I’m involved in that is pro active but there are several and we are also part of interfaith groups which helps enlighten people about our religion. We’re also hoping to expand. Some of us have families and are too afraid to say anything that might be considered “controversial” or “anti-gov’t.” and I can certainly understand that but just getting involved and volunteering in our communities is a good start… CAIR has been one of the best organizations thus far. They’ve done a wonderful job fighting bigotry which explains why they get attacked so much.
February 1st, 2012 at 11:33 pm
“does anyone have any figures, accurate ones of how popular or how unpopular this Gingrich creature is, what are his chances of winning the GOP nomination? any polls or info on how he compares with his rivals?”
There are many, but they mean nothing. You have to understand that the Republican party is extremely torn right now. They really don’t want to nominate a ‘moderate’ like Romney, but they know, deep down, that he’s the only one that would stand a chance against President Obama
So they search. and search. Over and over again for another candidate. When they finally understand how a terrible choice pretty much all of them would be, they gravitate back to Romney.
Gingrich took a question from CNN’s John King and used it to appeal to the Conservatives’ sense of victimhood and soared in the polls and won South Carolina. Immediately after, he was ahead of Romney in the polls in Florida. Romney won by double digits.
It doesn’t matter how *any* of them are doing in any particular poll. It’s very likely that won’t be true a week from then.
February 1st, 2012 at 11:36 pm
“Oh, Hell, we know he’s a bigot. Muslims are one of his targets, but not the only one.”
I’ve said that before. The reason why Gingrich comments on Muslims aren’t more widely condemned it’s because by the next news cycle, Gingrich probably already said something even more offensive towards other ethnic group.
There is no shortage of mean and/or stupid things Gingrich says. It’s hard to keep up with that.
February 2nd, 2012 at 10:12 am
Believing atheist,
Isn’t religion protected by the US constitution? According to the FBI’s own statistics Muslims are the least attacked of any religious group. My question is aren’t Muslims or any religious group for that matter freer in the US and Western countries than they are in any of the 56 Muslim ones?
February 2nd, 2012 at 10:23 am
“My question is aren’t Muslims or any religious group for that matter freer in the US and Western countries than they are in any of the 56 Muslim ones?”
Quite true, let me dust off that old article:
http://thepenofawanderingstranger.com/personal/most-islamic-countries-in-the-world-are-non-muslim/
Regardless it goes without saying that there is an awful lot of hate directed towards Muslims in this day and age.
Jack
February 2nd, 2012 at 10:30 am
@twice, Considering that Muslims are a very small percentage of Americans, they should be the least attacked compared to Christians and Jews.
Some of us here in the US pay a very high percentage of income taxes to the gov’t. In Muslim countries we’re only told to pay zakat (2 1/2%) which goes to charity and no income tax. So I’m not sure what you mean by “free”. We are slaves to the big banks here.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:48 am
This is what I mean by Muslims taking to the streets:
http://www.alternet.org/rights/153957/new_york_muslims_fight_back_against_police_department%27s_institutionalized_paranoia_about_islam/?page=entire
Great job Muslims and Muslimas.
@twiceasnice,
I will answer your questions after work.
February 2nd, 2012 at 2:26 pm
@Khushaboo.
As far as I’m aware there are between 5-15 million Muslims and 6-7 million Jews. Using your logic various Christian sects should be the most attacks since they are more numerous. but they aren’t. All working people pay tax what’s your point.
If my figures are wrong I’ll stand corrected. 6,588,065 – Jews in the US
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/usjewpop1.html
The U.S. Census doesn’t collect information about religions, but estimates on the number of Muslims in the United States range from fewer than two million people to as many as seven million. At the highest estimates, the percentage of Muslims in the United States would represent about 2 percent of the population.
http://www.cfr.org/united-states/muslims-united-states/p25927
If you can find more reliable data feel free to post.
I mean have more rights than in any Muslim country: speech, conscience, religion, human rights, democracy, justice etc. Isn’t Zakat charity and only if you can afford it? You also don’t get paid interest in Muslim countries or shouldn’t charge it so I don’t get that zakat point?
@Believing Atheist
Okay hon.
February 2nd, 2012 at 3:32 pm
@ Twice, there are at the most 6 million Muslims and some say it’s exaggerated.
All working people pay tax what’s your point”
My point is we’re paying too much in taxes and not getting anything back. Most of the money is going towards military i.e. wars that’s killing many innocent civilians and our troops who are not happy. They come home and have no jobs. Why? because of the wars that caused the economic collapse so as a result, people are being laid off. The rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. How will the poor afford these ridiculous tuition hikes?? That’s not democracy! our country is no longer as free as it used to be. Now the gov’t. plans to take out more taxes and cut social services to help the rich, greedy people and plan to start another war (Iran).
Majority of the Americans are protesting but the greedy corps. and gov’t. doesn’t care! Our civil liberties are being taken away! With the NDAA passed, anyone who’s anti-gov’t. will be under a microscope. So much for freedom of Speech. That will slowly be taken away. With Right-wing extremists complaining about being too many mosques and Islam/Muslims being attacked, under these propagandists’ influence. I don’t feel there’s freedom of religion anymore. Every 2 seconds a woman is being sexually harrassed, so many cases of pedophilia, and so many cases of poor people imprisoned for theft for decades while the greedy rich bankers who stole from us get away. So many cases of Muslims put to Gitmo without any proof. I believe those are human rights violation, don’t you? That’s no justice! I’m not feeling the freedom! Despite that, this is the only home I know so I’m trying my best to live with it and hope things get better.
Oh and thanks for reminding me that we don’t pay any interest on loans in Muslims countries. That’s another plus! Here in this country, we are enslaved with debt (high interest rates).
February 2nd, 2012 at 4:03 pm
@khushboo
Most working Americans pay tax Muslims are no exception. That’s an American issue. I’m not American. You made an claim that because of the small Muslim population they should be the least attacked. Jews and Muslims are a tiny percentage but are attacked the most according to the figures. It should then figure that particular branches of Christianity and there are 30,000 should be attacked this is simply not the case.
In war people die many of them innocents. The war in Afghanistan was justified, Iraq was based on bad intelligence. Lets not forget what these governments were and did especially with non-compliance. The US and Europe sold Saddam his weapons he used them so it was reasonable to assume he still had them. As for the Taliban well they didn’t comply exported terrorism and would hand over OBL. Whose group attacked the US.
When they don’t play ball and by that I mean the Wests dictators they stop being our bad guy coupled with having weapons that the West doesn’t agree with they get invaded. Its that simple.
I think in the US you have more freedoms, rights than any other country on earth. You’ve got Freedom of Speech in the US constitution to the best of my knowledge so is not going to be taken back anytime soon the same with the freedom of religion. You are protected.
I’m no fan of the US many of the people in GITMO were released and went on to commit acts of terrorism. Women get harassed and there are paedophiles – its gross – child rape “marriage” as part of Islam in the modern age being that Mohammed was the paradigm for humanity for all time and women are stoned for being raped or need four witnesses to prove rape.
With all its faults you are fortunate to be in the US or West because when compared on Muslim countries, on the whole its objectively and measurably better.
I don’t know in all Muslim countries interest isn’t paid. But yes my point was that on monies saved earned in the West there is interest the more you save the more interest is paid. Zakat (or as I understand) charity isn’t obligatory. Debt is based on bad financial management but America lived on credit not within its means.
February 2nd, 2012 at 6:09 pm
@twiceasnice,
I think you are giving the same argument that Michael Medved once gave to absolve the sins of slavery. Medved said that African-Americans are better off than their counterparts in Africa so they shouldn’t complain about being slaves or being segregated. Dinesh D’Souza has similar views.
Such an argument misses a key point. Just because the U.S. or the West for that matter is safer or better, does not mean that there is no room for improvement. Better does not mean perfection. There are many things the U.S. and the west has yet to achieve in order to truly be a just and equitable society.
In the U.S. it has become acceptable to demonize and degrade Muslims. Taking Gingrich as an example, if one were to substitute the word Muslim in his rants for the word Jew or Black you can be sure the ADL or NAACP would’ve been on his tail. How do I know this? Because the ADL has gone after people who merely compare current situations to the Holocaust or Nazis (e.g. Allen West) or who make a movie on the Crucifixion of Christ (e.g. Mel Gibson).They don’t care about artistic license or the fact that they don’t own history or the term Holocaust/Nazi.
Muslims should be able to run for public office without being labeled stealth-jihadists, should be able to swear on the Quran after procuring public office without being labeled as bringing Sharia, should be able to swear their allegiance to the U.S. and the Constitution without being charged with using taqiyya
February 2nd, 2012 at 7:31 pm
Believing Atheist
Thanks for getting back to me. It goes without saying that all countries are work in progress like I would hope most people. I really don’t believe in ‘sin’ I just don’t get it most peoples were slaves at some time or another Black-Americans were not unique. I don’t suffer from white guilt or colonial guilt.
I don’t live in American so I can’t say insulting religion even countries are no big deal funnily enough with the exception of Islam. I think it crosses the line when it comes to race, sex, ethnicity, orientation I think religion should be free game unfortunately the British have made an offence incitement to commit religious hatred but it only seems to apply with Islam.
As far as I’m aware the Muslims have CAIR and other Muslim groups so they aren’t as if they don’t have a voice. I’m not big fan of the ADL but its just disgusting for those that suffered a holocaust, apartheid, genocide to falsely be compared to it. As for Gibson’s film I saw it and didn’t see the big deal it made Jews look bad, I’ll live with it.
Isn’t their a Mulsim congressmen (black guy) and I’m sure there are high-ranking Muslims in the US government. Its bound to happen getting mud thrown, just look at the whole AIPAC, Jews control the banks, government, US foreign policy, Israel-Firster, as minorities you get thick skin. I don’ta even bother calling out everything and everybody. I’ll give you an example about Jewish dual nationals, their loyalty is questioned.So I’m with you it shouldn’t happen but it does.
“They don’t care about artistic license or the fact that they don’t own history or the term Holocaust/Nazi” then wouldn’t it be nice if Mohammed Islam, Quran, Muslim with artistic licence can be used critique, mocked ridiculed and even disrespected nobody owns the history or the terms so to speak? I’m not advocating it I’m saying it’s just got to cut both ways.
February 3rd, 2012 at 8:29 am
Meanwhile, Anonymous hacked the website and e-mail archives of a White Supremacist group and found evidence of extensive links between them and Ron Paul.
Oh and evidence of meetings between Ron Paul and Nick Griffin of the BNP.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/291000/20120201/anonymous-ron-paul-neo-nazi-bnp-a3p.htm
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:04 pm
The absurd notion that liberals promote a “culture of victimization” is one of the clearest examples of right-wing projection I’ve ever witnessed. The ENTIRE conservative movement is built on feeling sorry for themselves and claiming they’re the victims of nefarious forces (the “liberal media”, “liberal academia”, “liberal teacher’s unions”, “liberal PC culture”, “liberal secularists”, the “liberal ACLU, etc.) Noticing a pattern here? The left is far, far weaker than the right in America, and yet, they’ve built up this all-purpose liberal bogeyman / straw-man to blame all its failures on.
February 3rd, 2012 at 8:04 pm
A lot of this anti-Islamic rubbish is simply a series of political/strategic maneuvers by the powers-that-be to soften the American public up for another invasion into an oil rich country. Iran is next.
February 3rd, 2012 at 8:22 pm
” The left is far, far weaker than the right in America, and yet, they’ve built up this all-purpose liberal bogeyman / straw-man to blame all its failures on.”
This is truly mind-boggling in its scope. The white Christian right of the USA has actually convinced themselves that they are a poor, persecuted minority.
Subhuman beasts like Rush Limbaugh reach more people than any “Liberal” outlet and Fox News has more audience than all the other news networks combined and yet, they are able to delude themselves that there is a “Mainstream Liberal Media” against them because MSNBC says mean things every now and then in shows nobody watch and there is perceived slant in the New York Times, a paper that is barely more than a prestigious name nowadays.
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:03 pm
Ian, that website doesn’t prove a thing. So what if there’s a picture? He’s taken pictures with many people. Who’s anonymous and how do we know that he’s hacked it or even telling the truth? Ron Paul even admitted that even if the white supremacists like him, it’s because they agree on few things like less regulation and capitalism. They have their own agenda for supporting him. Plus, they might’ve supported through a third party. Dr. Paul is not rich like Romeny and he needs the money for a good cause: to help the American people.
RON PAUL 2012!!
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:16 pm
Believing Atheist, well said! ^5
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:20 pm
“He’s taken pictures with many people.”
So do every other politician out there, and we don’t get pictures like that from many of them.
“Who’s anonymous and how do we know that he’s hacked it or even telling the truth?”
They are group of loosely connected internet activists. And they are pretty good at what they do. Here is their latest target:
http://gizmodo.com/5882057/anonymous-leaks-marine-corps-massacre-case
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:58 pm
@HGG
What about the pic of Gingrich and Pelosi? you think they’re the best of friends?? Keep in mind that just because the white supremecists like Ron Paul doesn’t mean it’s vice versa. If someone’s in line to take a picture with you, then you do it. We don’t know the circumstances behind this picture. This could even be photoshopped.
How do we know this is the same anonymous and what proof did he show that Ron Paul is a white Supremacist?? Anyone can be linked to this group just by talking to them. This doesn’t prove that he’s a white supremacist or even supporting them. It’s all hogwash!
February 4th, 2012 at 1:55 am
I really find amazing that no matter how many proofs surface of Paul being a truly disgusting, racist and homophobic human being people still dismiss it all as lies. Look, I would understand if his foreign policy trumped everything else and he were seen as the lesser evil, but people actually admire this bigot.
February 4th, 2012 at 6:02 am
Shorter Khushboo: Ron Paul only wants to to disenfranchise blacks,Jews and women and says he’ll leave Muslims alone. So screw everybody else.
Fortunately, given the disastrous state of his campaign you’ll never get to see what a catastrophe Ron Paul would be if he were actually elected.
But by all means keep supporting him and funding him – that way he’ll have tens of millions of dollars left at the end of the campaign to funnel to his Neo-Nazi mates and the likes of Nick Griffin.
February 4th, 2012 at 6:05 am
And don’t forget to stockpile guns and ammo for the race war Ron says is coming when the Jews unleash their Negroid hordes on Jesus’s Chosen People – the White American Race.
February 4th, 2012 at 10:24 am
Ian, don’t know what you mean by “shorter” but I respect your opinion.