Posted on 08/18/2010 2:12:21 PM PDT by La Enchiladita
Most political experts believe the opponents of the Ground Zero-area mosque and community center are on the safest ground when it comes to public opinion. While President Barack Obama has supported the Muslim community’s right to build the mosque as a matter of religious freedom, every major potential 2012 GOP White House contender has expressed strong opposition to the project.
Now, some in the party, such as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, are expressing doubts about whether focusing on the mosque is appropriate.
In remarks to Washington Wire, two leading GOP voices — Newt Gingrich, a vocal critic of the mosque, and Grover Norquist, who has long advocated Republican outreach to the Muslim community — expressed their views on the proposed mosque and community center.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
Here is more info on Norquist-—
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2005/04/is-grover-norquist-an-islamist
Grover Norquist.
Paul Sperry, author of the new book, Infiltration, in an interview calls Grover Norquist “an agent of influence for Islamists in Washington.” When asked by FrontPageMag.com why a Republican anti-tax lobbyist should so passionately promote Islamist causes, Sperry implied that Norquist has converted to Islam: “He’s marrying a Muslim, and when I asked Norquist if he himself has converted to Islam, he brushed the question off as too ‘personal.’” As Lawrence Auster comments on this exchange, “Clearly, if Norquist hadn’t converted to Islam, or weren’t in the process of doing so, he would simply have answered no.”
Samah Norquist, née Alrayyes
Indeed, Norquist married Samah Alrayyes, a Palestinian Muslim, on April 2, 2005, and Islamic law limits a Muslim woman to marrying a man who is Muslim. This is not an abstract dictum but a very serious imperative, with many “honor” killings having resulted from a woman ignoring her family’s wishes.
Alrayyes (now known as Samah Norquist) has radical Islamic credentials of her own; she served as communications director at the Islamic Free Market Institute, the Islamist organization Norquist helped found. Now, she is employed as a public affairs officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development – and so it appears that yet another Islamist finds employment in a branch of the U.S. government.
Grover Norquist has for some years now been promoting Islamist organizations, including even the Council on American-Islamic Relations; for example, he spoke at CAIR’s conference, “A Better America in a Better World” on October 5, 2004. Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. has researched Norquist’s ties to Islamists in his exhaustive, careful, and convincing study, “A Troubling Influence,” and concludes that he is enabling “a political influence operation to advance the causes of radical Islamists, and targeted most particularly at the Bush Administration.”
But if Grover Norquist is indeed a convert to Islam, it could be that he is not just enabling the Islamist causes but is himself an Islamist. (April 14, 2005)
Sep. 30, 2005 update: A biography of Samah Norquist gives a more complete explanation of her U.S. government job. She is
the Public Affairs Specialist for Arab and Muslim outreach at the Bureau of Legislative and Public affairs at USAID. In her position, she works on developing and implementing communications and public affairs planning with regard to various Muslim and Arab outreach issues including USAID activities in Iraq, Afghanistan, Middle and Near East and many parts of the Muslim world where AID is present. This includes serving as a liaison with Muslim and Arab American interest groups to brief them on USAID activities in the developing world and coordination of the Agency’s participation in events, conferences, and discussions designed to educate the publics about American foreign assistance. In addition, Norquist attends interagency meetings representing USAID on issues related to Arab and Muslim outreach and public diplomacy.
Also, in an earlier job, “she was cultural affairs assistant at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, where she was responsible for cultural exchange programs between the United States and Jordan.”
Jan. 19, 2006 update: Of possibly related interest: President Bush two days ago announced his intent to nominate David Norquist, Grover’s younger brother, to a top position at the Department of Homeland Security. Here is the White House announcement.
The President intends to nominate David L. Norquist, of Virginia, to be Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Norquist currently serves as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Budget and Appropriations Affairs). Prior to this, he served as Acting Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), as well as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Financial Management). Earlier in his career, Mr. Norquist served on the professional staff of the House Appropriations Committee. Mr. Norquist received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from the University of Michigan. He went on to receive a second master’s degree from Georgetown University.
As a UPI report on this news observes, “The elder Norquist has been a trenchant critic of some of the department’s policies, such as its “No-Fly” list, which he sees as an infringement on personal privacy and liberty.”
June 12, 2006 update: The Senate confirmed David Norquist as CFO of DHS
If Republicans would just learn to stop being counter-intuitive and just go full on with a clear message and not give the left a reprieve they would be heroes in the eyes of most of the public. Instead there is always one or two that are ready to “pragmatically” throw their natural ideological enemies a safety line. I’ve yet to figure it out. When you have the advantage take it. I like Chris Christie but if you are going to appear “above it all” then why say anything at all?
No surprise from G. Norquist...............
“Is Grover Norquist an Islamist?” by Daniel Pipes (April 14, 2005)
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2005/04/is-grover-norquist-an-islamist
This mosque issue is just a decoy to keep talking-heads jawing about it. Takes the focus off of JOBS, ECONOMY, FAILING DEM POLLS ETC ETC. Conservatives should keep their eye on the prize and not get into this mosque-dung.
So Norquist is a Muslim now. Newt is a RINO.
This is one of those exciting FR “connect-the-dots” moments. The issue is flushing out, so to speak, the enemy within. I haven’t liked Norquist for quite a while -— since his advocacy of amnesty for illegals -— and now he becomes the useful idiot for the Left on the mosque issue.
As so many of the posers do, he cloaks himself in “tax reform” camouflage. Why don’t Republican leaders call out these posers?
-the first Confederate Museum next to Martin Luther Kings birthplace,
-the first Volks-Sturm 78th Infantry Division meeting hall to be opened next to Auschwitz
-the first Japanese Air Corp museum next to Pearl Harbor
and of course the
-first 509th Composite Group officers clubs to be opened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
I say leave it to the New Yorkers if they want to be the muzzies b#tches.
Make it 30 stories tall with a minaret you can hear in Jersey when they call to prayer. On the outside they need High Definition Mega-screens that are 100 feet tall and wide with these photos of the REAL 911 heroes to be shown to New Yorkers.
Mohamed Atta.
Waleed Mohammed al-Shehri
Wail Mohammed al-Shehri
Abdulaziz al-Omari
Satam Muhammed Abdel al-Suqami
Yipee.. let us send this in and see about the "wisdom" of doing it, huh?
good old grover. all of that PLUS a long time nra board member!!!!!!! the nra was full up to speed on norquist’s anti American fund raising, agenda setting and lobby work and activities for the muslim terrorist front group here in America, C.A.I.R., also but they did not give a rats’ butt. nice huh?
bttt
Indeed. But then, there's that thing about "chickens coming home to roost."
The reason people put up with local government and all its shenanigans is so that local officials can silently squelch ideas like this mosque before they become national issues.
Don't know about this though:
Alrayyes (now known as Samah Norquist) has radical Islamic credentials of her own; she served as communications director at the Islamic Free Market Institute, the Islamist organization Norquist helped found. Now, she is employed as a public affairs officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development – and so it appears that yet another Islamist finds employment in a branch of the U.S. government.
"She has radical Islamic credentials of her own;" makes you think the writer's going to detail just what they are. But instead we get that she served as communications director of her husband's "free market institute" and then worked for USAID. The writer goes on to act like he's proven his point. He hasn't. Both organizations may be a bad idea and one may be Muslim, but he hasn't proved that she has "Islamist connections," unless he thinks "Islamist" simply means "Muslim" or "Islamic."
The bottom fellow looks quite a bit like the CINC.
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